This system is especially promoted for apartment owners-what do they do with it after fermentation? Throw it in the garbage? They could have done that before fermenting. You can do this by adding them to a compost pile or you can just dig them into your garden soil where they will compost naturally. Once you have fermented your scraps, you then need to compost them. Knowing this fact makes the earlier statement make more sense. There is no composting taking place in bokashi composting-talk about false advertising! An orange looks like an orange, and an apple looks like an apple. At the end of the process the food looks just like it did when it went into the system, except it’s pickled. What you are doing is turning your kitchen scraps into pickled kitchen scraps. This process is actually a fermentation process. If you read the fine print you soon understand that bokashi composting is not a composting process at all. Does this make sense? Why would you add fully composted material back to the compost pile? If you read the above quickly, you might have missed the statement which says “After a few weeks, when the pail is full, you take the contents outside, and either dig it into your garden, or add it to your compost pile”. Is this really a method of composting? Is this system better than the more traditional methods of composting? These are the important questions and the ones I will look at in the rest of this post.īokashi Composting-Is it Really Composting? So in general, I have no problem with bokashi composting. This sounds like a good system, and any system that returns kitchen scraps to the soil is a good thing.

I found the following benefits listed at various sites on the net.ġ) You can compost dairy products and meat.Ħ) No need to worry about the amount of greens and brownsħ) Food scraps are inoculated with EM (Effective Microbes)Ĩ) Produces a nutrient rich tea for plantsĩ) Can be carried out on a small scale which is perfect for apartmentsġ1) Saying the word ‘bokashi’ will impress friends. If you want more details or have specific questions about the process there is lots of info on the net. This liquid, the ‘bokashi tea’ can be used to fertilize your house plants or your garden plants.Īfter a few weeks, when the pail is full, you take the contents outside, and either dig it into your garden, or add it to your compost pile. This needs to be drained or it will start to stink. Each time you have more scraps, add them to the pail, add bran, and squish.Īfter a few days, liquid starts to form in the bottom of the pail.

Put your food scraps in the pail and sprinkle some bokashi bran on top. It is normally referred to as bokashi bran or Effective Microbes. You also need the ‘special sauce’! It would not be a very good process if there was no special sauce to sell you. These will run you $60 to $150, or you can make a DIY for $20. To get started you need a special bokashi bucket that has a tight lid, and a spigot at the bottom to drain off liquids (pictured above). From we have the following description “Bokashi composting is a safe, convenient, and quick way to compost food waste in your kitchen, garage, or apartment.”

Happy farmer kitchen composter