Bokashi Compost Bucket For Kitchen Scraps Indoor Composter (maze)

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Mark submitted a new Showcase Item:

Bokashi Compost Bucket For Kitchen Scraps Indoor Composter (maze)

Here's my new indoor composter which uses the Bokashi system to help break down the food scraps from the kitchen ready for the compost heap.

Previous to this we have been using a standard container as the "slops bucket" where we place all green waste to go into the compost heap. We needed a container because often kitchen scraps are collected at night and nobody wants to venture out to the compost heap in the evening to feed the possum :D

We also have a chicken scraps container where we place any chicken friendly kitchen or table scraps to be given out to the hens (usually in the afternoon when putting them to bed back in their pen).

Anyway, our slops container just wasn't "cutting it" because it would fill up too quick, it looked unsightly, and generally it didn't quite work as well as we'd like. So, I went on the hunt for a proper kitchen compost bucket but do you think I could actually find one that was a reasonable size? No.

Then I found this Bokashi bucket made by Maze at my local hardware and I immediately liked the size and also the black colour so the food didn't show through.

The only problem is the Bokashi system is meant to be used with their Bokashi grain (one packet lasts about a month) but I'm not interested in adding another cost to my living expences so I purchased the compost bucket purely for the bucket.

The grain when sprinkled over the scraps helps to break the food scraps down and it's recommended a generous covering is used. For people living in apartments, this system is excellent because you can keep it for quite some time before needing to empty the bucket. Also, I will breakdown virtually any food stuffs including meat and fish bones.

However, we just want to use it for non-meat products and we'll use the grain that came with the start up kit until it's finished then just let it go natural after that and take it to the compost heap when the bucket fills.

The compost bucket has a tap on the bottom which can be used to drain any excess fermentation liquid. This liquid when watered down can be used as an effective plant fertiliser.

Images are self explanatory the container on top of the compost bucket is for our chicken scraps - bread etc...

See the other tabs for cost and more details. :)

Read more about this showcase item here...

Buy it online at Garden Express
 
Last edited:

Steve

Valued Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
670
Location
Brisbane Australia
Snap, I've got one of these!

I've always felt bad about throwing out my food scraps and because I don't have room for a compost area or chooks i don't have much choice.
I thought I would give one of these bins a try and it works ok for me.
Ive only run about two full loads through it so far but the 'juice' that comes out of it is huge. Far too much for my uses. I just pour most of it in the garden where it wont over fertilise anything. The food breaks down a heap too but not to the point i can put it into my pots. It really needs to go into another composter and break down more. I do want to use the juice but was cautious as it says you need to water it down so much. I will use it but will run some tests so i dont ruin a whole crop in one swoop.

Also, I don't have the grain based additive, my kit came with a spray bottle where you give it a couple of squirts each time you add something. It seems to work ok and the smell is not overly offensive although the wife isn't too keen on it. It also seems to last a long time too.

And it didn't take me long to break the little spatula thing to push the scraps down. Weak plastic but its not a big deal.

If nothing else I am probably helping to reduce landfill in some way.
 

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Snap indeed!

I'm glad someone else here has one because I was keen to know if others were happy with the composting bucket and how it worked for them.

A liquid spray sounds better and easier than the grain I got with my kit. Like I said though, we'll probably just use it like we used our previous container as an interim scrap storage in the kitchen for short periods until we mozy on down to the compost heap and empty it.

Yeah, the plastic scrap squasher doesn't look too sturdy - it's probably not a big deal really as I doubt I'll be needing to constantly squash the scraps down in the compost bucket.

I mainly love the size. Most purpose made compost buckets for sale are too small.
 

stevo

nativebeehives.com
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Jun 13, 2013
Messages
1,804
Location
Clontarf, Qld
Website
nativebeehives.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
but the 'juice' that comes out of it is huge. Far too much for my uses. I just pour most of it in the garden where it wont over fertilise anything.

Maybe you need one of those 1000L cube water containers, mix water and the food juice in to create a watered down fertilizer, with a complex hose drip system around your garden! :eat:
 

Steve

Valued Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
670
Location
Brisbane Australia
Maybe you need one of those 1000L cube water containers, mix water and the food juice in to create a watered down fertilizer, with a complex hose drip system around your garden! :eat:

Ah, you're an ideas man Stevo. Sounds like a great solution to my over supply of solution. :D
 
Last edited:

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
has anyone here looked in to ... investigated "Compost Tea" ?
Do you mean from the liquid the Bokashi bucket produces? Or, using compost in a mesh bag dipped into water to make a fertiliser liquid?
 

stevo

nativebeehives.com
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Jun 13, 2013
Messages
1,804
Location
Clontarf, Qld
Website
nativebeehives.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Or, using compost in a mesh bag dipped into water to make a fertiliser liquid?

This one I think, I don't know anything about it except have seen people mention making compost tea. I saw one company that sells kits, and they talk about brewing the tea and has to have everything working to get the tea right, sounded complex.
 

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
Well I guess the Bokashi liquid is very similar to making a compost tea because both are derived from composing matter and both are watered down to use on the garden. Both contain nutrients and living microbes which when applied work the soil to make that symbiotic environment for plants, and both are liquids.

You can virtually make a fertiliser/compost tea out of any nutritious plant food. Compost is one but manure is another - I sometimes use quail or chicken poop mixed in a bucket then sieve a small amount into a watering can and fill with water until it is as weak as tea (I was going to say something else then) and sprinkle it around my veggies.
 

Steve

Valued Member
Premium Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2013
Messages
670
Location
Brisbane Australia
Wow Stevo, who would have thunk. That is a whole new world of stuff I had no idea about. It looks very involved and technical.
I'm not sure i would have the time or energy to set up and brew this stuff. And how much better than normal fertilizer is it? It sounds great, but.....
 

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
After a few weeks of stacking this compost bin with food scraps we've found it to be an excellent way to save our kitchen scraps. Not only that, the fermentation compost juice which can be siphoned off from the tap on the bottom of the bucket every so often is turning out to be a wonderful plant food and soil activator! Simply mix about 200 mils of compost juice in 9 litres of water and sprinkle over plants and garden bed for a valuable garden booster.

Gardens are living including the soil and mulch, so giving a water of compost fermentation juice every now and again adds microbes to the soil, feeds the plants extra nutrients, and stimulates animal growth overall.

compost fermentation juice in bottle.jpg
compost juice.jpg
watering can mix with fermentation juice.jpg
 

Lois

Active Member
Premium Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2017
Messages
73
Climate
Sub-Tropical
I use weeds in a watering can with some water added. Then I dilute it. My verandah planrs love it.
 

Mark

Founder
Staff member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
5,192
Location
Bellmere, QLD
Website
www.selfsufficientme.com
Climate
Sub-Tropical
I don't use this anymore - we now just have a 15-litre beer fermenting container to throw our kitchen scraps into and then take it down to the compost heap - it works well!
 

ClissAT

Valued Member
Premium Member
GOLD
Joined
Sep 27, 2015
Messages
1,842
Location
Pomona, Qld
Climate
Sub-Tropical
I think the Bokashi was developed mostly for city folk living in high rise who don't have access to real soil.

Nonetheless it seems to work well to a point, which is when you are making too much volume of scraps for its capacity.

I have also heard of people who have 2 or more of them on their balcony working away, providing nutrient for their balcony plants.

These days with people juicing so much, they have a lot more scraps to deal with.
 
Top Bottom