1. Good Organic Gardening - January-February 2016

Making BIM | THE SHED
Untreated wooden box
Cooked rice
Creating the
growth medium
Materials
A small untreated wooden box,
30cm × 30cm × 10cm deep
Cooked white rice
Paper towels or newspaper, enough
to cover the wooden box
Thick shadecloth large enough
to cover the box
Rubber bands
1cm wire screen large enough to
completely cover the wooden box
A small shovel
Procedure
1. Cook enough rice to cover the bottom of
the box. About 1.5–2 cups of raw rice should
make enough. Use the absorption method
for boiling the rice. This will make sure it’s
aerated and will supply enough oxygen for
the aerobic (requiring air) micro-organisms.
Rice usually increases its volume by 3–4
times when cooked.
2. Place the rice in the box. The thickness
of the rice layer should not be greater than
5–6cm once in the box.
3. Cover the rice with paper towel, clean newspaper
or thick shadecloth, making sure it’s not
touching the rice and is at least 5cm above it.
Place cooked
rice in box
Cover rice but make sure
covering is at least 5cm above
rice and not touching it
Cover with wire
to prevent attack
by animals
4. Cover the box with a wire screen to
prevent animals getting into the rice, then
loosely cover the box with some clear
plastic to prevent rain and dew wetting
the rice.
5. Choose a spot in the shade under a tree,
away from direct sun. Bury the box in at
least 5cm of soil. Cover the box with leaves
and debris collected from the site. Leave
undisturbed for 4–5 days. On average,
colonisation takes 4–5 days below 20°C and
3–4 days above 20°C. (See photo next page.)
6. Check the box for signs of white mould
and leave for longer if sparse.
7. Check the mould/fungal growth again after
2–3 days. The process has been successful
if thick white/yellowish mould is covering
the rice. Coloured colonies of microbial
growth are not as beneficial, so repeat
the process if necessary.
Culturing the
micro-organisms
Materials
Clay or ceramic bowl
Glass jars to fit the rice mixture in
Brown sugar or molasses
Cheesecloth or paper towels
Rubber bands
Scale to weigh the rice (optional)
Procedure
1. Once you’ve obtained white mould
growth on the rice, remove from the box
and place the mixture in the bowl, but
first weigh the bowl alone and then with
the mixture in it; the difference will give
you the weight of rice, which is the same
as the weight of sugar needed to feed the
micro-organisms. The rule of thumb is to
use equal parts sugar to equal parts rice.
Thus, a kilogram of rice will require a
kilogram of sugar (1kg rice + 1kg sugar or
molasses). We used molasses.
2. Gently mix the ingredients with clean
hands, making sure not to completely
destroy the fungal mat. You can use gloves
if you prefer. Add a very small amount of
water if the mixture feels quite dry, in the
ratio of 1:500.
3. Transfer this mixture into a glass jar and
cover with cheesecloth or paper towel and
place a rubber band around it. Leave
it for 3–7 days to allow fermentation to
take place.
4. Now it’s ready to use as an inoculant.
Add an equal amount of soil and
incorporate it into the surface soil as a topdressing,
or add it directly to your compost
pile. This inoculant is designed to increase
soil microbial activity and thus enhance
soil health.
Good Organic Gardening | 63