Free shipping on any 2+ items - Excludes Bulk
BuildASoil  |  SKU: KGD104

BuildASoil Kashi Gold

Rated 4.9 out of 5
Based on 68 reviews
$30.00
<p>Earn%20[points_amount]%20when%20completing%20this%20purchase.</p>

Quality First

BuildASoil is committed to sourcing the highest quality ingredients you can trust. over 10,000 Five Star Reviews and over a decade in business

Delivery and Shipping

Shipping Policy

Shipping is expensive, and it gets more expensive almost every year. We are not going to pretend otherwise. What we can tell you is that we work hard to find the most reliable and affordable way to get your order to you, and we pass along free shipping wherever it makes sense.

Free shipping on any order with two or more items. The one exception is bulk items, meaning the large or heavy products that have to move by freight or oversized parcel. If your cart qualifies, free shipping is applied automatically at checkout.

Why two items and not a dollar amount?

Most stores set free shipping at a dollar threshold. That works when you sell light things like clothing. We don't. We ship soil, amendments, and heavy real goods that are expensive and awkward to move, so a dollar minimum doesn't reflect what shipping actually costs us.

We are a small business with no outside financial backing, and we are not Amazon. We manufacture, pack, and ship everything in house so we can control quality, which means real people picking, boxing, taping, and labeling every order, and that means real jobs. When we ship a single item for free, the only way to cover it is to raise prices across the board, and we would rather not do that. Asking for two or more items on free orders lets us keep prices lower for everyone and keep shipping sustainable. We hate high shipping costs as much as you do, and this is the fairest way we have found to keep them down.

Delivery estimates

Every product page shows an estimated delivery window based on current fulfillment and carrier schedules, so you know what to expect before you buy.

Shipping Options
BuildASoil Shipping Free
Transit: up to 10 business days Handling: standard

Free on eligible orders with two or more items. We select the carrier and method.

Standard Shipping Paid
Transit: 3 to 7 business days Handling: standard

Standard ground service.

Standard Shipping: Rushed Out the Door Paid, slightly more
Transit: 3 to 7 business days Handling: same day, not guaranteed

Same standard transit, but we push it out the door the same day when we can.

Get It Fast Higher
Transit: 2 to 3 business days Handling: same day, not guaranteed

Prioritized fulfillment with faster transit.

Overnight It Highest
Transit: 1 business day Handling: ships ASAP

The fastest option we offer.

Pickup at Factory Store Free
Ready: within 24 hours Location: Montrose, CO

Bring your order confirmation and a valid ID.

FedEx Freight (Economy) Quoted
Transit: 2 to 9 business days

For large or heavy orders.

FedEx Freight (Priority) Quoted
Transit: 2 to 7 business days

For large or heavy orders, faster transit.

Carriers

We ship with FedEx, UPS, and USPS, and we pick the carrier that gets your order to you reliably at the best cost. We cannot guarantee a specific carrier unless you arrange it with us ahead of time.

PO Boxes

Orders to PO Boxes often cost more and usually do not qualify for free shipping. Use a physical address to avoid delays and added fees.

Outside the Continental US

We ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands. Free shipping generally does not apply to large or bulky items going to these destinations, though Hawaii and Alaska have more flexibility depending on carrier policy. Rates are quoted at checkout or on request.

Canada

We ship select items to Canada. Canadian customers need to choose "UPS Standard Shipping to Canada" at checkout so your order clears customs cleanly and you avoid surprise brokerage fees. Orders placed with other methods can be delayed or rejected at the border.

Vendor-Fulfilled Items

Some products ship directly from our vendor partners and show their own estimated ship dates on the product page. Questions about these go to support@buildasoil.com.

Freight Shipments

Freight orders arrive on pallets by box truck or semi. We assume you need liftgate service unless you tell us otherwise.

Inspect every freight shipment before you sign. Count the packages and check for damage. Signing the delivery receipt confirms the order arrived complete and undamaged, so note any problem on the receipt before you sign it.

Full Truckloads

Full truckload (FTL) orders are custom quoted after checkout based on your location, order volume, and how the truck will be unloaded.

  • Let us know if you have a dock, forklift, or other unloading equipment.
  • Tell us if you need liftgate or manual unload service.
  • Email support@buildasoil.com ahead of time for an FTL quote.
Order Tracking

We email tracking as soon as your order ships. If it does not arrive, check buildasoil.aftership.com with your order details, or email support@buildasoil.com.

