Exactly seven days ago we have started fermenting our kitchen waste Bokashi Way. Bokashi (ぼかし) is Japanese for “shading off” or “gradation.” It derives from the practice of Japanese farmers centuries ago of covering food waste with rich, local soil that contained the microorganisms that would ferment the waste. After a few weeks, they would bury the waste that weeks later, would become soil.
We got our Bokashi Starter Kit at CERES in East Brunswick but you can also buy them online at Eco Organics or in many other garden centres or health shops.
At AUD 79.95 it comes rather pricey (especially that the 1.5l bag of bokashi lasts only 1.5 weeks) but it’s nothing compared to the impact on the environment. Each kilogram of food waste dumped into landfill produces 900g of Methane (primary greenhouse gas or Carbon Dioxide equivalent CO2e). So over a period of a year you are reducing many kilograms of CO2e being placed in the atmosphere.
The Bokashi Kitchen System is very easy to use and installs a good awareness of all the waste produced. You throw all your organic waste into the Eco Bucket and at the end of each day you sprinkle a layer of Eco Bokashi. Once the Eco Bucket is full you can bury the contents directly into your garden and it will break down in a few weeks.
A valuable byproduct is so called Bokashi Juice which can be drained twice every week and applied to your plants or garden as it’s full of nutrients.
So after seven days of using our Bokashi Bin, we have finally gotten 5ml of Bokashi Juice ! Our plants will be happy! Yay!
The World Is Eating 