Bokashi Australia genuine bokashi made with certified Effective Microbes (EM), beware of imitations
How to use the Bokashi Australia Composting System
Place your Bokashi Australia bucket somewhere close to where your food waste is produced, either beside the kitchen bench or under the sink.
Place the drain plate supplied with the kit at the bottom of the bucket. This allows excess liquid to drain into the bottom of the bucket.
To start: spread a thin layer of Bokashi on the drainer
Each day: Add your kitchen waste as you create it, Anything you produce in the kitchen can be added, bread, citrus, vegetable scraps, eggshells, small amounts of paper tissues, even meat. Compress the waste in the bucket with a mashing utensil or similar, to remove any air pockets and compact the material. The effective micro organisms in the Bokashi immediately go to work, fermenting the food waste releasing valuable nutrients and enzymes without the problems of odour heat or insects.
Add a small sprinkle (approx 50ml) of Bokashi over the food waste so that the entire surface area is covered and reseal the airtight lid. Repeat until the bin is full.
Weekly: Drain liquid from the bucket. You can dilute this with water at about 1:100 ratio, and water it onto your lawn or garden beds. Alternatively, you can add the undiluted liquid directly to your septic system where it will improve its efficiency.
Repeat the process until the bucket is full. For an average family, this can take from 1 to 3 weeks.
When full: leave the bin to ferment with the lid on for at least a week and start your second bucket. The waste material will be fermented, but it will not be broken down at this stage, it needs to go into the soil to physically break down into humus (soil). Empty the contents into a small hole or trench in your garden and cover with a 200mm layer of soil or incorporate it with the compost in your compost bin. Here the waste will break down into humus very quickly because the lignin or fibre in the waste has already been broken down during fermentation.
Helpful Bokashi Hints
Fermentation is a stabilising or preserving method during which, vitamins, amino acids and anti oxidants are increased that will then be an excellent nutrient source for plants.
The physical breakdown of the food waste will begin after it has been transferred to the soil.
Burying the bokashi compost in the garden will supply your plants with a nourishing food source and condition your soil with beneficial micro-organisms.
Just dig a hole, add your fermented bokashi waste, mix with some soil and cover with 200 mm of soil as not to attract animals.
Alternatively you can incorporate the material from the bokashi bucket into your compost pile, covering it with 200 mm of compost material. It will boost the anaerobic bacteria and help prevent putrefaction in the compost pile.
If you have a worm farm you can feed the contents of your bokashi bin to your worms making sure you feed small amounts at first.
What can you recycle using Bokashi:
- Any fresh fruit and vegetable scraps including citrus fruits, onion and garlic.
- Prepared foods
- Cooked and uncooked meat and fish
- Other foods including cheese, eggs
- Bread, coffee grounds, tea bags etc.
- Wilted flowers, tissues
- Even bones if they are chopped into small pieces
What to leave out of Bokashi:
- All liquids, such as milk and fruit juice
- Paper and plastics
- Dog or cat faeces, as these pose a human health risk.
Using Bokashi juice:
As the kitchen waste starts to ferment bokashi juice will collect in the bottom of the bucket, drain the juice off 1-2 times per week. Bokashi juice is teeming with beneficial microbes and nutrients, it can be diluted and used on your garden or pot plants:
- Existing garden or pot plants dilute 1 teaspoon to 1 or 2 litres of water and apply directly to soil.
- For trees & shrubs dilute 1 teaspoon to 2 –3 litres of water, Do not apply directly to foliage.
- It can be poured down drains and will help keep them clean, bokashi juice is safe for septic systems, the microbes will help to make the septic system more efficient.
- NB:Bokashi Juice cannot be stored and must be used within 24 hours after draining from the bucket..
Bokashi Tips:
- You can never add too much Bokashi, better too much than too little to insure complete fermentation and good smelling compost.
- Only add fresh food waste to the Bokashi Australia Bucket, never rotten or mouldy wastes.
- Break or chop large waste into smaller pieces.
- Remember, the less air that comes in contact with the compost the better so compact the waste by pressing it down to remove air.
- Always close the lid tightly and drain the Bokashi Juice that accumulates at the bottom frequently.
- Do not add water, excessive amounts of fluids or place the bucket in the sun.
- Wash the bucket with clean water after each use, do not use detergent.
- The Bokashi Australia Bucket is designed to be used with only genuine EM Bokashi. Used with other products may result in putrefaction rather than fermentation of food wastes, so beware of imitations !
- This is a new approach to composting. Don’t be afraid to experiment with it until you get a feel for how this process can work for you.
- Look into community composting and gardening projects in your area.