Our Bokashi bins

Bokashi kits

The package will vary slightly between member councils depending on each council's preferences.

Product information

Our EM bokashi kit includes a drainage tray, tap and instructions. An activator is required and can be selected in product options.

The 20L Bokashi Bin is designed to sit inside your home or in a sheltered position outdoors. Keep it out of the sun and weather to prevent it becoming brittle and breaking.

All instructions can be found right here on Compost Community.

Bokashi activator is sold separately (just add it in product options) or make your own! There are lots of recipes on the web.

How it works
It uses a fermentation process which activates microbial activity to ferment organic waste, not compost it. The end result is a fermented food waste that can be placed directly into the soil. The Bokashi Bin compliments the use of our Vermihut worm farms because you can put the food waste that worms don’t eat such as acidic foods (citrus, onions, tomatoes etc) into the Bokashi Bin and recycle 100% of your kitchen waste. All meat products and dairy can also be put into the Bokashi.

All the microbes in the bokashi are naturally occurring and have a beneficial effect on the environment. They include yeasts and good bacterias similar to those found in probiotics.

Fermentation is an alternative sustainable method of recycling food waste compared to the dumping of food into landfill. This action reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Fermented waste retains all of its energy and most of the nutritional benefits and are more readily available for nutrient intake by plants. The microbes from fermented waste over time enhances soil quality, therefore producing greater plant yields and healthier, stronger plants.

The Bokashi Bin should only have a sweet/sour smell (similar to hops), not a rotting smell when fermenting.

Bokashi Hot Tips

If you have two buckets, fill one and allow it to ferment for two weeks while you fill the other.
If you have just the one, it's ok to bury it sooner as most of the food waste will have been fermenting long enough.

Bokashi kit RRPs with and without activator

Image of crushed barley inocculated with bokashi activator

Each time you add your food waste, add a thin a layer of the bokashi grain (approx 1/3 cup) over the untreated food waste and let the bin go to work. If using liquid activator, pour in approc 1/3 cup of liquid or decant int a spray bottle and spray the exposed surface to inocculate it.

Push down the contents to expell air pockets and release the natural liquids in the food waste.

Do this process until the bin is full and then it's time to add the fermented waste to your garden and start over.

Steps:

Add kitchen waste or animal waste to top of bokashi bin
Sprinkle bokashi grain or spray bokashi liquid over the surface for each few centimeters of food waste added (as if you are layering a lasagne or dusting a cake)
Compress food waste with masher to eradicate any air pockets. Topping with water can help too (avoid chlorinated if possible).
After a few days, moisture will be released into the drainage tray and accessible through the drainage tap. It is not necessary to drain this off (the wetter, the faster the fermentation will permeate through the mix)
Once bucket is full, dig a hole in your vegie patch or garden bed.
Add the bucket's organic contents into the hole covering it with soil.
Watch a video on how to bury your bokashi.
Either add the liquid with the organic solids to the hole, or add to a watering can at around 1 part per 100 for a great liquid plant and soil booster.
After 2 weeks, your waste is ready to be planted on