Bokashi Bucket

[Melberry]

I have been lucky enough to be given a Bokashi Bucket for my birthday and am busily filling it with all my leftovers! I used to keep a compost bucket and just bury it in the soil but this ferments it first.
When I buried it in the soil previously I would often have some vegetables germinate from the seeds in there. I was just wondering if this will still happen or if the fermenting kills them? If so, I will keep my best seeds out and save them. Does anyone know?
Suzanne

[gunners71uk]

what is a bokashi basket ????
im not knowledgeble sorry.

[Melberry]

A bokashi bucket is a kind of composting system. I know it is getting quite popular in Australia and New Zealand but maybe it hasn't made it's way to Europe yet. It is a japanese system that ferments the kitchen scraps first using a fermented grain. It doesn't get smelly and you can express liquid fertiliser from it and eventually you bury it in your compost heap or soil and it breaks down completely in a couple of weeks.
More information at www.bokashi.com.au
You can compost almost anything in it including meat, onions and citrus!!
Suzanne

[Wombat]

Cool!

Onya Suzanne, it is a new one on me!

Nev

[wulf]

I find ideas like that attractive but what puts me off is the thought of having to buy in "magic ingredient X" (in this case "EM Bokashi") for it to work. How easy is it to get the supplies round your side of the world? I think it would be a real pain here.

Wulf

[Melberry]

One of the big garden mail order companies here in Australia (www.gardenexpress.com.au) sells it for about $16 (Australian $) for 3 months supply and I saw it for sale at the Organic Festival here in Adelaide a few weeks ago. I've only just got it so haven't looked anywhere else but I've seen it available on other web sites too.
Suzanne

[wulf]

That's about £7. Not too bad but I think I'd want to see the end results before even thinking about investing in the setup and committing to the ongoing costs.

My own composting (one of those 'garden daleks') is fairly anaerobic and not particularly fast. I find that if I periodically take out the bottom layer, I can leave it sitting where I've got bare soil as an enriching mulch and then it seasons to much better compost over the space of a couple of months. The only downside is that it does have quite a strong whiff!

Wulf

[Wombat]

Wulf,

My compost is certainly anaerobic as well, slow, pongy and not too good at killing weed seeds, but much more nutrient dense than the aerobic stuff.

Nev

[GrasshopperMaria]

I use the boskashi bucket from the work canteen, so I am lucky in that I don't have to pay for the bokashi, tho I would if I had too.

So far as I am not organised enough I have just been throwing the contents onto my compost heap but once I get into a routine I will dig trenches and put it in there.

Another workmate was doing it this way before he left and I don't recall him ever saying that the veges regrew.

Mmmm just thought tho. since it was our work waste we probably didn't have many veges in the buckets.

I am looking forward to my next bucket now that I planted out some vege seedlings (springtime her in New Zealand) and watering down the liquid from it.

We buy our bokashi from either council offices or garden centres. It is very popular with gardeners here.

[Melberry]

Hi GrasshopperMaria
I had noticed when doing a google search that there was a council guide to Bokashi composting. Is it something that is local coucil's project? How long has it been used there? I've only come across it in the last 6 months. So far, I have drained the liquid for fertilising but 2 weeks from starting my bin it is half full and does not smell one bit! More than I can say for my old kitchen scraps bin the kitchen!
Suzanne

[Sascha]

Hi Melberry, I have buried dozens of EM Bokashi batches in my garden, with numerous seeds, not much has sprouted, you best clean and dry seeds separate for propagation.
As for "EM Bokashi?" I recommend www.bokashi.com.au are the ones that sell the real trademarked end product supported by the WW governing body. GardenExpress product does not use EM in the manufacture (to my knowledge). They use something called BAM, which is a hybrid.

[Shirley]

Hi Sascha - welcome to the forum

You can get this Bokashi stuff here in the UK - wiggly wigglers sell it but it's not cheap... http://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/shop/fo ... KIgU49ED12

[hedgewizard]

Theoretically you could re-seed your next batch of bokashi with the previous bucket. It's a multi-culture and as such the balance of organisms will change, but that might not be a problem if the inputs stay fairly constant.

[Stonehead]

I'd heard of the bokashi bucket, but we use a Green Cone for cooked food waste, bones, etc; two green plastic composters (freecycled) for uncooked vegetable scraps and grass cuttings; and have three (about to become six) 4ftx4ft muck boxes for pig and chicken muck, old straw and weeds (the heat destroys the latter).

A lot of UK councils, including Aberdeenshire, supply subsidised green cones but make sure you get the rat-proof metal mesh cage to go with it.

Our green cone sits between two of our apple trees and keeps them fed. Theoretically, you need to sprinkle bacteria impregnated cereal over the scraps that go in it but so far I've found that once you get the initial batch going it maintains itself. Whether that will continue in winter is another matter!

[Shirley]

I asked the council info-wagon about rats and green cones stoney.. I remembered that you'd had trouble with them.... she said she hadn't heard of that before... (has now!!) and suggested something to do with chicken wire. So.... do they do a purpose made metal cage to go with it then??? Green cone is a tenner... I want one!! Also want a dog loo for the doggie doo...