Shipping Protection

This optional add-on at checkout covers your shipment against loss, theft, and damage, and we fast-track those claims for replacement or resolution. Even with protection, photos and documentation help us move carrier claims along faster.

Claims

Send all claims to support@buildasoil.com. We do not process claims by phone.

Include:

  • A description of the issue
  • Photos or video of the damage, or of missing or incorrect items
  • Images of the packaging and labels

Hold onto the packaging and any damaged items until the claim is resolved, since carriers may require an inspection.

Claim deadlines

  • Damage or missing items: within 60 days of delivery
  • Incorrect products: within 60 days of shipment
  • Lost or misdelivered packages: within 60 days of shipment
Once Your Order Leaves Our Facility

We help with every carrier claim we can. But once an order is in the carrier's hands, we cannot control delays, damage, or misdelivery, and the carrier makes the final call on claims.

Description

Solid state ferment, made by hand

Put the biology where the food is

You already have compost, castings, and dry amendments sitting under your mulch. Whether any of it reaches the plant comes down to the biology working that layer. Kashi Gold is EM-1 fermented onto a rice bran carrier, which means you can put that culture exactly where the food is, in a form that stays put and brings its own meal along with it.

4.9 out of 5 from 63 reviews, 97 percent would recommend it

What it does up there

Three things start happening in the mulch layer at once

This is not a fertilizer you feed with and it is not a compost starter. It is a live culture on an edible carrier, and when it lands on a moist, covered layer it goes to work in three directions at the same time.

One application, sprinkled on the mulch

Everything below happens in the same layer, in the same week, from the same handful.

01

It works on the amendments you already put down

The probiotic culture goes after the material sitting in that layer, your mulch, your compost top dress, your dry amendments. That is the whole reason it belongs on the surface instead of tilled in. The food is up there, so the biology goes up there.

EM-1 culture

02

The carrier is a meal in its own right

Rice bran is not inert filler holding the culture together. It is a rich food source on its own, high in phosphorus and oil, and it feeds the layer whether or not there is anything else up there for the biology to work on.

High phos rice bran

03

Minerals and nutrients arrive already fermented

Basalt rock dust brings a broad mineral profile, and minerals are the cofactors enzymes run on. Black soldier fly frass brings a wide range of nutrients plus a small amount of chitin. Both went through the ferment before they ever reached your bag, so they arrive already worked rather than sitting on the surface waiting their turn.

Basalt rock dust flourBlack soldier fly frass

The other two inputs, sea salt and organic cane molasses, do their work before the bag is sealed. They are there so the fermentation finishes correctly, which is Alan's job, not yours.

Bucket versus bed

Almost all bokashi in the world is sold to ferment kitchen scraps

That is a good use for it. It is not this use. Bran inoculated for a sealed bucket is formulated to pickle food waste in an airtight container over two weeks. Bokashi for a living bed has a different job, and if you have been buying the bucket kind and sprinkling it on your garden, you have been using a tool slightly off label.

Bucket bokashi

  • Formulated for a sealed anaerobic container
  • Job is to ferment food waste before it goes in the ground
  • Usually bran plus a culture, priced as a consumable
  • Nothing in it is chosen for what is already living in your bed

Kashi Gold

  • Built for the mulch layer of a living, planted bed
  • Job is to cycle the mulch, compost, and amendments already there
  • Carries rock dust, frass, and mineral salt alongside the culture
  • Made in small batches by the person who designed the category

What is in it

Six inputs, and a reason for each one

Premium High Phos Rice Bran
Both words in that name are doing work. The phos is 6.30 percent available phosphorus on the analysis below, the highest number on the panel. The premium is that it is OMRI listed and not sourced specially for this bag. It is the same bran we buy by the pallet for Pushin' P, the Ultra Clean commercial recipe, and Potting Soil 3.0, which is why we have years of analysis on it. It is also the right substrate for the job, high in oil and fine enough to ferment through evenly.
EM-1
The original effective microorganisms culture developed by Dr. Teruo Higa. Not a knockoff culture, not an unnamed proprietary blend. Using the original is what makes the ferment repeat itself batch to batch.
Basalt rock dust flour
Ground basalt carrying a broad mineral profile. Minerals are the cofactors enzymes need to function, so putting rock dust inside the ferment rather than selling it beside the ferment means the biology meets those minerals before your soil ever does.
Black soldier fly larvae frass
Brings a wide range of nutrients with it, plus a small amount of chitin, which is one of the tougher carbon compounds soil organisms cycle. It gives the ferment something to work on beyond simple sugars.
Redmond sea salt, small percentage
This one is process, not plant nutrition. Alan adds it by hand to steer the fermentation and make sure it finishes correctly, and he considers it one of the important steps rather than a garnish. Small percentage is the operative phrase, it is there for the ferment, not as an input rate for your soil.
Organic cane sugar molasses, Oregon Tilth certified
The fuel the fermentation runs on. Food grade and certified organic on the input, not the feed grade material most ferments use. That is a real cost difference per batch, and you can smell it when the bag opens.

