Permaculture in Amsterdam Saturday 160808

Permaculture in Amsterdam Saturday 160808 (full moon in aquarius, partial eclips) 18.00
Baruch loves to offer a permaculture talk for whoever is interested.
The ethics and principles can be covered in an evening with a combination of discussion and games, can be fun and very useful. Anyone interested?
Date/time: Saturday 160808 (full moon in aquarius, partial eclips) 18.00
Costs: potluck & donation for Baruch
Location: Amsterdam
Info: dreamcat@xs4all.nl

Mulching

"Cold Outdoor Pile

Pro:
Easy to start. Can add material continuously.
Very low maintenance and the resulting compost is very rich in soil organisms.

Contra:
Takes more than a year to decompose. Some nutrients are leached and can also attract animals."

Intrepreting the system mentioned above, I just started piling up 'grown' waste (old straw, tough vegetable stems and hedge clippings) and 'green' waste (fruit, coffee grounds, cut flowers, grass clippings) in small amounts every week.
It looks I have to be very patient... that'll teach me for being a lazy gardener!

Sour Mulch

Beware of Sour Mulch

"..both drought and excess water can cause similar symptoms -- both damage roots, and the plant wilts and turns brown....When organic material used for mulch has been composted improperly, the result can be "sour mulch," which is toxic to lawns, bedding plants, and newly planted shrubs. "

Oops! There is a brown spot in my garden, just in the corner where I left a large pile of compost for a while...

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.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokashi
Some more discussion on Bokashi: http://dirtbyamystewart.blogspot.com/2006/02/bokashi.html

Comment: I would like to learn how to make a Bokashi starter-set in a easy way, as in...Bokashi for dummies!

Illustration on youtube: