Bokashi Composting

Bokashi is a Japanese word meaning "fermented organic matter."

Bokashi composting is an anaerobic process that uses inoculated bran to ferment kitchen waste into a safe soil builder and nutrient-rich tea for your plants. With bokashi you can turn your food scraps, including meat, fish and dairy, into nutrient rich compost. Add your kitchen waste and a handful of bokashi bran to the airtight container and allow the micro-organisms to work their magic. Even items such as cooked leftovers, meat and skin, fat, cheese and citrus waste are, in effect, pre-digested to enable soil life to consume them. Large pieces may take longer to ferment and concave surfaces may trap air, in which cases cutting down is advised. Avoid adding moldy food as there is a chance that it can turn the process into rotting. The Bokashi bins are generally available in single and double kits. It’s recommended to get two bins so the second one can be started while the first has to sit until food scraps are fermented.

Benefits of bokashi

Bokashi composting is a way of producing pre-compost. Part of the process is generating micro-organisms which will  improve the quality of your garden’s soil. This will help it to retain water and, therefore, key nutrients, which encourage better growth of the plant life.

Bokashi is also a really quick composting method in comparison to the traditional way of composting alone. It acts as a healthy and organic fertiliser for your plants. It’s also extremely environmentally-friendly, helping your gardening process become more sustainable.

The Bokashi liquid, a side product, also known as Bokashi juice, enriches your soil and thus enables your herbs, fruits, veggies, and decorative plants to thrive.

Having a Bokashi is not only useful for the garden. Since it is air tight, it keeps out fruit flies or other insects. There is no odour and you can add any type of food scraps. 

Bokashi bran

The Bokashi process

  1. Add your food waste. Will ferment faster if cut into smaller pieces

2. Sprinkle Bokashi Bran over kitchen scraps

3. Repeat the process until the Bokashi bin is full

4. Drain off the liquid

 5. After ten to fourteen days, the waste in the tub should be thoroughly pickled. It can then be dug into a fallow patch of the garden, into your raised garden bed or added to your compost heap.

The Bokashi tea has to be watered down by a ratio 1:100 if it’s used as a weekly plant feed. If plants are watered with it more than once a week, the ratio should be 1:200.