bokashi?

You could make your own but you would need to ensure that it's air tight and be able to drain off excess fluid. I got mine cheaply (relative to some of the prices) from Recycle now - Recycle Now - where and how to recycle - Official UK recycling campaign or whatever it's called. It depends on where you live on how good the offers are but it's worth a try.

I'm with Alison, got mine from here too for �25, well worth it.

Mine were �27 - on offer and I also had a voucher - from Tesco online!!! Thought that was an odd place to find them, but they were cheaper than anyone else at the time!

Make your own bokashi bin

If you have a bucket with a tight fitting lid - something like the ones that bulk emulsion paint comes in, then you could do it for almost pennies! Once you've got your bucket, make a trivet to fit about 3 - 4 inches from the bottom (put some "legs" on a piece of plastic with small drainage holes in), attach a water barrel tap so you can drain off the liquid - makes great plant food and drain cleaner . Then you should be able to use it in the same way as the commercial ones. You'll need to buy the bokashi bran (special offer at the mo from Green Gardener). Do you know the sequence for starting and maintaining a bucket? Let me know if you don't and I'll post it on here, no point in doing that if it's already around on another thread or you already know.

Best of luck

Received my Bokashi bins today. They are nothing special construction wise and I certainly wouldn't pay some of the prices I've seen on the web. But got mine subsidised through Essex County Council so they only cost �25 for two, including 2 months of bran and a tool to compact the contents down. On the advert it said �5 delivery but I wasn't charged anything. I also got some extra bran at the same time and therefore saved on delivery charge for that too.
Although I would be capable of making my own, I don't already have any suitable bits and pieces to use so would have to buy them in. So in my case, it really was cost/time effective to simply buy two for �25. I wouln't pay more than that though.
Looking forward to using my new Bokashi bins. Funny how such a yukky process can be so entertaining. I'm sure the novelty value will wear off soon.

hi
thanks for that. i don't know anything about it so if you could let me know the sequence that would be great
xxxmillyxxx

It's dead simple really. Sprinkle a bit of bran on the drain plate thingy, add your kitchen waste (tea bags, left-over dinners, plate scrapings etc) squash it all flat with a potato masher or something similar, cover it with a handful or so of bokashi bran, seal the lid and leave it till the next time you've got kitchen waste to put in. Keep adding a bit of bran to each layer, and keep squashing it down. I put all sorts of stuff in mine, but nothing that could go on the compost heap anyway. Stale bread, left over pet food, anything that would attract vermin if it was put in the household waste and sent to landfill.
After a couple of weeks or so, depending on what you've been putting in the bin, you can drain off some of the liquid. I always have to tip my bucket to do this, and only take a little bit out each time as it should be used the same day. Use about a teaspoonful to a watering can of water to feed your plants, or pour it down the drain as a drain cleaner. When the bucket's full, leave it for a couple of weeks then you can either bury it in the garden where it's supposed to rot down to useable compost in a few weeks, or you can add it to your compost bin as an accellerator. Either way, it's going to be useful stuff and not going to landfill.
I got 2 buckets and kit for around �30. The first bag of bran (600g) lasted me a good 6 weeks or so, but I live on my own though do have visitors at times. I've started my second bucket off and I'm about to do the emptying process on the first one. Been using the bokashi "juice" to feed my pumpkins and they seem to be doing ok on it.
Oh yes, apparently you can also feed small quantities of the bucket contents to wormeries to compost down further. The food doesn't "compost" in the bucket, it sort of "pickles" so it's still identifiable as food.

I always put a couple of sheets of newspaper in the bottom as otherwise I find that the bran and bits fall through the grill. Personally I find that the bran lasts ages as you don't need much, there are two of us and 600g would last us upto 3 months but then again we fill them very slowly. Our pets leave very little food, old bread is made into breadcrumbs and frozen or fed to birds and I don't cook excess food (our mum's drummed into us to clear our plates and no faddy kids!!!!) so it's only really fish skins, fat, etc so it's not surprising.

Usually put mine in the compost bin (have heard horror stories about killing worms so don't want to risk it in the wormery) but also used it in bean trenches this year which worked very well.

That's a good idea, putting paper in the bottom! Hadn't thought of that I just followed the instructions. I did notice that you don't need to use as much bran as they suggest though. What do you do with meat bones? I haven't put any in there, that's the only foodstuff that I do seal into bags and put into the household waste, but I'd like to be able to put that to good use too if possible

I've been reading up on Bokashi bins (thanks to learning about them on this site) and find mixed reviews - some people say they're fine, others say they smell etc.

I'd love to get feedback from people here who are using them. Some things I'd like to know :

Can you leave them outdoors (as kitchen hasn't much free space)?
Can meat scraps (raw or cooked) be put in?
Do you add the bran each time you put food in or just once each day?
How pongy are the contents after two weeks, when they're ready to be added to compost heap or garden? A couple of people felt it smelled so strongly it made them feel sick.
Any other points that people think of - I'd love to know.
Also, any good suppliers - I'm going to check on those already mentioned in this thread (I want one that delivers to Ireland).

Looking forward to learning some more about them.

Yes, I should think you can leave them outdoors.
Yes, raw and cooked food including meat and fish can be put in.
Sprinkle a little bran over each new addition to the bucket.
I don't mind the smell, it's a bit "yeasty", but to me only noticeable when you take the lid off to add more waste and bran.
I left the first bucket longer than 2 weeks before emptying it into my compost dalek. No horrible smell and no slimy mouldy stuff either.
I got my bins from Bokashi Bucket and Bran but I don't know if they deliver to Ireland, should think so though. I also got mine when they were on special offer, 2 for �30 with 2 months supply of bran.
Extra bokashi bran I've bought from Green Gardener, again on special offer, 3 packs (about 6 months supply) for �9.99 with free postage

After adding the last lot to my compost bin, the next time I opened the bin loads of worms were on the rim as if trying to make a quick escape. Don't think they liked the pickled mix.

I find that you need to bury the bokashi in the compost and it attracts shed loads of worms rather than repels them and they seem to really like it! The only problem I seem to have with worms at the surface is if the compost is too wet, was your bokashi particularly soggy?

thanks, Maureen - I've checked out the site and have emailed them re delivery question.