The bokashi bucket is an easy and effective composting system that allows for ALL types of kitchen waste to be transformed into nutrient-rich compost. With a few simple adaptations to the standard compost bucket system, you will now be able to add food like meat, dairy, and fish to your compost. Grab the fam and letβs get started!
How it works
The bokashi bucket is different to a standard composting bucket method in the way that the decomposition process is stimulated. Food waste, along with an inoculant, is layered inside the bucket and then left tightly sealed for three weeks to ferment. Traditional composting requires oxygen for decomposition, while the bokashi system utilises fermentation, which is an anaerobic process that allows sugars and starches to be converted to alcohol and acids. Through this clever process, previously labelled un-compostable foods can now be wonderfully transformed into food for the whole garden.
You will need
- 2x medium to large buckets with matching, tight-fitting lids (buckets need to fit inside each other)
- Your chosen inoculant such as organic grain, bran, rice, dried leaves, sawdust, or wheat mill run. This layer is what prevents the food from smelling as it ferments and assists the breakdown process
- A drill or utility knife for making drainage holes
- A brick
- Kitchen waste
Assembly
1. On the bottom of bucket 1, drill about 10 holes or use the utility knife to cut out pieces of the plastic.
2. Place the brick inside bucket 2, and then place bucket 1 with the holes on top of the brick inside the bucket.
3. Remove the brim of one of the lids to use as a tool to push down your kitchen waste when needed.
4. Add a layer of inoculant to bucket 2 and then a layer of your food waste.
5. Keep repeating the process of 1 layer inoculant and 1 layer kitchen waste. Once the bucket is almost full, seal it tightly with the lid and leave it unopened for 10 days.Β Β
6. Without opening the main lid, drain the liquid every third day by simply picking it up out of the 2nd bucket (liquid will have escaped through the holes).
7. After 3 weeks, your compost will be ready to be used in the garden, added to your outdoor compost heap, or utilised inside a worm farm.
Top tip: Use the drained liquid as a super tonic for pot plants and beds. Dilute 5ml of your super tonic with 1L water to avoid burning plants.
This DIY is so simple and rewarding. Kitchen waste really is a gardenerβs best-kept secret that saves you money and ensures a constant stream of liquid gold for the whole garden. The bokashi bucket is also easy to maintain in the long run and you may even choose to have multiple buckets fermenting, depending on the size of your family. Collecting the drained liquid can be diluted with water to help stretch the goodness even further. Head down to your GCA Garden Centre to find your dream plants and rest assured that you will be able to look after them well with your homemade bokashi bucket. Life is Garden, feed yours deliciously!