How to use it

Sprinkle it on the mulch, water it in lightly, leave it alone

This is a surface product. It works at the mulch and soil interface, so do not till it in and do not bury it. Put it where the moisture and cover are.

Use Rate Frequency
Top dress, established beds and containers 2 to 4 tablespoons per square foot, across the mulch layer Every 1 to 3 weeks
New beds, or heavy fresh mulch Handfuls tossed in as you build the layer At setup, to get activity started
Compost pile boost Half a cup to 1 cup per cubic foot of compost As you turn or build the pile

What a bag actually covers

Kashi Gold weighs about 4.25 ounces per cup, so a 2 pound bag is roughly 7.5 cups, or about 120 tablespoons. At the top dress rate that works out to somewhere between 30 and 60 square feet per application depending on whether you go light or heavy.

In practical terms, one bag gives you two to four full passes over a 4 foot by 4 foot bed.

Store it somewhere animals cannot get to it. This is the single most common thing that goes wrong with Kashi Gold, and it is not a plant problem. Dogs, chickens, and mice will find an open bag and eat the whole thing. Keep it sealed, cool, and dry, which also preserves viability. A solid state ferment stored properly stays good for years.

The rest of it

Open these if you want them

The white stuff Alan called it mycelium. He was probably right.

What you will see

White, fuzzy growth in the mulch a few days after application. Big pillowy clouds usually form under a plastic mulch cover, like the one on an EarthBox. In an open mulch layer of wood chips, straw, or leaves, peel the layer back and you will often find remnants of it underneath.

Why it shows up

Kashi Gold is a lactic ferment, and a lactic ferment stays stable as long as air stays out. In a bokashi bucket, white fuzz forms at the very top, where air hits every time the lid comes off. On your mulch, you are doing that on purpose. Kashi Gold opens a sour ferment full of easy food to air and moisture, and the food brings in the things that eat it. That first wave is the white growth.

What it most likely is

Fungal growth. EM-1 itself is lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and phototrophic bacteria, and none of those grow as fuzzy threads. For a while we told people it was actinomycetes, a group of bacteria that grow in threads and look a lot like fungi. That answer is usually right for hot compost. But molds and actinomycetes both need air, and what separates them here is acid. Actinomycetes do not handle acid well, and fresh Kashi Gold is sour. Molds that handle acid are well documented in silage, a world Alan knows well, since his family was in the silage industry.

Why it always goes away

The pillows are the first step in a cascade, not a state your bed stays in. As that first growth eats, the acid gets used up, the easy food runs out, and other biology moves in: bacteria, springtails and mites that graze on fungi, and eventually worms. Whether you see pillows at all depends on cover, moisture, light, and airflow. They are not a sign your bed is perfect. They are a cool look at the first step.

Lab data Third party analysis on the inputs

These are third party certificates of analysis from Spectrum Analytic on the two dry inputs that carry almost all of the nutrition in this product. Both PDFs are linked below so you can read them yourself rather than take our summary for it. They are analyses of what goes in. They are not a guaranteed analysis of the finished ferment, and we are not going to present them as one.

Analysis Rice bran Black soldier fly frass
Total nitrogen 2.28 percent 3.11 percent
Available phosphorus as P2O5 6.30 percent 3.41 percent
Potassium as K2O 1.68 percent 0.94 percent
Zinc 60 mg/kg 276 mg/kg
Copper 17 mg/kg 13 mg/kg

Full heavy metal panel on both inputs

Element Rice bran Black soldier fly frass
Arsenic 0.11 mg/kg 0.01 mg/kg
Cadmium 0.86 mg/kg 0.46 mg/kg
Cobalt 0.81 mg/kg 0.69 mg/kg
Lead 4.8 mg/kg 0.86 mg/kg
Mercury <0.2 mg/kg <0.2 mg/kg
Molybdenum 2.61 mg/kg 2.20 mg/kg
Nickel 3.2 mg/kg 2.4 mg/kg
Selenium 0.14 mg/kg 0.04 mg/kg

Analyzed by Spectrum Analytic Inc., Washington Court House, Ohio. Rice bran lab number FF59197, frass lab number FF58678.

