m0use's Haus Of Projects

This diary is my Mini Project Page where I list off things I have done for my grows. This entry is all about LABS or "lactic acid bacteria serum" LactoBacilli are great for the soil and help keep pathogenic opportunists at bay. They help decompose/ferment matter and are very human and pet safe. They are the main active compound in Bokashi "Composting" aka Fermenting systems. I like using this method of cultivating the LAB as it encourages strong resistant strains of LAB. Best to use whole milk but any milk will work,even powered however lactose free will not. I follow a basic guide online for making LABS and it goes like this. video and links detailed below: rice wash milk time=LABS 1. Gather your unwashed rice and soak it in equal parts water to rice to make your rice wash. "I used 1/4 cup of rice "black and white sticky" to 1cup of water and it still worked out fine, I used black rice for the extra anthocyanins in it, not need any rice will do. I used bottled water for a cleaner result to help avoid any microorganisms from the tap and I poured boiling water into the containers/vessels where they will ferment in for a quick somewhat effective disinfect" 2. Stir or agitate the rice wash mixture for min of 15min then drain and sieve the rice, saving the liquid aka rice wash. "I let my mixture soak for 1-2hrs shaking every 15 min as black rice is not as refined and I want it to release as much as it could into the water, I also cook the rice after and eat it, no sense in wasting it" 3. Store the rice wash liquid in a clear glass jar with a cheese cloth lid for gas exchange. Once the liquid separates into three defined layers its ready. 2-7 days depending on temperature. bottom layer = sediment, not needed middle layer = LAB infused liquid, needed top layer = molds and gunk, not needed It should have a sweet and sour smell to it, much like a sour dough starter as this is the same bacteria. If it smells off from this, start over. "the first one I ever made had a milder odour to it, I kept it. was not rotten smelling or overly yeasty" 4, Carefully remove the middle layer of the rice wash ferment and set aside. If the bottom layer is disturbed it will mix back into the solution and will not be as pure. "I use a syringe to suck out the middle later, you can try to scrape off the top later but I find it mixes it in more. Best to push it to one side and make a hole for the syringe" 5. Combine your rice wash and milk in a clean vessel 3/4 of the way up, the ratio is 1part rice wash to 10 parts milk. 1:10 100ml rice wash to 1000ml/1L milk. The mixture will expand a bit in its fermentation process and this is why we leave some room. Wide mouth jars work best. I layer the mouth of the jar with cheese cloth "optional" and the metal snap lids, do not screw them on tight, this allows gas exchange and keep other things out. "I tried adding aged kefir into the milk in addition to the rice wash and it turned out really well. Kefir is a fermented dairy that used yeasts and bacteria. I used a Kefir that was several months past its best before date and was extra fermented but not rotten/spoiled. The ratio I used was 1 teaspoon per 1L of milk. I poured boiling water into the containers/vessels where they will ferment in for a quick somewhat effective disinfect" 6. Place the newly mixed solution of rice wash milk in a dark, room temp area till three distinct layers form. 2-7 days depending on temperature. top layer = Curds, tasty and can be made into cheese middle layer = LAB infused serum, this is what we came here for bottom layer = sediments "If you ferment a few days longer then needed the top part of the curd will start to grow undesired organisms like yeasts and sometimes mold. The smell should be quite similar or almost identical to that of the completed fermented rice wash" 7. Strain and filter out the curds from the top layer trying not to incorporate any sediment into the collected solution. Slow and steady multiple layers of cheese cloth work well for this. "I make a basic cheese out of the curds and sediments from the fermenting process. Some call it farmers cheese. It's like a feta in taste and texture. With the added in Kefir mine took on a Parmesan like odour and taste. It was lovely. I also added in some fresh cracked black better and sumac for flavour. Ate this cheese and crackers topped with figs and dates. I save half of this LABS for a probiotic and it worked wonders on my system, the 2nd batch I made did not have the same results so I allocated it all to the garden" 8. Store the now filtered and strained LABS in the fridge as it is for a few weeks to a month, or combine with equal parts sugar useing Weight to Liquid ratio to create a shelf stable solution. eg 1000ml/1L of serum will get 1000g/1KG of sugar. "I store mine in the fridge with 1/4c of black strap molasses per 1L of LABS, this gives them food to snack on but is not enough sugar to preserve them outside the fridge environment." 9. Use in gardens and in compost piles to help maintain odour and accelerate the composting process as well as keep pathogenic opportunistic organisms at bay. LABS prefers a anaerobic environment lacking in oxygen, but can also survive in one with oxygen, aerobic. If your LABS starts to smell funky or get cloudy it maybe time to create a new batch. Some frothing of the liquid on shelf stable mixtures is normal. 