Pauline Gerrard to Lead the World’s Freshwater Laboratory Into a New Era
IISD Experimental Lakes Area’s Artist-in-Residence program
IISD Experimental Lakes Area (IISD-ELA), the world’s freshwater laboratory, is very proud to announce its Artist-in Residence program.
What is IISD Experimental Lakes Area?
Put simply, IISD-ELA is an artist’s dream. It is a series of 58 pristine lakes, set within Canada’s boreal forest in northwestern Ontario, set aside for a unique approach to scientific research.
Photos reveal a space of great peace and tranquility, vast expanses of untouched lakes bordered by dense forests, and a busy community of scientists working together towards common goals. Being there and experiencing it for yourself reveals so much more.
IISD Experimental Lakes Area is not only the world’s freshwater laboratory, but also an artist’s dream.
The story of IISD-ELA is a true Canadian success story. For the last 50 years, scientists have had the unique ability to research on real lakes to determine what humans, pollution and climate change are doing to fresh water. Research at IISD-ELA has identified why algal blooms happen, what mercury and acid rain do to lakes and fish, and how climate change is molding the future of our fresh water.
It is a living, breathing scientific facility.
What is IISD-ELA’s Artist-in-Residence program?
Are you a painter? Or photographer? Writer, poet, songwriter?
If you create any kind of expressive art, we are interested in inviting you to the site to spend at least one week here from May to October.
The dates are negotiable, and travel to and from the site, accommodation and food is included.
You will meet the residents (there are usually about 20-50 people at the site at any given time), go out on the lakes, take part in the science, get your hands dirty and experience the solitude and excitement of the world’s freshwater laboratory for yourself.
It will be the perfect spot for you to find inspiration and develop new pieces of art in a spot where natural beauty and science collide like nowhere else. You will benefit from a stimulating environment like no other, which will encourage exchange between artists and scientists, and certainly inspire you to produce new pieces that expand the potential of art to communicate science.
James Culleton, a Winnipeg-based artist, already found great inspiration from his short time at the site.
We have already piloted our Artist-in-Residence program and James Culleton found great inspiration at the world’s freshwater laboratory.
What can I expect?
As an IISD Experimental Lakes Area Artist in Residence, you will spend at least a week (Sunday to Friday) during the summer.
IISD-ELA will cover travel from Winnipeg or Kenora, Ontario, to the IISD-ELA facility on the weekly staff shuttle van, leaving on a Sunday and returning on a Friday. Accommodation and food will also be provided, as will access to canoes, hiking trails and all the natural beauty you can handle.
Art materials are the responsibility of the artist.
Once you have developed your pieces of art, we will work with you, on a case-by-case basis, to ensure the best way to present and promote your work, potentially in shows or presentations with other artists. One of your pieces will also be contributed to IISD-ELA’s own art collection hosted at the campsite.
For fifty years researchers at IISD Experimental Lakes Area have been using real lakes to explore what humans are doing to fresh water.
How does it work?
Before applying, be sure to follow IISD-ELA on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to hear all the latest on the program.
If wish to apply for the program please submit by 11:59 p.m. (Central time) on January 10, 2019: (i) a short written statement explaining your experience, what you are current working on, and why you are interested in the program, along with your availability; (ii) your current CV; and (iii) 6 to 10 examples of your current work to [email protected].
If you have any questions about the program, or if you would like more information, please email [email protected]
A Resolved Incident at IISD Experimental Lakes Area
Celebrating Women in Limnology: Six influential women from over fifty years of IISD Experimental Lakes Area
As we look back on the last 50 years of IISD Experimental Lakes Area, we are reminded of many of the researchers and scientists who have made the groundbreaking research possible—many of whom are influential female limnologists.
On International Women’s Day, let’s take a moment to celebrate the impact that female researchers have had on our understanding of issues such as acid rain, climate change, eutrophication and more—and those who are now pushing the world’s freshwater laboratory into a new era.
Here are just six of them.
