We have always been a family who like to recycle, reuse and not fill landfill with our food waste. Since moving to South Africa and living with amazing wildlife, like baboons and mongoose, we’ve had to find new ways to get rid of our food waste (as sticking it in black bins is definitely not an option)…
And then we found Earth Probiotic Bokashi! Wow, what a great way to solve our problem. Readily available online to order your kit, it’s easy to maintain and turn your food into compost.
What is Bokashi? It’s basically a plastic bin, made from 65% recycled materials, which comes with:
- A strainer, which is made from from 100% recycled polypropylene and sits in the bottom of the bin
- Tap, which is fixed to the bin
- Very strong, airtight plastic lid
What can you put in Bokashi? Basically everything that’s edible, including cooked and uncooked meat, seafood, bones, dairy, citrus and egg shells.
What next? You also need to purchase Earth Bokashi, which is like a sawdust material and is essential to help with pre-composting of food waste. The material is made with indigenous South African microbes and up-cycled materials.
With your completed kit, you can now begin to compost your food! See how we use our Bokashi below, we took photos of the process, so you can see what it’s like and how easy it is after your bin is full! We choose to bury our fermented scraps deep in the ground, as we have baboons here and we’re also working on a veggie patch! But, after two weeks you can empty your scraps in an Earth Worm Farm or use them under potting plants or just in your compost heap. Within 8 – 12 weeks you’ll then have a nutrient rich compost for your plants or garden.
We recommend purchasing two Bokashi bins, especially if you’re a plant-based eating household. We’re only two people and we manage to fill one in a month – just in time for the other to be ready to bury. So we have two bins to keep us covered. No more food waste going to landfill, and we get to enjoy watching our plants grow even bigger and healthier!
