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Bokashi Composting in Container?

18 years ago

I have been using Bokashi composting for a couple years now (I can share my entire story if anyone is interested) - and I am wondering if anyone else doing this has composted the bokashi waste any other way other than in the ground?

I have a spot in my yard where I bury the bokashi waste and let it decay. However, when I dig this up it is not going to be pure compost, it will contain a decent amount of dirt, I am trying to figure out if there is a way I can avoid or very much limit the dirt content and get as pure of compost as I can...?

Comments (6)

  • 18 years ago

    I was going to put this down as another word for pit composting, but I skimmed the Bokashi Wiki entry.

    If you were to generalize, how would you compare this to Vermicompositng (inside worm composting) and outside bin composting? Perhaps I first should ask if you have composting using these other two methods.

  • 18 years ago

    No, I have not composted using any other method, though I have read about them.

    A quick description, I collect food scraps in a 5 gallon bucket (with some special features for drainage), each time I add food I add beneficial bacteria (EM-1) which basically preserves or pickles the food waste (I make my own bokashi mix with em-1). The smell after it has been sitting for a while is a fermented type smell, not bad at all.

    After the bucket is full, I dig a hole, put it in, bury with about 6" of dirt. After about 3-4 weeks it is normally totally broken down - if I dig in that spot there is no food waste.

    My food waste includes meat, dairy, fish, bones, corn cobs... All that gets broken down.

    It all works great, but for my purposes I am trying to keep the compost as 'pure' as possible by trying to keep out as much dirt as possible -- I am going to be trying raise bed square foot gardening...

  • 18 years ago

    Instead of burying it I suppose you could put it out in an on the ground bin and cover with some carbon cover material (leaves or whatever) and it would probably break down almost as quick and be easier to keep from mixing with as much dirt.

    Here is a link that might be useful: www.TCLynx.com

  • 18 years ago

    "I am trying to figure out if there is a way I can avoid or very much limit the dirt content and get as pure of compost as I can...?"

    Very interesting question, which I interpret to be: is it possible to make a soilless Bokashi mixture for use in containers?

    I'm not sure if you can make good compost out of Bokashi fermented scraps without having access to good old dirt. Earthworms are one crucial part of the process of turning food scraps into castings. The microbes that exist in dirt also work to create that rich dark Bokashi-compost. Both of these need to be present as the Boksashi-fermented scraps are cured for 2-3 weeks before use in the garden or containers.
    I'll be interested in hearing what Bokashi-experts might have to say. I do put a handful or two of Bokashi-cured compost into each of my containers, along with my usual container-mix.

  • 18 years ago

    If you put material into the soil to compost you will get compost mixed with soil. If you do not want soil in your compost do not put it into your soil. What you were doing is something called "Trench Composting" and once the material is put into the soil it is supposed to be left there, not dug up to be used somewhere else.

  • 18 years ago

    All of my bokashi is added to my worm bins a little bit at a time. The worms thrive on it.
    I've also been making my own starter culture, in lieu of EM, and newspaper bokashi, in lieu of bran, for some time now.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Free bokashi composting.