Composting in winter

Since we are in the middle of winter, I had been salivating over seed catalogues and surfing the net searching for gardening tips, when I came across a number sites discussing bokashi indoor composting.  While I have been doing indoor vermicomposting for about 10 years, currently with a Worm factory 360 which I love ( much to the chagrin of many husband), bokashi composting has several advantages:

• Can compost dairy, meat, and bones
• Leachate can be diluted for liquid soil conditioner and used undiluted to clear drains
• Don't need to worry about maintaining balance between "greens" and "browns"
• Compost can be completed in as little as 6-8 weeks
• No "creepy crawlies", so husband is okay with keeping in the kitchen

Additionally, some have used the bokashi composting method with pet waste on ornamentals.  While I am very intrigued about using this to recycle my dog's waste, I figured I would start with the regular indoor bokashi than maybe add another outdoor bucket system in the spring.  Below is the starter kit I got from Amazon. 

 Basically, you put in your daily food waste (max 2-3 in deep), toss a handful or so of bokashi bran, seal it up, and repeat until full. Every few days you should drain the leachate for household or garden use ( you can shake around and listen for liquid).  After full, it will need to sit and continue to ferment for 10-14 days.  Since the food is actually "pickled" rather than "composted", in order to complete the process, the food needs to be buried for another 2 weeks or so either in the garden or in a big tub filled with soil, so that the microbes in the soil can break it all down.  I've been using my bokashi system for a little under a month now, and it is about 3/4 full, as you can see in the picture below.

I'd seen some tips about putting a plastic bag or paper plate on top, to help minimize contact with air, but I decided to use an old frisbee, as it can also be used to help compress the food after each addition.  So far it's been working out great.  I've been putting fresh scraps (fruit veggie peels and leftovers from my kids' plates) into the bokashi bucket, and putting any spent fruits and veggie scraps (stuff that is forgotten in the back if the fridge) into the worm bin.  (Will give more details and tips on vermicomposting in a separate post.)  

While it is not exactly odorless, the smell of the bokashi bin is not unpleasant, either.  It is sort of a sweet sour heady scent that reminds me a little of the smell of sourdough starter. To date, I've only gotten about 1/2 a teaspoon of leachate, which I diluted in a cup of water and sprinkled on house plants (slight perk-up).

My only concern is with the ongoing cost of buying bokashi bran, so I've been researching how to make your own bokashi serum to inoculate bran, newspaper, sawdust, etc for use in the bin.  My favorite site has been the Unconventional Farmer, which also has a lot of great recipes for homemade earth friendly concoctions to increase plant production.  Currently, I'm brewing up a lactobacillus serum for the bokashi bin ( see jar with curds below)  and a batch of Calphos (made from charred eggshells and apple cider vinegar) for  flower growth.  These all take time, but I'm hoping it will all pay off in the spring...