Bokashi - Indoor fermentation composting

What is Bokashi?

Bokashi - indoor fermentation composting - convenience in a bucket!

Bokashi is a Japanese word meaning "fermented organic material". You use it in a way similar to other composting, in that you can put your food waste in it for recycling, but it has come key differences as detailed below. 

Bokashi is incredibly fast, and very easy. It's not for everyone, but ever since digging up my first batch 2 weeks after burying and finding the highest concentration of worms in the rich black matter I had ever seen in my life, I was an instant convert.

How does bokashi work?

Simply add your food waste to the specially designed bucket, sprinkle with fermented "bokashi grain", leave for 2 weeks, then bury it in the garden, veggie bed or tip it into the compost! 

Each time you empty it, just give it a quick rinse, and start again!

What makes Bokashi so good?

Bokashi has some key benefits what explain why it is growing in popularity:
  • It's an indoor system, so you don't need a big yard
  • It is suitable for apartments, flats, units and offices
  • You can put meat and dairy in it
  • It is incredibly forgiving!
  • Hassle free holidays - just empty it before you go. In fact, if you are going camping or caravaning - take it with you!
  • It is the fastest form of composting - taking only 4 weeks from depositing your food scraps, to the moment you dig it up a couple of weeks after burying. 

Watch the videos below I found on You Tube for a demonstration. Stay tuned - I'll make my own videos soon! 

Does Bokashi smell?

When the lid is closed properly, no.

When you lift the lid, if your bokashi bin is working correctly, it will smell a bit like hops and sometimes citrus depending on the contents.

If it smells feral, something is wrong. The most common cause is not placing enough grain or EM spray.

What's better - bokashi, worm farm or compost?

Depending on your waste, and the size of your garden, some systems will suit you better than others. 

As bokashi needs to be buried every time you empty the bucket, you need at least the space equivalent to a couple of half wine barrels in order to manage it properly. You are welcome of course to drop your aged bokashi compost to Chooktopia of course. We love adding it to the compost bins to speed them up.

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Bokashi Options