Compost and Bokashi Bins

We all know that compost is the key to a productive garden, it is far cheaper to make your own and you know what has gone into it. If you have a big garden the best way always seems to be to have several of those big wooden crate type things, I once had a garden that was big enough for a couple of them and I made my most successful compost in them. In my current garden I have three of those big plastic composters and am still in the process of tying to get it right.

I have been doing a bit of research and found that some people have been saying that their compost works much better when they started adding the contents of their Bokashi bins to their heaps.

Bokashi Bin

I had heard of Bokashi composting but did not know a lot about it other than the bins were expensive! Basically it is a bucket with a tight fitting lid with a draining rack in the bottom and a reservoir to hold the liquid that comes out of it that you drain off with a tap.

You put a layer of Bokashi bran in the bottom of the bin, add cooked and raw food waste and cover with another layer of bran. Keep the layers of food and bran going until the bucket is full finishing with a layer of bran. Leave it for two weeks then the contents can be buried in the garden or added to your compost heap where it speeds up the composting process. You really do need to have two buckets so you can have one in use while the other is breaking down.
Bokashi Bin Photo: Jaydot

Most of the Bokashi activators are a mixture of bran, molasses and EM (effective microorganisms). According to Wikipedia

‘Effective Microorganisms^TM, also called EM Technology^TM, is a brand name for a series of products utilizing a base culture called EM•1® Microbial Inoculant. “EM Technology^TM” is an as yet scientifically unconfirmed method of improving soil quality and plant growth using a mixture of microorganisms consisting mainly of lactic acid bacteria, purple bacteria, and yeast which co-exist for the benefit of whichever environment they are introduced.

It does not make the food waste into compost but sort of turns it into a sweet & sour pickle, it does become proper compost when you add it to your heap or bury it in the ground. One of the main advantages is that you can add cooked food waste, meat and fish to the unit which you cannot use in wormeries or compost heaps unless you like rats and flies.

The liquid that drains out of the Bokashi is full of beneficial microbes and can be used as a plant food once it has been diluted with water.

I do find in the winter that about the only items going into my compost bin are fruit and veg peelings which completely throws the balance out. The ideal set up would be to have compost bins, a wormery and Bokashi units.

Wormeries are also great for turning raw frut and veg scraps into compost but you cannot put in things like onions and citrus.

We will be building a wormery at one of the IW Permaculture meetings in the next few months. I am going to have a go at making my own bokashi units and if they work ok I will take them along to the next IW Permaculture meeting and show anyone interested how to make their own.

You can find out more about Bokashi from these links:

Bokashi Blog

What is EM (Effective Microorganisms)?

The Compost Guy

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One of the links I came up with when I was looking for info on successful composting was Recyclenow, they have a comprehensive guide to composting. I also found out that most local councils provide special offers on composters – go to Recyclenow and type in your postcode to see if there are any offers in your area.

Here on the Isle of Wight these are the current offers:
Compost Converter (Con 220) suitable for small gardens. H90cm x D74cm £17.00

Compost Converter (Con 330) popular family sized bin. H100cm x D80cm £20.00

Komp 250 H105cm x 54cm x 54cm £40.00

Komp 200 H80cm x D54cm £48.00

Komp 800 for larger gardens, 6 sided marble green compost bin with a hinged lid. W129cm x D129cm x H85cm £90.00

Wormery (90 litres)Easy to assemble wormery, a layered structure with easy access to compost, includes 1000 worms W50cm X H73cm £79.00

Green Cone (80L)food waste digester, disposes of all kitchen food waste including cooked and uncooked food, meat, fish, bones, dairy products, bread, pasta, fruit scraps and vegetable peelings. Breaks food down into carbon dioxide and nutrient rich water which drains away into the soil. Please note-the Green Cone cannot compost garden waste). The lower basket of the green cone needs to be buried in a hole in the ground approximately 80cm wide and 60cm deep. Accelerator powder and an application jar is also provided. For further information please visit the Green Cone website www.greencone.com W59cm x H70cm (above ground) £62.00

Green Johanna (330L) food waste digester and composter. This is hot composting unit which allows you to compost all of your garden waste and kitchen food waste including cooked and uncooked food, meat, fish, bones, dairy products, bread, pasta, fruit scraps and vegetable peelings. Has a fully adjustable ventilation system. To find out more about the Green Johanna please visit www.greencone.com W81cm x H94 £87.00

Bokashi Units – 2 pack. Turns all kitchen waste into nutrient rich compost. Instead of composting only selected kitchen waste, this system allows you to turn all kitchen food into nutrient rich compost. Easy to use – place all kitchen waste in the airtight container and sprinkle with a handful of Bokashi (bran based material to help ferment the waste). After a few weeks the fermented waste can be added to the compost bin to continue composting or buried in the ground. These units come in packs of 2 so that you can leave one to ferment whilst you fill the other. Includes scoop, inner drain tray and two months supply of bokashi bran. W32cm x D26cm x H37cm £38.00 This is about the best value I have seen for Bokashi units.

All of the above prices include delivery.