About

Everything is interconnected.

Warning : this is a long story yet worth reading, sit comfortably with a nice cup of tea 😉

I’m an ‘urban’ girl, and I started paying attention to the quality of what I eat a while ago, when I discovered that what we eat has the power to heal us…or make us sick.

So I wanted to deepen this knowledge by studying it: since a while now I have been officially recognised as a ‘Pharmacist’ (very alternative, I love medicinal plants) with a specialisation in Nutrition.

Cooking fresh, living food in a healthy and yummy way has become my ‘beauty secret’ that I have always shared with anyone who was curious to listen or read, on my blog : madameciao.com

The more I discovered extensive agriculture processes which produces ‘nutritionally poor’ food in big volumes and the Marketing “magic tricks” (I worked in this field for a while) that make us believe we need to buy their pretty packaging for an often dubious quality, the more I wanted to know what I was really eating.

That’s how I started growing my herbs in pots, salads in bags, built vegetable patches on a paved yard…and grew greens using only natural fertilizers, non-hybrid (read ‘reproducible’) seeds: working WITH nature, rather than against it. I now try to do biodynamic urban permaculture as much as possible.

Soon another link became clear. The one between the quality of the soil and the life in it and the nutritional quality of the food that grows in it.

And with this link, a big question: how do we feed the soil? and at the same time, on the other hand, I throw away some of the good food I buy (peels, outer leaves, cores …): how can I recycle them and re-use them directly?

Garden compost was not an option as I have no space available (I’m on a paved courtyard) beyond the fact that I don’t have the time/willingess to turn & measure the temperature, nor do I have ‘browns’ to mix…

The worm composting bin I bought turned into a ‘pet’ to be fed: worms’ eating habits are relatively limited and their need for attention competed with my partner who didn’t want to hear anything when it was time to bring them inside to spend the winter 😉

The ‘aha moment’ came with an encounter that only the Universe can arrange, with an incredible woman who has been making the Bokashi technique known in Sweden and not only, since over 10 years : Jenny Harlen and her platforms www.bokashi.se (in Swedish) and https://bokashiworld.blog/ (in English)

That’s how I discovered that YES, there is a way to process almost ALL of your food leftovers (raw, cooked, garlic & onion, citrus, banana peels, egg shells, bread & pasta…meat & fish too) in the quickest way I’ve ever tried, without any rotten smell and most importantly, without too much effort!

Half of the process takes place in your kitchen/laundry room and the other half on your balcony/yard/garden/terrace.

And not only do you no longer throw organic matter into the mixed waste bin, but you also (re)generate living soil (you need some soil to start with), rich in micro-organisms, in which your plants, flowers and food will grow vigorously, healthily and in generously.

This is BokashiCompost.

The ‘secret’ that makes all the difference are the EM or Effective Micro-organisms, which are present in the Starter and which kick-start the fermentation process that will pre-compost your food scraps.

They are the equivalent of the microbiome (good bacteria) that we all have in our intestines and keep us healthy: here, they do the same job for the soil with all the benefits that a LIVING SOIL brings to the environment.

Because a soil where Life is not destroyed by weed killers or synthetic fertilisers

• has a natural capacity to retain rainwater with a ‘sponge effect’: therefore no runoff/flooding which in the long term impoverishes the land until desertification
• it allows plants to exchange nutriments between eachother thanks to the mycorhyzal network (the wood wide web)
• it supports the worms activity who produce the clay-humus complex that provides fertility
• makes essential nutriments bio-available to the plant so that it can maintain its good health

And when all these links appeared clear to me and interconnected, I asked myself why I had not come across this Bokashi technique before, in Belgium where I am living.

It was also a time of carreer change, when I had identified that I wanted to put my energy into a cause that would sustain life rather than destroy it.

That would allow me to put the specific knowledge I have built up over the years between Nature-Science-Enterprise at the service of the planet.

Which helps me to spread a positive message, that together – all of us humming-birds – we can do something better for future generations, for another “Tomorrow”.

That’s how BokashiCompost was born, officially, on October ^1st 2018

‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’ (Gandhi) is my mantra.

It’s through action that you make a difference. I’ve started to change…and it’s not that difficult, when you take one small step at a time. 🙂

And when we can walk together, it’s even nicer. Shall we do this together?

Stefania

Special Thanks :

I would like to thank with gratitude all the people who have crossed my path and who have made who I am today, happy to Be.

Jenny Harlen and Inda Cakka the Burmese (former) Monk who introduced us to each other, without whom none of this would have happened, my family, my partner and all the friends who support me in my wildest dreams.

And of course, my suppliers and especially Jurgen from Agriton Belgium who has been working for over 25 years to support the soils’ life and to spread the knowledge of the Japanese EM technology (EMRO) in Belgium