In order to compost your food waste sustainably and to maintain your garden floor inexpensively, you can make a Bokashi bucket yourself. This is a kind of composting in which an anaeron fermentation process takes place. This is based on adjoining bran. So you can have kitchen waste, including meat and dairy products, fermented to a safe soil formation and nutrient -rich fertilizer for your plants. In addition, this is an unstraditional method that is suitable for every household and is also cheaper. Simply try it out by following the steps and instructions described below.
What to consider before making a Bokashi bucket yourself
The name refers to the Japanese translation for "fermented organic substance". This arises when you lay food waste in the bucket for about a week and a half with a vaccination. Accordinglynon -compostable foodsHow to reduce meat and dairy products through a fermentation process. In contrast to traditional composting, in which the breakdown of organic material requires oxygen, fermentation is an anaerobic process in which sugar and strength are converted into alcohol and acids without air. You can then bury the converted organic material in your garden or compost heap or even put it in a worm container.
Required materials for production
The only things you need to do a Bokashi bucket yourself are of course a few buckets, some bran, your kitchen waste and time. In addition, this is a surprisingly simple DIY project that every hobby gardener can implement himself. The best thing is that you can reduce your waste and at the same time improve your garden floor.
However, you can also buy pre -made bokashi containers made of a kind of bucket, a tray for draining and a lid. Although these work pretty well, there is a much cheaper option that you can manufacture yourself. The homemade containers may not look as good as some of the prefabricated, but they do the job just as well and cost significantly less. Essentially, this is a system that starts your food waste before younutritious liquid Bokashi compostTransform that is ready to be returned to the garden soil.
How the fermentation process takes place
The medium can be almost every fine organic substance - bran, rice, wheat flour or waste products from the grain mill. Used mushroom growth medium, dried leaves or even sawdust are also suitable for this. This medium is vaccinated with useful microorganisms. These thrive in anaerobic, acidic environments, but smell less rotten than those in unhindered, natural anaerobic conditions.
To produce the vaccination, you can produce a brew that attracts the corresponding bacterial strains. The material can then be immersed in it, which means that the microbes can ferment. Molasses is an energy source for the microbes that multiply wildly for several days. As soon as the fermentation is over, the inoculated host can be dried, packed and stored for a long time. This is a simplified version of a fermentation process that requires several steps.
Which microorganisms are contained in the Bokashi bran
The most effective and useful bacteria come from one of three families: lactobacillus, brewer's yeast or purple (rhodopseudomonas). With these three types of bacteria that work on your waste products, you can fully initiate the process of composting for almost every vegetable or animal material.
- Lactobacillusis a very common family of bacteria and is known as a probiotic for human use. There are a variety of Lactobacillus species, but most of them are of great advantage for the fermentation process. As is known, they are also often used to ferment foods such as sauerkraut or for the production of yogurt.
- Brewer's yeasthas been considered a means of fermentation for centuries and is essential for the production of products such as brewed drinks (beer or cider), certain lemonades such as root beer and some foods such as bread. In addition, yeasts eat proteins that are contained in grain, meat or other food components, and decompose them.
- The bacterial familyRhodopseudomonasis a naturally occurring resident of soils and some marine environments. In Bokashi it converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into biomass, but also has a secondary purpose. A variety of Rhodopseudomonas is reducing Lignin, which is a main component of wood and other plant materials.
Follow simple steps and take a Bokashi bucket yourself
The manufacturing process of such a bucket is actually very simple. You need two larger containers, a drilling machine to drill holes in plastic, a densely closing lid, vaccine and a few household items. The buckets can be found relatively cheap in large shops. Sometimes you can even get used buckets free of charge and reuse from the catering trade. Here is easy instructions for the production of the composting system.
- First drill 20 to 30 holes on the underside of a bucket with a 3 to 6 millimeter wide drill.
- Then put the drilled bucket in the other container in which you have not drilled any holes.
- First cover the bucket with a densely closing lid. As a rule, you will find suitable lids near the buckets in the hardware store.
- Then start putting your leftover food and the vaccination in the bucket.
- Now it is time to continue with the actual fermentation process.
Have the compost in the Bokashi bucket fermented and use in the garden
To use your DIY Bokashi bucket, you can put a layer of vegetable waste on the floor and then draw a large layer of organic cereals or vaccination material such as bran, rice lifts, dried leaves, sawdust or wheat flour. This layer keeps it from feeling the smells caused by fermentation, while the composting takes place.
- First add leftovers when you have collected them in between.
- When the bucket is almost full, let it fermented for 10 days without opening the lid.
- Leave the liquid every other day and dispose of it or dilute it with water and pour the organic fertilizer into the garden floor.
- After 10 days, food waste is fermented and can be used in a garden, on a compost heap outdoors or on a worm farm.
More tips for using the Bokashi bucket
While you can make a Bokashi bucket yourself and simply make it, it is also possible to encounter some pitfalls if you don't do things right:
- The bucket must be airtight so that the content can ferment correctly. Bokashi is an anaerobic system, and every oxygen that penetrates it will disturb the balance. If you find that the lid you bought does not sit as firmly as you want, put a cloth or an old T-shirt over the top of the bucket and then grab the lid. The additional piece of fabric makes the bucket airtight.
- This basic system does not have a tap, but it would be easy enough to harvest liquid by lifting the upper bucket from the lower bucket and pouring the liquid that has collected in the lower bucket into a separate container. However, if you prefer a cone, you can drill a hole and install it on the bottom of the bucket. Opening the tap, for example, makes it easier to drain the liquid out of the bucket.
