Rice/Pasta

[muckdiva]

Well I'm converted - I lifted up my plastic compost bin on Sunday and was amazed to find that there was tons of compost to harvest. There was a load of stuff at the bottom of the bin [pre bokashi] that was still decomposing but there was tons of stuff above that that was perfect compost [post bokashi].

My bin is also teaming with composting worms from my wormery [that migrated and multiplied in the millions] so I think they have help break down the waste and the bokashi doesn't seem to have had an effect on them.

The one HUGE thing I noticed was that the bin did not smell. There was a slight whiff, but it was very slight. So although my bokashi bin smells a bit putrid when I open it, my compost bin doesn't.

So this month I am going to try sprinkling the bokashi into my bokashi bin and then mixing it in with the waste food, so that it's all covered and see if that helps get rid of the pong. As I do believe that just sprinkling the bokashi on top of the layer of waster only get's it working on the top bit and not the stuff underneath and this is causing it to small.

Will post back with my results.

Thanks for that Eskymo, our council is doing subsidised bokashi bins at the moment (£25 for the starter set) and I was toying with the idea.

[Ratty]

Not sure I'm sold on this Bokashi thing... Besides, we have an alternative disposal system for left-overs - Alfie the 2 year-old Boxer - Just need some method of composting his "left-overs"!!

[eskymo]

we give our dog a lot of scraps, but can't give her fish guts and fish heads or chicken bones - so that's where the bokashi bin comes in. I was about to give up on it, but after harvesting a couple of sack fulls of compost from my compost bin the other day after only a few months, I'm totally convinced it's worth it.

[eskymo]

How are people getting on with digging it into the ground - is that any good? I was thinking I could dig a few big holes where I intend to plant my courgettes this year and plonk a bit of bokashi waste into each - or is it too late to do that if I'll be planting my courgettes in a months time? What do you think?

[Sue]

Eskymo
The Bokashi literature says that if you plant Bokashi in the garden you need to wait two weeks before planting, alternatively you can dig it in around the garden near to plants you want to benefit.
Sue

[eskymo]

Well I'm going to be planting a lot of courgettes in a bout a month, so I might do a trial and dig a couple of holes and bury the bokashi in them and see if the courgettes I plant on top do any better than the ones without the bokashi. How deep are you meant to bury it?

[Alison]

Not sure but I'd go for a bit deeper than you want to plant your courgette so that the roots will go down into it to feed. Will be interested in seeing your comparison as I've just ordered some bins.

[MURFE 18]

Hi, you should never reheat rice ,as it is the biggist bactera bed going when reheated, if eaten you could end up with stomach, problems plus squits, i feed my left over rice to the birds

[eskymo]

I've never had any problem with re-heating rice - we often have risotto two days in a row as I'm incapable of making it for tow and always end up with enough for 4. Never did me any harm.

[JennieAtkinson]

I've got a great Med Salad recipe for left over rice! I'll have to post it.

Eskymo - I got the bokashi bin from work twice last year and fed them into my courgette plot, but I didn't have a good year - hardly harvested any courgettes, just got alot of leaves. It could have been the fact that our bin at work just gets filled with alot of fruit. But my advice would be to use it for some of your courgettes and try the others in your ordinary composted soil. ie do a bit of a trial. I have packed this month's bucket into my broad bean bed, but again I'm going to grow some broad beans elsewhere. Let me us know how you get on though. It would be interesting to hear about other Bokashi experiences. I posted a bit about it last year, but nobody else seemed to have it.

[eskymo]

I'm certainly impressed at the speed my compost rotted down - after three months I've harversted a whole black bin full of compost!!!

[eskymo]

I totally forgot to dig the last bin of bokashi into the ground and it went on the compost bin, so looks like I won't be doing a trial with my courgettes this year. As for progress report...I've been adding ym scraps to the bokashi bin and sprinkline the bran over the scraps and then mixing it in, so that everything that has been added to the bin is covered, not just the top layer and that has deifinitely got rid of the putrid smell I was getting before. I also read that you can add the contents of the bokashi bin to the wormery so I might bung the next one in mine as the worms in the compost bin seem to love the stuff!

[welsh veg grower]

another option - chickens - mine love rice and pasta
just an idea.