This is how we Bookashi pt. 2
Here you can see how we “dig down" the bookashi compost- the next step in our progression toward ultra healthy soil.
Good Morning, afternoon, or evening Steemit folks.
I did my first bookashi post here if you need to catch up.
I will speak about these things as if we just did them, but it was a handful of days back we actually did this.
We had a pile of unused soil in the north east part of our garden. This is now our bookashi compost area. It had some weeds growing through the tarp that was over it, so we dig down and put them on the bottom, here:
We had a pile up of compost bookashi:
After covering the weeds with bookashi dust (to keep the seeds from turning to more weeds) I threw on top the compost, and again, bookashi just to be sure it's concentrated.
This is likely not needed... I ere on the side of excess. If you don't believe it, ask my friends and family.
Then we just covered it up with dirt. Which felt REALLY strange. Like almost like something to be guilty of "oh man, I just buried two months of garbage".
See? Like it never happened. We dug down fifteen gallons (56 and a 1/2 liters). Four to Six weeks from now this stuff will be ready for use in the garden.
I'll post again when we make our own bookashi - to fulfill request by @nateonsteemit , and also post more if something comes up that I figure will be good to see.
Here's a photo of the weeds all looking super fine:
It was certainly a beauty day on the reserve.
Comments, questions, suggestions, insights all that stuff, please post a reply!
That looks like a big piece of work. We did something similar on a smaller scale in the bed where bamboo had been growing:
After all the roots had been axed out, there was a shallow depression which we filled with trimmings from the tomato plants and other vegetation, and then covered over with finest homemade compost:
The surrounding ground is very hard, but come the autumn when it gets wet, we'll fork it over and mix everything up a little.
I don't think we have enough food waste for bookashi, mainly fruit and vegetable scraps and eggshells. And teabags 😍. Everything else gets eaten.
It's similar here, that we don't have much for food scraps compared to the average household. I've gone so far to get the church to collect their coffee grounds and compost for me, which helps out.
We have been wondering lately what shops to with their organic food matter when it's like a smoothy joint like booster juice or jugo juice or orange julius... i don't know if any of those are familiar to you?
That's a good point. We have juice and smoothie bars here and if they are dumping the waste, that will be an expensive cost to the business. I wonder whether there is potential for a social enterprise that collects and distributes that waste (for some reason I have a picture of a bicylce and trailer type of arrangement)? I will have to ask my green friends.
It came naturally in our thinking about it.. I would think someone has come up with something!? I totally agree with the whole bicycle and wooden trailer idea! Some hemp twine tied around the ankles so as to not get caught in the pedals. :D
What climate zone are you in by the way @shanibeer?
Britain is in the temperate zone and we have a maritime climate - generally, mild wet winters and drier warmer summers, with four distinct seasons. I believe prevailing winds are from the west, bringing higher rainfall from the Atlantic to the west side of the country. Very broadly, the west side is more grazing land and the east side arable land. The climate is also affected by the gulf stream, and the very southwest of England has very mild winters with little if any frost and can support mediterranean plants normally found further south. Of course, this year was different with a period of very cold weather in the winter and now, a prolonged very hot, very dry period, although there is a general trend of more extreme temperatures due to global warming. We're not geared for either, so there is always great disruption when they happen.
Fascinating. I'm happy to have found you through a comment by @nateonsteemit . It's winter here in South Africa so busy prepping and cleaning. We've been gathering and moving the lovely stuff compliments of my goats. And all our kitchen peelings go to our chickens who are a fantastic contributing factor to healthy compost!
We want goats for that reason, and milk too! Happy to meet you @buckaroo
Goats are addictive - don't say you haven' been warned! Not just for the milk, cheeses, yoghurt but because they are such amazing pets. Naughty. But amazing
Do you have a dairy?
A goat dairy, yes.
There's a few of the animals that we intend to raise that I think I could very easily develop a good relationship with. It frightens me some for when it comes to the culling part of things. A deer in the woods, no problem... a quail raised at home? I dunno about that...
How do you guys handle the end of life bit? I hate to be all dark and creepy with the question. Our friend that has goats does it all himself, but his style of farming is very different from ours.
Sadly the loss of animals is the really bad part of homesteading. I have cried many tears over our "pets". Saying that I would rather bond with them and have many happy years interacting and working compatibly than not. As far as the end goes....Each to his own. My husband is the guy that has to put them down. It's a very difficult call to make. When it's old livestock I know a lot of people just eat them. Mine get buried. I can't eat a pet, as they do become part of the family.
I currently can only imagine.. I wonder if people with aquaponics experience similar difficulties. Depends on the person perhaps..?
I can eat raw vegetables hand picked and raised from our garden, and don't think much of it. This is different.
Have you done any posts regarding the processing of the milk into yoghurt? I haven't browsed much of your previous posts yet!
Not yet @brockolopolis! I've only been on Steemit 3 or 4 months and my goats are all pregnant. But kids are due next month so I'll be posting on the babies, milking and of course making all the delicious products
That patch has sprouted lots of seedlings. I'm guessing they are butternut squash and the seeds hadn't broken down in the compost. I'm happy about that, we may get a crop even though it is late in the season.
That's great! I love butternut squash - and it's a winter too isn't it?
We've been thinking about getting a box. I'll have to check out your other post.
Like a compost box?