[Go back in time and read Marie's first bokashi blog post here...]

IT'S THE END of the first week of the bokashi trail in my two-adults-3-kids household and the 20 litre bin is already full. Okay, time to consult the instructions. "Once the bin is filled, you can bury the fermented organic matter in the garden as fertilizer, or if you have another bin, you can leave the full one to ferment for a further 10-14 days ...". Aaargh! I wasn't mentally prepared for physical labor this early in the piece - although we built vegie garden beds back in November last year, I don't actually have garden in them as yet! (Unless oxalis counts as garden?) I think I will let the organic matter in the bin ferment a little longer and put off burying the compost - but what am I going to do with my kitchen wastes until I get around to emptying the bin ?

Todae state that a two-bin system is the ideal way to practise bokashi composting. You fill the first, seal it and allow it ferment further, while you use the second bin. Then, when the second bin is full, the first one is ready to put in the garden. I think a two bin system is a must for families who want to use bokashi composting because of the volume of organic waste produced. If my household produces 20 ltrs of kitchen waste in one week, then I would actually need a three bin system if I were to allow the bokashi to ferment for two weeks after the bin was filled.

To give you an idea of start-up costs, a single bin with 1kg of bokashi meal costs about $90, and a two bin system is about $190.

Another consideration is the consumption of the bokashi meal, and associated costs. A 1 kg packet of bokashi meal is around $9. I'm not sure if I am using the right amount of bokashi, but I reckon I've used about a third of the kilo pack during this week. Provided I don't change the amount I am using by much, I estimate that our ongoing costs will be about $3 a week.

Using the bin is really easy, it lives in the kitchen, so no chilly moonlit excursions to the old compost bin are necessary (something I appreciate at this time of year). I just bung everything in it - tea bags (I probably should take the strings and tags off them first, but I haven't ), coffee grinds, meat, cooked and uncooked vegetable scraps. I really like the fact that I don't have to separate leftovers into vegetables and the meat. After a meal, I take the lid off and get the kids to scrape their plates into it. Easy!

And that's another thing I should mention - I can leave the lid off for a while, even though it has some week-old bits of meat in there (ewww!) . Unlike my, ehem, aromatic attempts at traditional composting, the yeasty odour of the bokashi bin isn't offensive and it isn't overwhelming either.

So, so far so good. Next update I'll let you know how I go dealing with the fermented compost. (When I get around to it that is!)

Bokashi bin supplied to EarthmMums by www.todae.com.au - lifestyle for a sustainable future.