What is fish emulsion? It’s fermented fish guts. Well, it’s not just guts, its also skins and scales and bones. It’s not a very pretty thing, if I’m honest, but it will make your plants pretty!
Fish emulsion is the grossest thing I’ve ever done for my plants. And the smelliest. I hate poultry manure, but I’d rather handle 500 pounds of that than one bucket of fish emulsion. But, plants love fermented fish. And buying that stuff is expensive! So why should I buy it when my best friend’s husband is a fishing guide and generously offered to give me a freezer full of fish scraps? I’d be stupid not to make this… Right?
Fish emulsion (or if we’re getting technical, what I make is fish Fish Hydrolysate because it isn’t processed with heat) is a great natural fertilizer for your garden. It contains organic nitrogen and soluble phosphorous and potassium. It’s also teeming with good bacteria that will feed microbes in your soil and improve your soil’s health. Remember: We feed the soil, not the plants. And fish emulsion is a great way to do that!
So I’ll tell you just how to make fish emulsion, in case you’re feeling brave and want to try it yourself. Then I’ll tell you what I did so you can laugh about it. Or gag. Blech!
Ingredients:
Fish scraps
Leaves
Water (non-chlorinated)
Molassas
Bucket with a tight lid
Instructions:
1. Cut fish scraps in to small pieces, or blend them in a blender.
2. Fill bucket roughly half full with leaves (these help trap the good nutrients)
3. Add fish to the bucket
4. Add water in a ratio of 3:1 (three parts water, one part fish)
5. Add about 2 tablespoons of molasses for every liter of water/fish scraps
6. Stir. Then cover tightly with the lid.
7. Open the bucket and stir every day or two. You should see bubbles–this is a sign that the fermentation is taking place.
8. Once the smell is no longer offensive, your emulsion will be ready to dilute and fertilize. This may be as soon as 2 weeks, or if you’re me, you’ll wait two years. Because you’re scared to open the bucket.
To Use:
Strain the liquid and mix 2 tablespoons of emulsion (liquid) with 1 gallon of water and apply to the soil. You can also add 1/2 tablespoon to a gallon of compost tea. Add the solid remains to your compost pile.
Emulsion can be stored for later use. Leave the cap loose until the bubbling ceases, then tighten the cap and store.
So Here’s my Story:
I got a few large bags of frozen fish scraps: skins, fins, tails, bones, heads and guts. I brought them home and left them outside overnight to thaw slightly, and the next day I collected two 5 gallon buckets, one with a tight fitting lid. I put a few handfuls of leaves in each, filled the buckets with fish scraps, added some molasses and topped them off with water. I stirred the contents and wondered if I had filled them too full. I just had so many fish guts! I put the lid on one bucket and covered the other with a Rubbermaid tote lid and placed some large rocks on top to weigh it down.
I returned to the buckets after a day or so to stir them. The fish scraps had swollen, and they were, indeed, fermenting! The buckets were overflowing and smelly and messy and there were flies everywhere! I found a third bucket and divided the contents between the three.
Soon the buckets were filling with maggots. Barf. I could hardly stomach stirring them. And after another day, I kid you not, I was sitting at my desk, looking out the window, and I saw a vulture circling. The smell was so bad that it was drawing vultures to the homestead! Vultures! I went outside to prevent the vulture from landing, but I soon abandoned the buckets and left them to their own devices. I didn’t lift their lids, I didn’t stir them.
It’s been two years since I tried to ferment fish guts. I think this year I’ll peek inside the buckets to see what’s there. What will I find? I don’t know. But I hope the smell won’t be too bad. And I hope I’ll have something good inside for my garden. If there’s liquid, I’ll use it as it’s meant to be used. If there isn’t, maybe I’ll add some water (and molasses?) and see what happens. Either way, I will either spread the solid remains thin and deep in my garden bed, or I’ll add it to my compost pile. I just hope that all that trouble will be worth it!
