It’s no coincidence that the first breakup with Bokashi also led to the first burial – that’s how it has to be with experimental composting.
Mack and I took our filled bucket (which had sat, basically untouched, for over a month) to my parents’ house, intent on burying its contents in spite of the fact that snow still graced the ground. Lucky for us, the mounds of soil in my Mum’s garden was already thawed to the point where digging wasn’t too difficult.
Mike advised us that the ideal burying conditions involved a three inch trench, and mentioned that the Bokashi bacteria tend to just die off in freezing temperatures (instead of becoming dormant and reactivating later). He also said that it might take 3-4 months for the compost to be broken down into garden soil.
We may have dug more hole than trench…
What we found at the bottom of the bucket after all was said and done was – could it be – tea? There probably wasn’t enough liquid to have come through the tap, but there was certainly enough for a healthy drizzle, caught between chards of onion skins and blackened banana peels. Mike, in his attempt to encourage us, said that the types of food we were adding could have been soaking up any tea that was produced.
Tea, glorious tea!
The deed done, we rinsed out the bucket (it was so handy to have access to an outdoor tap). We are now ready for reconciliation.
Round 2 begins
I prematurely dumped:(
But now I’ve got two buckets of goodness ready to rock. I am determined to grow tomatoes this summer. They will be bountiful and I am going to make salsa and eat it all winter.
*fingers crossed*
S*
Your new batch of food waste looks very pretty and artfully arranged 🙂 …. at least for garbage.
Very nicely done guys!
With thawing temperatures it should break down really nicely.
SO Glad you got a little tea in there hahaha… told you not to be discouraged!
Must meet up soon for post-experiment interview and collect your sheets! 🙂
Sarah – I’ll cross my fingers for you too!
CourtJ – heh, that wasn’t on purpose either. And in a few weeks, it won’t look anywhere as pretty :).
ADHDcanuck – so funny how we were so stuck on our lack of tea. But thanks for your ongoing encouragement!