Another way to make compost is with a Bokashi bin.
Bokashi is Japanese for ‘fermented organic matter’ and I always compare a bokashi bin with a stomach for your kitchen scraps. I personally find this one of the most accessible ways to compost as almost anything can go in, meat, dairy, cooked foods, exotic fruits, small amounts of bones and I even empty my vacuum cleaner in it, it requires very little space and very little maintenance. The bin is from the bottom-up composed of a fluid drain compartment with a tap, a roster to deposit your scraps and a lid to keep air out and smells in.
You layer your kitchen scraps with bran which is a mix of bacteria and yeasts that ferment the organic matter you put in. When your bokashi is full you leave it for two weeks after which you can bury it in the soil, add it to your compost pile or permaculture apartment has a great video explaining how she makes her bokashi contents into compost in a bag with some soil. I mostly add it to my compost pile as that allows me to keep my plant beds no-dig and it speeds up the compost. But recently I had to dig out a big raised bed that was topped with gravel, in those cases it’s great to dig in your bokashi to build healthy soil life quick. When you do this, make sure to avoid digging it in near plants as the contents are very acidic. After you dug it in, wait for two weeks for the bokashi contents to neutralize and turn into the soil before you plant any plants in that area.
We always have lots of worms in the compost bin, especially in the clumps of bokashi content, and in my books that’s a win. So if you are considering a bokashi bin, I’d say go for it, start saving food scraps from the landfill and make your own compost no matter where you live 😀