Sandy Chalanchuk
During her time at IISD-ELA, from 1974 to 2016, Sandy worked on crucial experiments on eutrophication, acid rain, endocrine disruption and climate change. From working in the chemistry laboratory and establishing reference libraries of scientific papers, to being a fish technician and working out on the lakes, Sandy spanned the spectrum of limnology activities at the site, which made a significant contribution to freshwater science. And two of the trap nets she constructed are still being used out at the site to this day!
During her time at IISD-ELA, from 1974 to 2016, Sandy worked on crucial experiments on eutrophication, acid rain, endocrine disruption and climate change.
She remembers that working at the camp back in the early 1970s was quite a different affair to working there now. “That first fall, we went out to Lake 223 in late afternoons to gillnet for lake trout and white sucker. We worked until midnight most nights, so I had to sample by Coleman lantern. We never had the luxury of tables, chairs, headlamps, etc., so I did all this on my knees on a patch of sand, near the water, by lantern light. Dinner was usually a cold, congealed or partly frozen sandwich (and a chocolate bar, which was a special treat from the cook!). Travelling back to camp in the dark meant negotiating three portages and four lakes with only the occasional light from a small flashlight for the trails and ambient light or the light of the moon for the lake travel. Clothing and boots were not the streamlined, warm, moisture-wicking technical items available now. Instead, I wore multiple bulky layers under parkas sized for bigger people and big felt-lined 5-buckle rubber boots that were, needless to say, clumsy and ungainly, but kept my feet dry.”
“There were lots of good times and lots of challenging times,” said Sandy. “We survived two major forest fires, lightning, snow storms and long, long days in the field—there are enough stories to fill a book! Suffice it to say, working at ELA changed my life forever, for the best. I had a great career in a fabulous locale. I met my soulmate and husband at ELA and our son grew up there. Along the way, I met hundreds of interesting people, including the ones there now, who are certainly going to continue to provide the science that will benefit our country and the world.”
Suffice it to say, working at ELA changed my life forever, for the best. I had a great career in a fabulous locale. I met my soulmate and husband at ELA and our son grew up there. Along the way, I met hundreds of interesting people, including the ones there now, who are certainly going to continue to provide the science that will benefit our country and the world.
Pauline Gerrard
Pauline Gerrard is the current deputy director of IISD Experimental Lakes Area. She first became acquainted with the site in 1993, when she worked as a summer student on a project that involved mimicking flooding from a hydroelectric dam to explore the effects on methylmercury and greenhouse gas production.
“Working at IISD Experimental Lakes Area definitely changed my life. I was inspired by the integrated approach to understanding human impacts on the environment. I loved that we were each trying to understand a piece of the puzzle and then brought them all together to look at the big picture.”
Pauline Gerrard first came to work at the site in 1993 as a graduate student. She is now the deputy director and leads our education and outreach programming.
As luck would have it, over 20 years later she was able to return when her employer, the International Institute for Sustainable Development, took over operation of the site. Pauline has built up the education and outreach programming at IISD-ELA from scratch—a core focus for the new era of the site. Thanks to her mammoth efforts, we now welcome hundreds of high school students, members of local communities and First Nations through our metaphorical doors every year, teaching them about the unique freshwater science we do and why it matters.
“Twenty years later, I realize that IISD Experimental Lakes Area inspired me to continue with a career in science and I hope through our outreach work we can inspire the next generation of ecologists, biologists and limnologists here in Canada and around the world.”
“Working at IISD Experimental Lakes Area definitely changed my life. I was inspired by the integrated approach to understanding human impacts on the environment. I loved that we were each trying to understand a piece of the puzzle and then brought them all together to look at the big picture.”
Carol Kelly
“As a graduate student at the University of Michigan, I noticed that all the best papers on lakes were coming out of a place called the Experimental Lakes Area and decided that that was the place to go!”
Carol Kelly came to work at the site in 1978 and spent much of the 1980s working on our pioneering experiment to mimic and explore the impacts of acid rain. In the 1990s she co-ran a project that flooded wetlands and proved that, contrary to the idea that electrical generation by reservoirs does not contribute to greenhouse gas production, flooding a peatland is a very bad choice for greenhouse gas emissions. “This was the most politically controversial project I had done, and it raised my consciousness about the necessity for impartial science to function in society,” said Kelly.
