After the bokashi newspaper has thoroughly dried, it’s now the carrier for the digestive lacto bacteria.

I bought inexpensive snap-top buckets from Wal-Mart for about $5.00 each, the lids snap on and off easily, especially with the addition of a little olive oil rubbed around the rim.

I don’t bother with a drain….I place 1 to 2 inches of dry absorbent material in the bottom of the bucket (peat, shredded newspaper, or clean sawdust) and pack well.

To start the bucket I place a piece of the bokashi newspaper on top of the absorbent material, just enough to cover….then I start adding waste (chopped up)…up to a 1/2 inch layer at a time…add a piece of newspaper between each and every layer until the bucket is full….packing each layer well helps ensure a good fermentation. (I use a potato masher.)

That’s about all there is to it.

Oh, I’ve been experimenting with adding a tablespoon of healthy garden soil to the bucket after it’s started well (4-5 days) to culture more of the naturally occurring anaerobic digestive microorganisms, but I’m convinced it’s not necessary. The bokashi compost with just the lacto decomposed quickly in the garden and in my worm bins.