0.25-2ml/1L for watering in the garden and up to 30ml/L for compost spray/soaking applications. 10. If you want to make cheese out of this follow the youtube clips. I heated the mixture up after pressing for a day and a bit, added salt spices till it got to the right consistency then pressed it again for1 more day, seasoned it and then into the fridge. Consumed it within a week before it could go bad. This type of cheese does not last as long as others given its short fermentation period and lack of curing or maturing. ====================================================================================================== LINKS VIDEOS ====================================================================================================== Making and Explaining LAB Phase 1, phase 2, how to store lab I found this person went into great detail on how to, and what to expect. They also pointed me towards the other person who makes cheese out of the curds. It's not 100% accurate or set up like a laboratory project but it worked. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYZraIEddp8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-T0VbR5NVE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpszL3ZJt_0 LAB cheese making This video is long and the person teaching it is a bit unorganized but it works. Just skip through the parts he is rambling or telling bad jokes. Most of it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNwrx36rWkU m0use's haus of projects - cheese edition

This was a fun project that was a few years in the making and a year later to see if they would last a season for this upload to happen. Before any of this I would bike aorund town grabbing up all the old Ikea solid pine bed slats that I could find and storing them in the basement. I have a lot of wood down there, any size worked as long as I have enough of them. The hot days to find them were the first and last of the months because that's when people where moving in/out. I also kept an eye on the free section on local online classifieds as well. The entire purpose of this was to recycle as much off the streets as I could before buying anything to finalize the project. In the end I only bought sealer, screws and some takeaway/beers. All the wood was 100% free and salvaged off the streets of Toronto saving it from the dumpster bin. After collecting all the slats for about 2 years I was playing aorund with them on how I wanted to make this work. I had previously done a little project like this before but I messed it up and the boxes where crap. did not last longer then 2 seasons, they where thin and shallow as well could not grow much of anything in them. I Was talking to my friend who is renovating their house and we brainstormed some ideas on the boxes, I found some designs I liked online and said lets make something like this out of what I have here. We tossed out a few of the design features when looking at them as it would have been wasted wood and extra work not needed. If I had more wood them maybe it could have been an option but simple was the name of the game. They taught me what I needed to know like how the miter saw and sander worked, plus all the other tools I was using. They did help out with a table saw and creating the triangle support joints in the corners, They used some pine left overs they had while making a staircase indoors. I did not feel up to the task of using a table saw given all the relatives I know who have lost a finger to them. In the end we decided the design would be three boards high and take an alternating pattern on corners. layer one short, layer 2 long, layer 3 short. Went with a galvanized and painted deck screw so it can take the weathering. Ran into some problems like making everything level as some of the boards were warped and other ones had undesired aspects like knots and tacky sticker goo I could not remove. So I used them for the base that will not been seen so much. Clamped everything down and called it a day. Once it was all done and over with, I then brought them back home from my buddies work garage and started to seal them. I went with a boiled linseed oil as its a food safe option should the wood degrade into the soil I will plant in them. I will need to reapply it to the boxes year after year but the main coat is the most important one and I put it on 3 layers with a good dry in between coats. the inside of the boxes that where coated did not degrade at all as the sun did not hit them so it will not need a new coat just the outside. Overall the end result was very impressive for myself, I've never taken a woodworking class ever and It was a near perfect outcome for me. Heavy Duty Planter Boxes for all my gardening needs. I made a last min decision to add in a plastic liner to preserve the wood even longer and stapled that into the frame. it has held up quite well and may need replacing end of 2nd or 3rd year out in the sun. Used a thick moisture wrap plastic with UV protectors in its formula. Lets see what I can grow in them this year! m0use's haus of projects - garden box edition