In 2009, along with her husband, John Rudd, Carol Kelly won the Frank Rigler Award from the Society of Canadian Limnologists. This is the highest honour of the SCL and recognizes “aquatic scientists with a proven record of contribution to the field of aquatic sciences, whose work is widely recognized for its influence and importance.”
In 2000 she started to work on the METAALICUS project, which explored how fish populations are affected by introducing mercury, and then how well they recovered after the mercury stopped being added.
This was the most politically controversial project I had done, and it raised my consciousness about the necessity for impartial science to function in society.
In 2009, along with her husband, John Rudd, she won the Frank Rigler Award from the Society of Canadian Limnologists (SCL). This is the highest honour of the SCL and recognizes “aquatic scientists with a proven record of contribution to the field of aquatic sciences, whose work is widely recognized for its influence and importance.”
Karen Kidd
Karen Kidd led a highly cited and well-received study on the impact of synthetic estrogen on fish populations. From 1999 to 2010 the study explored how synthetic estrogen (used in the birth control pill) affected the sustainability of fish populations and other food web organisms.
Karen Kidd is currently a professor and the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in Environment and Health at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
In addition, she has also supervised many graduate students and summer field assistants over the years at IISD-ELA, and is a professor and current Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair in Environment and Health at McMaster University. She is also a valued member of the IISD-ELA Research Advisory Board.
Diane Malley
Diane Malley first started working at IISD Experimental Lakes Area in 1975 when she joined Fisheries and Oceans Canada, working under the direction of Dr. David Schindler. Her early work involved the identification of zooplankton species in a series of lakes and exploring the impact of acid rain on freshwater populations.
In 1991 Diane was instrumental in pioneering the use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the analysis of lake waters and their associated sediments. A chemical-free and quick-to-use physico-chemical method of analysis, the first applications of NIRS at IISD-ELA were used to determine the presence of carbon, carbonates, nitrogen and phosphorus in the lake waters and their sediments. This practise then expanded to the determination of heavy metals, including cadmium, in lake sediments—previously believed to be impossible until she introduced the use of principal components and partial least squares analysis.
Diane was instrumental in pioneering the use of near-infrared spectroscopy—a chemical-free and quick-to-use physico-chemical method of analysis—for lake waters and their associated sediments.
Diane Orihel
Diane Orihel is a significant figure in the history of IISD Experimental Lakes Area, both in terms of its ground-breaking science and its continued survival and prosperity. Once named “Lady of the Lakes” by Nature magazine, she started at the site back in early 2000s and has worked on experiments exploring the impact of pollutants such as mercury and flame retardants.
She was also a leading figure in the fight to save the site after its slated shuttering in 2013, campaigning online, speaking with the politicians, press and the public—all as part of the Coalition to Save ELA she helped found. She is currently leading a study to understand the environmental fate and effects of diluted bitumen in fresh water at IISD-ELA and is also a professor at Queen’s University, where she enjoys a reputation as one of Canada’s leading young aquatic ecotoxicologists.
Diane was a leading figure in the fight to save the site after its slated shuttering in 2013, campaigning online, speaking with the politicians, press and the public—all as part of the Coalition to Save ELA she helped found.
Schindler Prize Celebrates the Next Generation of Freshwater Scientists
Dr David Schindler—Leader of Experimental Lake Investigations at the Experimental Lakes Area from 1968 till 1989—was many things to many people. Pioneer of Canadian science. Strong advocate for the Experimental Lakes Area. Leader in the world of limnology.
For us, one of Dave’s greatest passions was championing and empowering the next generation of freshwater scientists.
In 2022, to honour that legacy, we established the first-ever Dr. David Schindler IISD-ELA Undergraduate Student Fellowship.
This year the fellowship returns, and will be awarded to a student who demonstrates a passion for freshwater science and a strong interest in field research. They will receive CAD 2,000 in addition to their student salary for the summer and will be promoted in our communications (including the annual report, social media etc.)
Preference will be given to students who self-identify as Indigenous.
