Bokashi experiences - what's yours?

julbags

I would be careful about storage conditions for your bran, I got a 2kg bag from Wiggly Wigglers decanted some into a container and kept it in the house and put the rest into the shed when I went back to get it about two months later it was all grey and off looking, had to bin the lot. However, I will say that our shed has our tumble drier in it therefore the condensation and changes in temperature are probably not good for it. I will be keeping the current lot in a cupboard in the house!

Tangojulie - Recycle Now have always been a bit hit an miss with delivery, that's why I buy mine from WW - it gets delivered when they say it will.

julbags

I've been continuing with my bokashi, I put two buckets in our compost early autumn and emptied three directly into the ground and covered over, one lot in the ground in October once I'd lifted all the plants and two bins in the ground around January. I emptied the first two bins into the compost with a clothespeg on my nose, the latest two were actually not that bad and one had been left for about 8 weeks, however it was emptied in January and I think the cold slows things down a bit (my bins live at the back door).

I was digging around the first ground patch I emptied it into about two weeks ago, I put it in the ground about October last year and there wasn't much still recognisable except egg shells and the odd citrus skin. As for the compost bin ones I had a dig around and I can't find anything, my compost is actually quite dry as well where before it was quite slimy (lots of grass), all I kept digging up was black crumbly stuff, no citrus skins. If it ever stops blowing a gale and dries out I'll take the dalek off and have a proper look.

I'm going to keep going with it, but I've neglected my wormery a bit over the winter, I'll have a look in in the next couple of days and maybe feed them in time for things warming up a bit - just hope their not all dead or drowned as their cover blew off and I didn't notice.

atomic_puppy

I've been doing the Bokashi thing for a few months now, and these are my experiences:

The first one went great. There was a lot of liquid to be got from it, and when drained it had an interesting vinegary smell which wasn't all that unpleasant. Diluted it and put it on my plant and it seemed to perk it right up! I'd never seen it looking greener and healthier, so that was great!

So once the caddy was full and left for a few weeks to do its thing, I emptied it into the main compost bin. It looked sort of sludgy and half rotten - a bit like old drained muesli. It didn't smell bad at all.

However, the very next morning I discovered a massive trench had been dug in the ground around the back of the bin that definitely wasn't there the day before, and a half eaten chunk of cucumber was lying on the ground. When I opened the bin, there were rat droppings on top of the bokashi.

I decided not to put anything else in the compost for a while, but to carry on doing the bokashi in my kitchen until I decide what to do and how to get rid of the rats. My bin is almost full again, and I don't know what to do with it now. Also, this time the drained liquid doesn't smell like it did before. It's unbelievably minging. The only way I can describe the smell is a mixture of vomit and dog muck that's been left in the sun (Sorry - but it does).

So basically, can anyone tell me:
1. Why it smells so bad this time
2. What I can do about the rats
3. What I should do with my new bokashi

Cheers:beer:

kw2990

Hi Everyone,

I'm considering getting bokashi for myself from the http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/in_your_area/in_your_area.html offer, but noticed that they don't supply a plunger. However http://www.ecoworrier.net/composting.html are selling a plunger for £1.65, if anyone's interested.

Thanks

ethansmum

I have to agree that the temperature must play a part in the fementation process.

My first 2 buckets went super- lovely smell (well not that lovely but not bad either). Then the second I left for about 4 weeks over december/january. I opened that one up and it was disgusting! It was all covered in blue/green fungus. I, stupidly had already tipped it up on my compost heap before I noticed. So I covered it up with soil. I've bug into it recently but its still covered in the blue/green stuff.

I got a good supply of bokaski so I know it was definately not for a lack of bran- I'm very generous in adding it.

yoycetobe

Hi

I'm a bit of a newbie to this Bokashi business but I'm just getting in to it and have to say I'm really happy with my kitchen composter as it's just gone underneath the sink in the kitchen and fits brilliantly. I bought this one http://www.recycleworks.co.uk/bokashi-compost-bucket-18-litre-c-281-p-1-pr-16195.html as it's really compact and doesn't take up too much space (which I don't have!!)

I got mine from www.recycleworks.co.uk after having a look at different sites and bought it after having a chat with a lovely lady there who explained it all to me.

Must say I haven't had to buy any replacement bokashi yet but she did say that as long as I kept airtight it would last quite a while.

Really keen to be greener and enjoyed reading the posts on here. I'll be buying a compost bin next I think!!

yoycetobe

Hi all

Haven't bought any off them yet but I bought my bokashi bucket from this company recently and they seemed really nice and knowledgable. Does this help? http://www.recycleworks.co.uk/bokashi-compost-bucket-18-litre-c-281-p-1-pr-16195.html

Lurkio

yoycetobe wrote: »

Hi all

Haven't bought any off them yet but I bought my bokashi bucket from this company recently and they seemed really nice and knowledgable. Does this help? http://www.recycleworks.co.uk/bokashi-compost-bucket-18-litre-c-281-p-1-pr-16195.html

ordered some bran from them at 23.00 for 4 kgs = 5.75 per kg :money: :money:

Kay_Peel

I was very hesitant about adding my first bokashi bin contents to the compost bin. It smelt alright, but it looked like a load of squashed cooked food (which it was!) with porridge.

I left it for a month, outside, and then took the bokashi by the horns and tipped it into the compost bin. Still felt unsure about the whole thing. Had I used enough bran? Ought I to have mixed it up a bit more? Oh well, the damage was done and I covered it with a good layer of soil and closed the lid. I left it over winter, checking it every other week or so, and adding vegetable peelings as normal. There were no rats. There was no smell. It seemed to be just fine. It will have been in the bin for six months, come Spring and I might leave it a lot longer than that.

I still need to be convinced that the cooked food is being digested and broken down by the process.

One thing I did notice was the amount of worms attracted by the bokashi contents. I hope they are working their magic on it. A lot of the worms have congregated on the compost bin-lid - as though they want to escape, so I'm not sure that they are working on it.

twinklystar

hello, i tried to add a light sprinkle of herbs to the dried bokashi bran and that works ok (depending on how much you use) you could use just mint, and a lot of my food that go's into the bokashi bin is blended so when you throw it in its got no air anyway i get loads of juicy plant food too. and i don't need to use so much bran also the bins take longer to fill, overall the contents compost really quick. so far so good. I do back on to fields where there are foxs and rats too, i have a big plastic spinning windmill this scares most of them off. i hope this helps bye.