Greenhouse Bokashi — also a hit!

This is the result of another of winter’s Bokashi experiments. Super success and well-worth trying for anyone with a greenhouse. And with a winter season to deal with…

We grow tomatoes in buckets in our greenhouse and at the end of the season there’s a lot of tired soil to get rid of. Plus all the other end-of-season plants and pots to be emptied. Quite boring to be honest, and come spring you have to turn around and bring in a lot of sacks of “new” soil.

But since when should soil be “old” and “new”? It doesn’t get old out there on the field or in the woods, it just gets topped up with new organic matter and the soil microbes keep it alive and thriving.

A greenhouse isn’t a field and the potting mix we buy at the garden centre is hardly thriving with microbial activity (more often than not it’s actually sterilised!).

But by using Bokashi in a new way to “renovate” the soil we can give it another chance. And another. And another. Nature at its best.

Here we’ve used the blue plastic bags they provide at Ikea for bringing home your stuff. Good and sturdy with strong handles. Toss in a tomato bucket, toss in a bucket of kitchen-fermented Bokashi, toss in another bucket of soil or whatever. Probably a good idea to lay a newspaper on top to keep it moist.

That’s it. Line up a few bags like this and when spring comes you’ll have fresh new soil to work with — either for replanting or as top-up soil for the garden. I’m not sure I want to replant tomatoes in the same soil even if its “renovated” but it will be great for filling new planters and top-dressing old one. Snail-free into the bargain (which unfortunately soil from my compost bin isn’t).

The heat from the glasshouse will help start the Bokashi process nice and early in the spring, even if your bags have been frozen clumps all winter. There’s nothing much else you can do with a glasshouse in the winter anyhow, so you might has well have it working for you. It’s a true luxury to open it up now in the spring and have so much brilliant soil ready to use.

Just to dig in and enjoy!