Want to become the Dr. David Schindler IISD-ELA Undergraduate Student Fellow for 2023?
Just complete the following two steps:
- Apply for one of our 2023 summer student positions through our website.
- In addition to that application, submit a 500-word essay answering the question “What does the legacy of David Schindler and IISD Experimental Lakes Area mean to you as a budding environmental scientist?” at this link.
Getting to spend a summer at IISD Experimental Lakes Area is the dream—I love the work and the people!”
Monica Giesbrecht was our first ever Dr. David Schindler IISD-ELA Undergraduate Student Fellow in 2022, and clearly enjoyed getting hands-on experience of our unique approach to freshwater science.
Want to support the freshwater guardians of the future?
Please consider supporting the first ever Dr. David Schindler IISD-ELA Undergraduate Student Fellowship at IISD-ELA by making a gift to our Endowment Fund by clicking this link.
We are Canadian scientists using new techniques to transform how we monitor and protect our freshwater lakes. Ask us anything, Reddit…
**We have now wrapped us this chat and returned to the lake, but you can continue to access the answers by clicking here**
We are researchers at IISD Experimental Lakes Area (or IISD-ELA to its friends), which is one of the very few places in the world where you can conduct big experiments on whole lakes over the long term, and where we have tracked the health of fresh water—and a changing climate—for over 50 years.
Over the last decade, we have been transforming how we monitor the health of our lakes to make the results more accurate and easier to obtain with less of an impact on wildlife.
This work ranges from innovating new sampling techniques that avoid sacrificing animals—like scraping the mucus off a fish, then placing it back in the lake, to understand its health—to placing sensors across our lakes so we can keep track of them in real time from the comfort of our desks.
We have also been working hard to make our unparalleled dataset on the health of our lakes more available to researchers and the public. Oh, and we are now working on using the DNA that animals shrug off and leave behind as they make their way through the environment in order to estimate populations.
All of what we discover in these 58 lakes (and their watersheds) in a remote part of Ontario up in Canada becomes data we are excited to share with the world. This data then influences the policies that governments and industries across the globe implement to protect fresh water for future generations.
We (Sonya Havens, Chris Hay, Scott Higgins, Michael Paterson, and Thomas Saleh) have learned so much over the last 10 years, and now we want to share what we have learned with you.
So, on Thursday, January 26, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. (CST), tap out your burning questions on your keyboard or screen and ask us absolutely anything*.
*Within reason, of course…
Notes From the Field: IISD-ELA celebrates its 2022 season
IISD Experimental Lakes Area is truly the world’s freshwater laboratory.
And as we celebrate our 2022 research season—the biggest one since the pandemic started—we wanted to share some notes from the field, from across the planet.
Watch videos from Vanuatu, hear notes from North Carolina, and read postcards from Phnom Penh*—from our collaborators excited to share what they’re going to be getting up to at IISD Experimental Lakes Area during its 54th research season.
*Disclaimer: These almost certainly won’t be the places you’ll be hearing from.
This is How We Can Automate Some of Our Analyses—thanks to our donors!
What do you do when you want to incorporate new instruments and need to maintain the integrity of a dataset of over 50 years?
Here at IISD Experimental Lakes Area our data from our Long-Term Ecological Research program is used to understand the long-term variability of various constituents (e.g., nutrients, phytoplankton, zooplankton, fish, etc.) in small boreal lakes. Indeed, this data has been utilized to study how climate change has affected small boreal lakes (e.g., air is getting warmer, lakes are getting less icy, lakes are getting darker, fish are squeezing into smaller habitats, and fish are getting smaller). To ensure that the variability witnessed in our data is due to natural ecological variability or responses to perturbations (e.g., climate change), we need to minimize any variability that may be due to instrument or method changes. While this can lead to a reluctance to update instruments or methods, this reluctance is often overcome by various factors (e.g., instrument is obsolete or requires constant maintenance, automation is needed, more efficient or non-lethal methods are discovered, etc.).
