Bokashi compost bin - any feedback?

[Yael]

Hey guys,

I'm thinking about getting a Bokashi bin.. We do have one of those triple layer worm farms, but we kept forgetting to take stuff out to it, and then in the summer they all died It also got really smelly and I hated lifting the lid as I was worried what was going to come out, and also it seemed to take ages for anything to break down. I was thinking of getting an indoor one so it would be easy to put stuff into straight away (and it says you can put more stuff in it -= m,eat scraps, citrus etc), and then once the indoor one is full then putting that stuff in the worm farm (was going to get a handful of worms from my mum and start the colony again).

Questions:
1. do they actually work? how long does stuff take to break down, and are they really now odour (or DH will never go for it)
2. It says you ideally need 2 - is this right or will 1 suffice?
3. How much of that powder do you need (i.e. how much extras will I need to be buying)
4. Can I put it in the worm farm afterwards, or should I just give up on the worm farm and put it straight onto the veggie garden?

Thanks muchly

[~Kim~]

I had one and got rid of it from the smell (sorry Yael).
I didn't get through a whole bag so can't help you with that.
You still have to bury the contents once it's full (it doesn't break down completely in there) or put them on a compost...so maybe you could put it on the worm farm.
There's only me and two small children so I didn't find I would have needed 2.

But I know lots of people that love them. I wanted to love it....but I didn't.

[jackrose]

I have one, it is brilliant!

I live in an apartment so it is the only way I can recycle food scraps and after living with a backyard and a compost bin for my entire life till now, it absolutely breaks my heart to have to throw anything compostable into the bin.

I have to run at the moment, but will be back later with more details on why I love, why it works for us and other hints.

ohhh, sounds like a teaser for a really bad tv show

[jackrose]

Ok, back!
1. do they actually work? how long does stuff take to break down, and are they really now odour (or DH will never go for it)
Yes they do work! They hold scraps, break them down and create a liquid fertiliser that you can drain off at the bottom of the container. The thing I really love is that you can throw all scraps in there including meat and citrus, the whole lot. You throw a handful of the powder mix on the bottom of the container, food scraps on top and then another handful on top at the end of each day. You also have to make sure you squish down the contents and then seal the lid properly as air pockets and air access via on opening in the lid will lead to smell. The process is anaerobic and really does only require a handful of the mix for best effect. To be honest, I am not too thorough about the squishing down part but I do make sure I put the lid on properly. There is a smell, but it is nothing like the smell of rotting compost or rotting food that I remember from my old bucket on the bench method in the composting days. It is more like a sweeter smell, but it still can be intense. I guess, I would compare it to the difference between bf nappies and solids nappies. The bf poo is a smell you don't want to stick your nose in but it is absolutely bearable, even though, in the end it is still . The solids poo on the other hand...

In our house of 2 adults, 2 kids we fill a bucket in about 3 weeks. The stuff starts breaking down straight away so as the weeks progress the volume in the bucket decreases and you can add more.

2. It says you ideally need 2 - is this right or will 1 suffice?
The reason you need two theoretically is that you are supposed to leave it sit in the bucket for a bit to further break down then bury it so you basically rotate them. We don't actually have a garden so can't bury it so I send mine to my parents. They take our full one and give us their empty one so between our two houses we have 2 on rotation. Therefore, our buckets never get a chance to sit and settle, the contents go straight into the garden. Mum and dad have reported that the stuff going straight into the soil is awesome. A few weeks after the last bucket went in, Mum turned the soil over for me and there was no evidence of anything there but beautiful, light airy soil… and the core of a corn cob! I was very impressed and my parents are very happy with the quality of their soil. So, I guess the answer to the question of time is not very long!

3. How much of that powder do you need (i.e. how much extras will I need to be buying)
You honestly don't need much. Less is more I have found. I think in having the bucket for 2 years now, I have been through 1 bag only and I'm quarter way through bag 2/

4. Can I put it in the worm farm afterwards, or should I just give up on the worm farm and put it straight onto the veggie garden?
I don't know about the worm farm as I have never used one. I know from Mum's experience that it works really well to go straight to the garden and she likes being able to work on one garden bed a season, feeding it with the Bokashi scraps and then planting it out next season. I imagine there might be a problem with the addition of some of things in the bucket like citrus that you can't give to the worms?? Mum tends to put most things into the Bokashi, makes a bowl of things for the chooks once a day and every now and again makes a bucket of scraps for the worms. She is happy with all the systems.

So, I recommend, but think you have to be realistic about being happy to dig a hole for the contents every month or so and be good about making sure the bucket is sealed between use to allow the process to work. By far the best thing is the lack of smell compared to regular compost and the fact that it takes any food scraps.

[Ryatha]

I teach a subject called sustainable futures and we used one in the canteen along with our outside compost bins/bays. It does work well if you follow the instructions and the liquid fertilizer it gives out is great. I believe the contents needs to be in the ground for about a month before they can then be used on the garden, to ensure the rest of the decomposition occurrs. If I had any garden, I would get one of these to use as fertilizer.

[onthefly]

yes, but you do need to take care not to overload it.

[veus]

We have one. Used it a while ago. Stopped after we got a worm farm. The key is to ensure the scraps are compressed properly. It 'smells' but not as shocking as I thought it would be & it's actually very well contained in the container (the smell).

Jackrose: love your mum's system! I'm taking notes. ;-)

[luna moth]

We had one for years when we were renting. We still have it, but we're dedicated composters now.

We got by with one. Just. Two is for rotational purposes, so that when one is full you can rest it for a week or so to further ferment the contents.

It doesn't smell if you drain it off daily, mash it well, and keep the lid sealed. If you don't do all these things, it won't work anyway, so there's no point.

The bag of stuff we bought three times. The bin was an engagement gift, so 2007-2011 we used it, about a kilo a year? Probly less.

Nowadays, we keep a bowl on the kitchen bench for food scraps, and it gets taken out at the end of every day to the compost. Our bin is a drawer into which we put no liner, so there is just nowhere else for messy stuff to go. No temptation. That's what makes composting work for us. (but we also don't eat meat or dairy, so there's none of that stuff to worry about)

[wysiwyg]

I live in an apartment so it is the only way I can recycle food scraps and after living with a backyard and a compost bin for my entire life till now, it absolutely breaks my heart to have to throw anything compostable into the bin.

Same here in an apartment so is best way. I think Jackrose covered it all - there is a bit of a smell but is bearable and the better you are at draining it etc less smell there is. The only issue I had is burying the contents, as in an apartment only so much you can fit in pots on a balcony, but now I have an allotment so am excited to be able to use it myself (had to give to friends, other community gardens previously). I do have two bins in rotation, I think you could get away with one though, but as I was putting some of mine into pots wanted to make sure was as broken down as possible.

Not sure about worms, aren't they a bit picky about what goes in? I know people who put the Bokashi into a big compost bin, and works as quite a good starter.

The juice it gives off is good at keeping drains odor free (a bit odd really as the stuff smells a little but leads to fresher drains by the organisms digesting any food/particle build up in the drains).

[Pholi]

The instructions that came with my worm farm say that if citrus/onions have been Bokashi'd, the worms will eat them happily, as long as it's in moderate quantities. i took tat to mean, if you're juicing a bag full of oranges, all that might be too much at once. It doesn't mention meat and dairy that have been Bokashi'd.