# Bokashi recipes We always recommend [iterating and field experimentation](/practice-guide/iteration/what-is-a-b-testing.md). But here are some good standard starting recipes for bokashi. #### 🤓 The nerdy reason for the ingredients In the recipes, **C is carbon and N is nitrogen.** Standard agronomy shorthand. The **C:N ratio** is an important part of a good recipe: * **High-C materials** (rice hulls \~80:1, sawdust \~400:1, coffee husks \~50:1, biochar \~∞) — these are the "brown" carbon-rich bulking agents * **High-N materials** (chicken manure \~7:1, fish emulsion \~5:1, fresh green leaves \~15:1) — the "green" nitrogen-rich activators * **Target for bokashi**: roughly **25–30:1** going in. Too high-C and fermentation stalls. Too high-N and you lose nitrogen as ammonia (the stinky-batch means it failed). Compost uses the same ratios for the same reason — microbes need \~25 parts carbon for every 1 part nitrogen to build their own bodies. Bokashi just gets there faster because the lactic-acid fermentation pathway is more efficient than thermophilic decomposition. {% hint style="info" %} Practical tip: if a farmer's bokashi smells like ammonia, add more rice hulls. If it won't ferment and stays cold, add more manure or molasses. {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://sexytrees.savimbo.com/practice-guide/bokashi/bokashi-recipes.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.