There is no NPK on this bag. Rice bran is the large majority of this blend by weight, so you could look at that first column and work out roughly where a finished number would land. We are not going to print that, because a calculated number is not an analysis. More to the point, this is not a fertilizer you feed with. It is a ferment whose job is to work on the material already in your mulch layer, and an NPK on the front of the bag would tell you almost nothing useful about whether it is doing that.

Rice bran certificate of analysis Spectrum Analytic, lab number FF59197, tested 04-25-2022
View PDF
Insect frass certificate of analysis Spectrum Analytic, lab number FF58678, tested 03-18-2022
View PDF
Batch soil testing program How we test what leaves the building, and where results are published
View program
Where it came from Gro-Kashi, then Kashi Blend, then Alan came back

Bokashi itself is old, an anaerobic fermentation practice that predates all of us. What was new was building one specifically for growing plants rather than for processing waste. We met Alan Adkisson years ago through the Probiotic Farmers Alliance, and he was the first person we knew doing exactly that. The business he built with his partner Eddy Lepp became Gro-Kashi, and it set the bar for the category.

Later a former BuildASoil employee named AJ carried that work forward with Kashi Blend at Growing Organic. When that chapter closed, the thing we wanted was the original. Alan rejoined us, and Kashi Gold is what we made together: his process, his hands, refined over years of doing it.

He ferments it, dries it, and finishes it himself, including a sun activation step meant to encourage purple non sulfur bacteria and hold the living character of the batch. You will notice it the second the bag opens. The aroma is sour and fermented, in the way a good pickle crock is sour, and growers who know the smell look for it.

One size There is only a two pound bag, and that is Alan's calendar talking

We would like to sell this in bigger bags. Customers ask for it and we have looked at it more than once. The limit is not a marketing decision, it is production. Alan makes this by hand in small batches, we place our orders far ahead of the season, and every time we have run the math on a larger size we have reached the same answer: we would sell through it and then be out of stock for months. A bag smaller than you wanted beats a listing that says sold out.

That is changing slowly. He is buying his own equipment and the process gets tighter every year we do this together. When a bigger bag shows up here it will be because he can actually keep up with it, not because we decided to gamble on your order.

Questions

What people ask us

Do I need a bokashi bucket to use this?

No. That is the whole point of it. Kashi Gold goes straight onto the mulch layer of a planted bed or container. If you also want to run a kitchen scrap bucket you can, but this was designed for the garden.

I never got any white growth. Did it not work?

It worked. Big pillowy clouds usually form under a plastic mulch cover, like on an EarthBox, where it stays dark, humid, and still. In an open mulch layer you usually will not see clouds on top, but peel the layer back and you will often find remnants underneath. If the surface dried out or sat in bright light, you may never see it.

The white growth is the first step in a cascade, and the rest of it happens whether you see the pillows or not. Do not worry about it too much.

The white growth showed up and then vanished after two days.

Normal, and it always does. The white pillows are the first wave of biology eating a sour ferment full of easy food. As they eat, the acid gets used up, the easy food runs out, and other organisms take over. The pillows cannot hang on once conditions change. What you saw was the start of the process, and the layer keeps working after the fuzz is gone.

There is green growth on the soil in my container. What is that?

Green, powdery growth on the soil surface is usually Trichoderma, an extremely common soil fungus. Finding it in a moist, planted container is normal. If the layer turns slimy or black, or smells rotten instead of sour, something went off.

How long does it keep working after I apply it?

We are not going to give you a number we cannot back up. The published bokashi timelines you will find online are about fermented food waste buried in soil, which is a completely different situation from bran on a mulch surface, and nobody has published good data on ours. What we can tell you is the reasoning behind the rate. Two to four tablespoons per square foot is a small amount of readily available carbon, and in a warm, moist, covered layer it gets used. That is why we suggest coming back every 1 to 3 weeks instead of once a month and hoping.

Can I use too much?

