The bokashi bucket will recycle your kitchen scraps including fruit and veg waste, and even meat, fish and dairy into a nutrient rich fertliser and liquid feed for your garden. The Bokashi system is a pre-compost method which doesn’t just hold your kitchen scraps on the way to your compost heap but rather actively starts the composting process right in your utility room (or porch or outside) without unpleasant smells. Once you have filled the unit – the waste ferments and then you can add it direct to your soil or to your garden compost heap.
Buying a Complete Kit is best as this way whilst one bucket is fermenting you can fill the other meaning you can recycling all of your kitchen waste all of the time.
The kit includes two Bokashi Buckets, Bokashi Bran – made here on our farm, full instructions, a levelling trowel, bran scoop and liquid collecting container.
How does it work?
Each bucket has a large 16 litre plus capacity with a snug fitting lid. This ensures there is no smell, mess or flies attracted to the unit. On a daily basis – or whenever you have scraps you can just lift the lid and add the leftovers plus a handful of Bokashi Bran every week or so. As the Bokashi Bran soaks up the excess liquid from the waste it activates and sets off the fermentation process. After a few days some liquid is produced and this is full of good bacteria and nutrients which you can drain off every few days and makes a great plant fertiliser and drain cleaner when diluted. As you fill the first bucket ensure you add the Bokashi Bran regularly and keep the lid sealed and the once you fill the first bucket add two handfuls of bran on top, seal the lid and leave for about two weeks or more (you can drain the liquid regularly of course). Once your first bucket is full you can start to fill number two bin and repeat the process in the same way. After 2 weeks the waste in the first bin will have fermented and can be dug straight into the garden as a soil improver or composted further in your garden compost bin – your wormery or your Subpod. It’s worth noting at this point rather like pickling other foods the fermented end product doesn’t look lovely BUT it will work very well indeed. Rinse the bucket out and then use this bin again once the other bin in use is full. Keep rotating the bins so that whilst one is in use the other is fermenting for upwards of two weeks.
This double unit kit usually enables a good sized household to complete eliminate their kitchen waste and recycle the whole lot using Bokashi.
Adding Food Scraps
All types of food scraps can be dealt with by Bokashi. This includes fruit, vegetables, dairy, coffee, cut flowers, teabags (Clipper are all paper otherwise you will be picking out tiny bits of plastic at some point.) meat, fish and so on. The key thing is to chop the scraps into small pieces (this goes for your worm composter as well) and add the waste regularly. Add the Bokashi Bran regularly as this is what contains the effective microbes (EM) which start to break down the waste. The whole process is anaerobic so not officially “composting” but it does mean the food scraps ferment which stops odour and rotting whilst in process.
Draining the liquid.
Using the front tap it’s important to drain off the liquid every few days – again to avoid a build up and avoid smells. Dilute 1 part liquid to 100 parts water and use the liquid plant feed liberally. You can also use it down your drains to keep the pipes and/or your septic tank healthy.
Using the finished “compost”.
Just as when you pickle onions you know very well their state has changed they do still look like… pickled onions. The same goes for Bokashi – the finished product will look similar to when it went into the bucket BUT it will have fermented. This can be used as a brilliant soil improver and when you dig it into your soil you will find the oxygen and reaction will mean it will dissipate within a few days. You can also use it in your compost heap, garden bin or wormery as the most fantastic composting accelerator.
Order Bokashi Bran + Bins here https://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/collections/bokashi-composting