When we asked for help to build up our labs we had two distinct motivations for instrument upgrades:
1. we needed to automate our total dissolved phosphorus (TDP) analysis to increase sample throughput capacity, and
2. we needed to procure an instrument to conduct gran alkalinity analysis so that the samples no longer had to be sent off to an external lab for analysis.
Thanks to many incredibly generous donors, including Red River Co-op and MANTECH, we were able to procure these instruments in 2021; a phosphorus channel on our Seal Auto Analyzer 3 (AA3) to automate TDP analysis and the MANTECH MT-100 to conduct automated analysis of gran alkalinity as well as pH, conductivity, and turbidity. To determine if these instrument adjustments will induce non-ecological variability in the long-term dataset, we need to compare results from the old and new instruments/methods.
So, in the 2021 field season we did just that.
We analyzed 341 TDP samples using both the old manual spectrophotometer method and the new automated Auto Analyzer 3 method and analyzed 228 gran alkalinity samples using the new MT-100 and compared these results to those obtained from the external laboratory. The results for the TDP comparison were what we had hoped for. Not only did the results from the AA3 correlate well with the results from the spectrophotometer (slope and r2 very close to one), but the limit of detection (i.e., the lowest concentration we can accurately measure) was reduced by more than half; from 2.12 ± 0.74 µg/L on the spectrophotometer to 0.96 ± 0.86 µg/L on the AA3. Gran alkalinity results obtained from the MT-100 were well correlated with the results provided by the external laboratory, though perhaps not as tightly as the TDP correlation.
Given these results, we believe that implementing these two new analytical methods will not induce non-ecological variability in the long-term data set and can move forward with using these instruments to measure TDP and gran alkalinity.
But what happens when the results from the two instruments do not correlate or when there is a bias (i.e., one instrument consistently provides higher or lower concentrations than the other)? We unfortunately ran into this issue with pH. The pH measured with our old Accumet pH meter did not correlate well with the pH measured with our new MT-100. So, we have a problem that we need to investigate. The first question is, which results are more accurate? Fortunately, we participate in the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) proficiency testing program, wherein samples are sent to and analyzed by participating laboratories throughout Canada and the results are averaged by ECCC, which provides an estimate of the ‘accurate’ concentration. Our results can then be compared to these ‘accurate’ concentrations. We measured the pH of the ECCC proficiency testing samples using both the Accumet pH meter and the MT-100. The results were both good news and bad news. The good news was the MT-100 provided accurate pH measurements and we can move forward with using the MT-100 to measure pH. The bad news was that the Accumet pH results were biased high, meaning the 2021 pH results measured with Accumet, and added to our long-term dataset, are likely biased high. Luckily, we can use the results from the proficiency testing to ‘correct’ these pH results in our long-term dataset, which shows just how important participating in proficiency testing is.
Become Our Very First David Schindler Undergraduate Student Fellow
Dr David Schindler—Leader of Experimental Lake Investigations at the Experimental Lakes Area from 1968 till 1989—was many things to many people. Pioneer of Canadian science. Strong advocate for the Experimental Lakes Area. Leader in the world of limnology.
For us, one of Dave’s greatest passions was championing and empowering the next generation of freshwater scientists.
In honouring that legacy, we decided to establish the first-ever Dr. David Schindler IISD-ELA Undergraduate Student Fellowship.
The fellowship will be awarded to a student who demonstrates a passion for freshwater science and a strong interest in field research. They will receive CAD 2,000 in addition to their student salary for the summer and will be promoted in our communications (including the annual report, social media etc.)
Preference will be given to students who self identify as Indigenous.
Want to become Canada’s first-ever Dr. David Schindler IISD-ELA Undergraduate Student Fellow?
Just complete the following two steps:
- Apply for one of our 2022 summer student positions through our website.
- In addition to that application, submit a 500-word essay answering the question “What does the legacy of David Schindler and IISD Experimental Lakes Area mean to you as a budding environmental scientist?” at this link.
Want to support the freshwater guardians of the future?
Please consider supporting the first ever Dr. David Schindler IISD-ELA Undergraduate Student Fellowship at IISD-ELA by making a gift to our Endowment Fund by clicking this link.
