Home made EM

After re-considering the many greatness of EM ( Effective Microorganism ) , I have decided to make my own EM , to be used for my worm food scrap fermentation. I have browse thru few agriculture sites/blogs and surprisingly, I found very informative blog from Indonesia , teaching on how to DIY ( do it yourself ) Effective Microorganism. The process are rather simple , but the turn over time of obtaining a good quality of EM may take up to 2 to 3 months.

Below is the ingredients that I used for making my own EM , ( not sure either it success or not )

5 liter of water – preferably a rain water or aged tap water
1.5 kg of food scrap – fruits peels , vegetables ( no meats , dairy product )
500 gram of molasses – diluted in warm water

The ratio of making a good EM is 10:3:1 , ( Water : Food scrap : Molasses )

Step 1:-
Cut your food scrap into small pieces – no need to be perfect

Step 2 :-

Prepare molasses , dilute it in warm water , no need to be very warm , just enough to make the molasses melt.


Step 3 :-

Pour the diluted molasses in a 5liter air tight container and stir a bit

Step 4 :-
Put all your chopped food scrap into the container


Close it tightly ( preferable air tight container ) and store it. Pls avoid direct sun light and store it in a cool dark place such as in your bathroom. Open the cover daily for a gas burp and stir it a bit , this to make the built up ammonia gas escape , and also to get rid of the unpleasant smell if any. As I mentioned it earlier , making and home made EM is not the exact science , thus , hopefully , the EM can be use in 2 to 3 month , when the ph of the solution is ~ 3.5. Will update on the status on my DIY EM , gradually. Bye !.

Do It Yourself Manure

As I have mentioned in my earlier blogs , the worm medium can be made from various number of organic sources. Its all depends on your own creativity and on the availability of such carbon or nitrogen source around you. Some will feels disgust on touching on the animal "poo" , but this must not make us as the show stopper.

Here I will show a way on making your own manure "poo"...no… don’t get me wrong , it as nothing to do on poo..ing in your worm bin. :)

First , try to find any food scrap around you , you may also get it from a wet market near to your house or from the weekend pasar malam sellers. You are more than welcomed to collect the food waste from them. As for me , I just collect the peels and waste from the road side fruit seller and this is more than enough for me. The ingredients is as usual papaya , pineapple, melon , banana peels , guava , ciku , and many more ……. some egg carton and egg shells can also be used as extra carbon source. Please make sure that your food scrap is free from excessive orange peels or citrus base fruits such as mango.

Clean your fruit scrap.


Than , blend it in your regular home food processor …… in this case I just “borrow “ my wife food processor with the condition of “ clean it back after use “ ….. yes madam …agree :)


Below is the fruit sludge or slurry after blending.


Pack the sludge and put it inside the freezer over night.




The goodness on freezing the fruit sludge is, the sludge can be used anytime to feed your worm and it definitely free from fruit flies larvae. Since frozen foods breaks down easily , the worm seems consume the food faster as compare to solid foods and research shows the worm grows faster as compare to normal worm feed on solid foods.

Another use of the food sludge , is to mix it directly with coconut coir ( serbuk sabut kelapa ) and use it as the worm bin medium. The worms love it as well.

Try it !! …… :)

Bokashi Composting

What is a Bokashi composting ?

Bokashi (Japanese for "fermented organic matter") is a method of intensive composting. It can use an aerobic or anaerobic inoculation to produce the compost. Once a starter culture is made, it can be re-used, like yogurt culture. Since the popular introduction of effective microorganisms (EM), Bokashi is commonly made with only molasses, water, EM, and wheat bran. However, Bokashi can be made by inoculating any organic matter with a variety of hosts of beneficial bacteria/microbes. This includes manures, spent mushroom compost, mushroom spores, worm-casting tea, forest soil tea, yeast, pickles, sake, miso, natto, wine and beer. Molasses feeds the microbial cultures as they inoculate the organic matter.

The Use of Bokashi.

In household applications, kitchen waste is placed into a container which can be sealed with an air tight lid. These scraps are then inoculated with a Bokashi EM mix. This usually takes the form of a carrier, such as rice hulls, wheat bran or saw dust, that has been inoculated with composting micro-organisms. The EM are natural lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and phototrophic bacteria that act as a microbe community within the kitchen scraps, fermenting and accelerating breakdown of the organic matter. The user continues to place alternating layers of food scraps and Bokashi EM until the container is full. Liquid (known as Bokashi juice) is drained off as necessary. This liquid can be used as plant food, or can be poured down the drain. This may be a good practice for households with septic systems, as it is believed that this may help maintain a healthy septic environment within the holding tank. Bokashi juice is acidic, however, and if being used as a plant feed, it should be diluted at a rate of 1:100 parts water.Once the bucket is full to capacity, the waste can be buried. Two Bokashi Buckets are often employed, in order to create an alternating setup. Waste from the first Bokashi Bucket is allowed to continue to ferment for 10-14 days or for any additional length of time. The waste can then be buried. The empty Bokashi Bucket is then ready to use when the second one is full.Inside a recently-started Bokashi bin. The aerated base is just visible through the food scraps and Bokashi bran. Bokashi Compost will look different to other compost that has decayed. As the food waste does not breakdown or decompose while it is in the bucket, much of its original physical property will remain and it will have a pickled appearance. Breakdown of waste will occur after it has been transferred to the soil. Burying Bokashi Compost in a garden will supply plants with a nourishing food source and condition the soil with enriching microbes. If the fermented Bokashi compost is being transferred directly to the garden, the material should be buried in a thin layer for 4 to 6 weeks prior to over-planting.

Source : Wikipedia.