Those Blasted Fruit Flies

It’s been a while since I posted anything new on this bokashi blog. One of the reasons I haven’t posted is because I’ve been battling very annoying pest. Fruit flies.

I’m not exactly sure how the infestation began. I believe it’s because we had overripe bananas sitting a little too long in our fruit bowl. It doesn’t take long before fruit flies find a home and settle in.

A Few Lazy Nights

Coupled with the old fruit were a couple of nights where I went to bed before emptying the bokashi scrap receptacle. Once isn’t so bad but developing the habit of forgetting to empty the container before bed gives the fruit flies just enough time to settle in.

Realizing the error of my ways, I made sure to empty the scrap container after every meal cooked. However, I believe the damage was done as I started finding fruit flies in the trash. These tiny little annoying bugs seemed to be flying everywhere.

Full-Fledged Fruit Fly War

Enough was enough. I put a halt to the bokashi scraps. I took the trash out several times a day and I hunted around the house to see where they were nesting. I kept fruit in the refrigerator (who likes cold bananas) and used a mild soap and water bug spray and sprayed all of my plants.

It took a couple of weeks, but it seemed to do the trick. Now that the house is fruit-fly free, I’m resuming my bokashi fermenting. Currently, the scraps are held in a bag in the refrigerator instead of a holding container.

When preparing meals I use a yuck bucket.  A yuck bucket is nothing more than a plastic grocery bag inserted into a bowl. When I cook I toss the scraps in the yuck bucket. After I’m done I take the plastic bag and either put it in the refrigerator to hold until I place the contents in the bokashi bin or I toss the contents directly into the bokashi bin. I’m still a little gun shy about using a scrap container just yet.

Resuming Bokashi

When you’re used to recycling food scraps, your heart hurts every time you throw away organic food matter. Now that the fruit fly infestation is gone, I’m very careful and more diligent about tossing the scraps in the fermenting bin.

A friendly warning: If you see 1 or 2 flies, nip it in the bud. Get rid of their food source and wrap things up tight before they multiply. I’m not sure which is more annoying, the fruit flies or those ugly stink bugs (if you live in the Hudson Valley, you know what I’m talking about).