This Is How You Turn Food Waste into Locally Grown Produce
The field season at IISD Experimental Lakes Area is in full swing, and—in true IISD-ELA style—we’re trying something different; a new experiment, this time focusing on food-waste management!
This year, instead of sending our food waste to the landfill, we’ve teamed up with the Harvest Kenora Collective to put our waste to use and increase food resiliency in Kenora at the same time!
Much Ado About Bokashi
This season at IISD ELA, we are turning our food waste into “bokashi,” a high-quality garden amendment. The Harvest Kenora Collective is helping us toward sustainability by burying our bokashi in local gardens to boost soil quality and improve garden productivity —a win-win that helps us reduce our waste and allows us to contribute to a more sustainable and resilient local food system!
Bokashi is a term used to describe the process of using Lactobacillus spp. bacteria (the same bacteria used to make yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut, and sour beer) to ferment food waste, preventing it from rotting and making it easy for soil organisms to break down. While the precise origins of the term are not clear, the fermentation of organic matter to use as a soil amendment goes back centuries in Korea and likely has its roots in Korean Natural Farming practices gaining popularity around the world.
This “Lacto-fermentation” process that occurs when making bokashi prevents decay by pickling food waste in an acidic, anaerobic environment. The Lactobacillus bacteria break down carbohydrates in the food waste and produce lactic acid, which staves off the “bad” bacteria and moulds while retaining the nutrients of the fermented materials. Bokashi is quickly broken down by the organisms in soil and provides a readily available source of nutrients for the plants, fungi, and other biota living there.
We began bokashi fermentation at our homes this past winter after listening to the October 31, 2020, episode of The Permaculture Podcast with Scott Mann. Bokashi has three main benefits over composting when it comes to food-waste management:
- Bokashi does not produce heat, CO2, or methane gas, all of which are or can be by-products of conventional composting. This means that bokashi provides more carbon to the soil ecosystem where it can be used by plants, rather than be emitted as a greenhouse gas.
- Bokashi fermentation can occur in a small space (e.g., a 20-litre pail) and is a process that occurs quickly at room temperature—as such, it can be done indoors during the winter months, unlike composting.
- Bokashi fermentation works on all food waste, including meat, bones, and dairy. It also works well on paper napkins, popsicle sticks, coffee filters and the like, cutting waste to zero!
Bokashi fermentation is also a low-odour process, especially during fermentation when the lid is on the bucket. The fermented bokashi and liquid do have a sour smell to them; however, this smell disappears quickly when the bokashi is buried in soil. The low-odour nature of bokashi fermentation is a major benefit that makes bokashi ideal for use at the IISD ELA field station: past attempts at food waste management through composting quickly caught the attention of the local black bear population, and no one wants to have to sprint from building to building to avoid encountering a hungry and curious bear (especially at night!).
How We Make the Magic Happen
Making bokashi is pretty straightforward and can be done by anyone for managing their food waste at home—we’ve included steps at the end for reference. The key to bokashi lies in the Lactobacillus culture that is used to ferment the food waste. You can make this yourself (see steps at end) or purchase premade Lactobacillus inoculated bran that is sprinkled on food waste rather than sprayed. I found that keeping the bokashi spray in a bottle in the fridge was the simplest and most effective means of handling the quantity of food waste generated by 30 plus people in camp, as a little goes a long way.
At IISD-ELA, the bokashi process is simple enough for everyone to get the hang of quickly. Here’s a snapshot of what we are doing from plate to garden:
Bokashi is yet another satisfying step towards sustainability for IISD-ELA, and we are thrilled to be building a relationship with the Harvest Kenora Collective. With only a small amount of work, IISD ELA can make use of our food waste to create a high-quality garden amendment, and the Harvest Kenora Collective can use that bokashi to improve local garden soil and grow more food! Perhaps one day we can localize our food supply chain and close the loop entirely with produce grown by the Harvest Kenora Collective!
The IISD-ELA field station, as well as the Harvest Kenora Collective and the Homerun Gardens operate in Treaty #3 territory, on the traditional land of the Anishinaabe Nation and the homelands of the Metis people. Together, we are reducing our impacts on the land and working towards a more sustainable future.
