Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
Your right by using bran! It's very nutritional and high in carbohydrates.
Probiotic Farming
- Thread starter MustangStudFarm
- Start date
Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
Shit, here's some inspiration to create.
10th gen serum.
Been running and re- innoculating the same batch serum inncoculum for almost 1 year.
10th gen serum.
Been running and re- innoculating the same batch serum inncoculum for almost 1 year.
Well I mainly got the wheat bran and the EM-1 because the first 50# combo lasted close to 5 years and wanted to duplicate that, mainly for the worms.
Not ALL of the homemade got forgotten and yes, it works great.
Wet
Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
The only thing bin can think of that would be more nutritious than bran would be wheat germ. Sourced in a powder form, it can be hydrated with Aloe/coconut/molasses water that's been fermented first.
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
Where I live, there is a farmer's co-op and I could order wheat berries in bulk. I dont know if that would be any good?
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
I guess that I am on the right track here, right? Now I make the bran, then a fermenting bucket.
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MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
After my food ferments, I could just do like a grain-to-grain transfer. I know it is probably not the best term, but I think that you understand. I would not really need a EM-1 serum after I get started. I really appreciate both of you bearing with me and helping me make sense of this!!!
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MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
You are talking about the liquid culture, right, not the fermented food? I imagine that I could use the fermented food as a compost accelerator and worm food, let me know if I am wrong.
Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
All good man. We're here as a community!!!
It all looks good. Just a few pointers...
This is an anerobic process, so the less head room you have, the better. If you can use smaller containers and fill them up, that would be better.
Not completely necessary but it does help to cube or chop the food scraps first before leading them into the fermenter. Remember the head room, well air pockets around the food scraps will be counterproductive. Get a trash bag and line you bucket first. Poke a couple holes in the bottom so the liquid can leech away. Load scraps into the bag/bucket and press them down using the bag to force out any air pockets. Twist up the top of the bag and fold/lay it down. Put on the buckets lid.
I'd also sprinkle more bokashi grain/meal/paper to cover the scraps. Throw grains in there like barley and mung beans, ect... BIG TIME FUNGI FOOD!!
As far as not really needing the serum after the bucket is made and composted.... your gonna need to make more bokashi at some point and your going to need the serum to make it. I'd just make some serum and store it in the fridge for 6month. Once you have it, making more serum is as simple as adding 1tbsp of serum into a gallon of milk. 5 days later you'll have almost another full gallon of serum.
Technically you could do a g2g, but the bokashi starter wouldn't work as effectively as concentrated serum. Serum is always step 1 and the backbone of the process.
I'll grab some pics from my thread and show you my fermenter design.
Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
100% correct. BUT.... show some digression when feeding the worms fermented food. It's very acidic and altho worms can acclimate to a higher acidity, this is only successful with a well established farm. Start in small amounts and only in a corner or something like that. Provide other food items for finicky worms durring this transition. Never give them a sole diet of fermented anything. Worms are much happier in an pH of 6.8 -7.2 (7) being ideal but food scraps will influence the enviromental pH. Dusting of oyster flour or crab shell flour will help neutralize and provide grit for proper digestion.
Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
Here's the fermenter.
First you need a base bucket with a drain valve. I use black for hydro and had it on hand but any color can be used.
Then you'll need a interior bucket with lots of drainage holes. I drilled out white bucket with 1/4" holes and a 5" net pot in the center. The net pot is a drain but also shares the same principal as a wick system. With the net pot extending into the black bucket I can maintain good hydration of the scraps will ensuring excellent drainage.
This is very important because you will soon find out that different scraps release more/less liquid. You need to drain off the liquid leechate periodically.
The rest of the pics are self explanatory with the exception of the lid.
The lid needs to seal but allow C02 gas to excape. I just crack the cap on the lid and this is enough to allow pressurized C02 to excape.
First you need a base bucket with a drain valve. I use black for hydro and had it on hand but any color can be used.
Then you'll need a interior bucket with lots of drainage holes. I drilled out white bucket with 1/4" holes and a 5" net pot in the center. The net pot is a drain but also shares the same principal as a wick system. With the net pot extending into the black bucket I can maintain good hydration of the scraps will ensuring excellent drainage.
This is very important because you will soon find out that different scraps release more/less liquid. You need to drain off the liquid leechate periodically.
The rest of the pics are self explanatory with the exception of the lid.
The lid needs to seal but allow C02 gas to excape. I just crack the cap on the lid and this is enough to allow pressurized C02 to excape.
Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
Looks good! It's ready when the curd on top is completely congealed and all particles in suspension have stopped flaculation.
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
This stuff does move quick! I still dont have any bran or a fermenting bucket. Does the bucket have to be food grade?
Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
No food grade doesn't matter.
Just jug it up and store in the fridge until your ready.
It's got a good color too! Nicely done.
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
I keep going back to the site that you recommended. The one thing that he really did not explain very well was storing methods. It looks like he uses sugar or molasses before he stores it? The ratio looks big too, like 1:1 ratio of serum to sugar. Is the sugar a mixture of water also, or does he really mean a liter of sugar/molasses?
Grandpa GreenJeans
Well-Known Member
What he's doing is making EM1, which is activated. Basically the idea is to culture their robes in the rice wash, isolate them in the milk, and after you force dormancy by adding 1:1 sugar/EM. This give them a food source but forces them to hibernate.
Once the solution is added to a larger volume, it dilutes and futher activates and stays activated.
Storage is really whatever container you have that seals tight. Milk jug or mason jar is my first choice.
From what I remember, it was whatever was still wet. Mainly it was guys dumping fermented food that was still wet from the bokashi bucket.
I never did do a bokashi bucket set up because after much reading of others experiences it seemed that the bran would cover about all my needs. It sure worked out that way. A handful of the dried bran in the worm bin, added to a coffee jug as it was collecting grounds, in the garden, compost pile and so on has worked very well.
Plus, with just the two of us, we really don't generate enough scraps to feed a bucket and make it worthwhile.
Wet
MustangStudFarm
Well-Known Member
I am getting less excited about this everyday lol! Maybe I am missing it's usefulness somewhere? It is sounding like there is not much that you can really do with this, other than composting meat or something???