Bokashi

Ahhh! The choices. What should I use? Compost? Worm Farm? Bokashi? But first up, just what is Bokashi?

Someone somewhere over the seas and far away (a person with a big brainy-box) worked out that a certain mixture of super-microbes was good for super fast fermentation processes and the product of this process would in turn be a good thing for soil and that best of all you could use this process indoors – you can start saving the planet right under your very own bench top! Every country has its own special cocktail or group of these special super-microbes.

Using these it will take 3 weeks to ferment (not compost) your food to a point where it can be usefully disposed of in your garden. The process is anaerobic (occurs in the absence of oxygen), cold (produces no heat), makes no methane (smell) and is easily contained. You need two sets of the bokashi buckets (one starting and one maturing)

The mixture (Boakshi “Zing”) you buy is a mixture of dry crop material, sawdust and EM microbes. This “zing” costs about $6-$8 a bag. It is brilliant stuff.

The bokashi system uses a plastic container in two parts. You put the food scraps in the top part or bucket and then add a fine layer of zing. Some people like to collect their food scraps in an icecream container and add them to the bokashi once a day. Add 1T zing to 1 litre or a 5cm layer of food scraps. When the bucket is full leave 7-10 days to make sure the top layer is fermented. When ready dig a trench in soil, gently mix contents of the TOP bucket and cover with soil. After another 7-10 days you can plant in trench. It is great for sandy soils.

Bokashi is a really useful addition to soils around growing trees. Dig in along the drip lines of trees so as not to disturb the roots of the trees. You can also “store” the bokashi under ground for a month and then you can use it as mulch. A word to the wise for composters. Bokashi does NOT look like compost. It looks like pickles!

You can use bokashi in your compost. Dig a hole in your compost, tip in the bokashi and cover over again. But note it is quite acidic. Put in it a corner away from your worms.

The contents of your bottom bucket will be a liquid. It may be a golden colour with white spotty fungus spots on top. It will usually have no smell. You can use this “tea” as fertiliser or soil innoculant. Dilute to a ratio of 1T to 5 litres of water = fertiliser “tea”.

Bokashi can also be used as a poo composting system. It's an especially good idea for smelly cat and dog poo. First dig a hole and line the sides of the hole with an old bucket that has no bottom. Pick up your dog poo as you are inclined to do (before you step in it) and instead of hermetically sealing it in plastic and sending it off to the landfill chuck it in your outdoor composting doggy-doo toilet hole. Layer with zing! Keep it covered with a slab of wood or bucket cover. Then when it's time, remove your bucket, fill in the rest of the hole with dirt and leave.