How You Can Use Bokashi Fermentation at Home … or the Office!
- Make a Lactobacillus culture (optional: can also purchase ready-made bokashi bran online)
- This is a simple process and takes about one week. Start by rinsing ~ 1 cup of rice in a bowl and setting the rinse water out on the counter for two or three days, uncovered. The starch washed off the rice provides food for Lactobacillus spp. bacteria floating in the air (they are everywhere) and will allow them to greatly increase their population as they colonize the rinse water.
- In a large jar (1.6 litre or 4 litre works well), add the colonized rice rinse water 1:10 with milk (e.g., 100 millilitres of rice rinse to 1 litre of milk). Any unspoiled milk will do—I have used half-and-half that was a few days past its expiry but hadn’t curdled yet, with great success.
- Let the jar sit on the counter, covered with a cloth or paper towel, until the milk separates into a dense mass of milk solids and whey. This usually happens within 4 to 5 days.
- Strain the whey into a separate jar (through a thin tea towel works well). This is the Lactobacillus spp. culture that will be used to create bokashi! This liquid can be kept in the refrigerator for months, or if you add an equal weight of brown sugar to it, in a cool dark place for over a year. Fill a spray bottle with the Lactobacillus spp. culture so you can give your food waste a good spray whenever you add it to the bokashi bucket.
- The solids left over from the culturing process are essentially cheese and can be added to your food waste in the bokashi bucket or even eaten in a lasagna if you are feeling adventurous!
- Create a bokashi bucket (or two or three … or 12!)
- At IISD ELA, we use bokashi buckets consisting of two stacked 20-litre pails and a lid.
- Holes are drilled in the bottom of the inside (i.e., top) bucket, where food waste is deposited. The outside (i.e., bottom) bucket is left intact and the lid seals things up.
- The holes in the inside bucket allow liquid to drain out of the bokashi as it ferments.
- Ferment your food waste
- Put a layer of paper towel or tissue down on the bottom of the inside bucket to prevent coffee grounds or small bits of food waste from falling through the holes.
- Spray the bottom layer, and any food scraps you add to the bucket, with Lactobacillus spp. culture.
- Minimize air pockets by compressing the food waste in the bucket as you add it.
- Once the bucket is packed full, put the lid on and set it aside for a week or more to ferment. Fermentation is usually complete within 2 weeks.
- Drain the liquid from the bucket if it begins to saturate the bokashi from below
- Bokashi liquid can be used as a fertilizer if diluted 1:100 or 1:200 (e.g. 10 millilitres bokashi liquid into 1 or 2 litres of water).
- I usually just add this liquid to the garden soil whenever things are getting watered.
- Dig your bokashi into the garden once fermentation is complete
- It is essential that soil organisms and microbes have time to consume the bokashi to complete the process. Allow the bokashi a week or two in the soil before transplanting seedlings in the same spot.
Originating out of Climate Action Kenora, a group of climate concerned citizens, the volunteer group Harvest Kenora formed to address food security in Kenora. Having established the collective micro-farm Homerun Gardens in 2019, Harvest Kenora evolved and grew to become the Harvest Kenora Collective, with the mission to collectively grow food, relationships, and lifelong skills for healthier, more resilient communities and ecosystems. Past initiatives include the Resiliency Garden Campaign (2020) where the Collective provided hundreds of volunteer-grown seedlings, regional seeds, container gardens, and local manure, along with gardening advice for participants to successfully grow their own food at home during the Pandemic. Through this initiative, the Collective supported novel and experienced gardeners alike to boost food resiliency in Kenora while nurturing relationships through growing food. This year, Homerun Gardens is once again open to everyone as a place to come and learn about, participate in, and build relationships around growing food in a sustainable way. As always, the produce is grown by—and for—the community. Please feel welcome to join the twice-weekly garden parties and enjoy the fruits of your labour with fresh, nutrient-rich produce picked straight from the garden.
Learn more, and consider supporting their work, at www.harvestkenora.ca