Stick to 2 to 4 tablespoons per square foot and you are fine. Very heavy applications on a thin or dry mulch layer can go sour on the surface rather than cycling cleanly, which mostly means you wasted product. Keep the layer moist and covered and it will work through.

Indoor or outdoor?

Both, year round, in no till and organic systems. The aroma is noticeable for a day or so after application in a closed tent, so some indoor growers apply right before lights out or right after they run their exhaust.

Is it safe around worms?

Yes, applied at the rates above on the mulch surface. Growers regularly report finding more worms in beds they are running this on. Do not dump a concentrated pile of it directly into a worm bin.

How long does a bag last on the shelf?

Years, if you keep it sealed, cool, and dry. A properly finished solid state fermentation is stable. The realistic threat to your bag is not time, it is your dog.

What runs with it

Kashi Gold cycles what you put down, so put something down

The standard order is the same whatever soil recipe you are running. Amendments on the soil surface, mulch over the top of them, then Kashi Gold on the mulch.

Craft Blend The base top dress and the one most people run all the way through. This is the bulk of what the biology in Kashi Gold has to work on. BuildAFlower Top Dress Kit Two composts, worm castings, gypsum, kelp, and the same high phos rice bran that is in this bag. This is the organic matter Kashi Gold goes to work on, spread across the surface before and during flower. Mulch Then cover it. This one is not optional. Without a mulch layer there is no layer for Kashi Gold to work in, and no dark, moist cover to keep it going.

Not sure what you should be applying and when, run your setup through the BuildASoil feed calculator.

Specifications
  • Length (in)
    8.75
  • Width (in)
    4.75
  • Height (in)
    4.75

Questions?

We are here to help and our entire staff knows how to grow. Just reach out via chat, email or even phone. We are passionate about growing and want you to succeed.

Payment & Security

Payment methods

  • American Express
  • Apple Pay
  • Diners Club
  • Discover
  • Google Pay
  • Mastercard
  • PayPal
  • Shop Pay
  • USDC
  • Venmo
  • Visa

Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.

Write a Review
average rating 4.9 out of 5
Based on 68 reviews
  • 5 Stars
    65 Reviews
  • 4 Stars
    1 Review
  • 3 Stars
    2 Reviews
  • 2 Stars
    0 Reviews
  • 1 Star
    0 Reviews
97% of reviewers would recommend this product to a friend
Customer photos and videos
Open user-uploaded photo and review in a modal Open user-uploaded photo and review in a modal Open user-uploaded photo and review in a modal Open user-uploaded photo and review in a modal Open user-uploaded photo and review in a modal Open user-uploaded photo and review in a modal
68 Reviews
Reviewed by Mitch
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

Biological Kick Start

I’ve been really impressed with Kashi Gold so far. What I like most about it is that it feels like it actually brings the biology to where the food is, rather than just adding another fertilizer to the soil.

I use it over my mulch/top dress layer, and after watering it in I started seeing the biology become noticeably more active. The mulch seems to break down faster, and you can actually see the microbial activity developing across the surface. It gives you that feeling that something is happening underneath the mulch instead of just sitting there waiting to break down.

I also like that it isn't just an inoculant. The fermented rice bran gives the biology something to work with, while the frass and minerals add another source of nutrients to the layer.

For me, Kashi Gold has become less about “feeding the plant” and more about helping the soil food web process the inputs I’m already giving it. It’s a really cool addition to a living-soil setup, and I’ll definitely keep using it.

Loading...
Open Image by Mitch in a modal Open Image by Mitch in a modal
Was this helpful?
Reviewed by Richard S.
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

Beautiful Blooms

Wonderful product for unlocking the nutrients in your compost layer. Creates beautiful bacteria blooms!

Loading...
Open Image by Richard S. in a modal
Was this helpful?
Reviewed by Kevin O.
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

Kashi gold

Amazing stuff

Loading...
Was this helpful?
Reviewed by Christopher
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

5 Stars

Best bokashi around.expect mycelium fast!

Loading...
Was this helpful?
Reviewed by Rich S.
Verified Buyer
I recommend this product
Rated 5 out of 5
Review posted

Awesome Product

The Kashi Gold is a great product to help unlock the biology in your top dress. You can see the beautiful bacteria cultures come to life in this top dress of worm castings, craft blend, and Kashi gold!

Loading...
Open Image by Rich S. in a modal
Was this helpful?
Rated 4.9 out of 5
Based on 68 reviews
Back to top