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I have been working on this video for awhile now. Any free moment I would do a little bit more to finish it (I have been really busy at work).
This is a very basic and simple illustraion on how we use our Bokashi bin, together with our worm farm to recycle our kicthen organic waste.
The only improvement I could suggest to our system is that we should have two Bokashi bins. When one is full, we let it sit until the next one is full. This will give the first bin a longer time to brake down the waste (ie giving the EM powder more time to work). Then we would simply rotate the bins around.
I have written many posts about our Bokashi bin and so I thought adding a video on how to use a Bokashi bin with EM Bokashi powder would help.
We use our Bokashi bin in conjunction with our worm farm. We were finding that we were creating too much household organic waste for our little wormy friends. Also a limitation to having a worm farm is that they can be a little fussy on what they will and will not eat.
However we put everything into the Bokashi bin (except for meat bones) even those items that worms won’t eat like citrus, dairy and protein. View the video below which will show you how to use a Bokashi bin.
When the Bokashi bin is full we then add the whole contents into our worm farm. As the waste inside the bin has already started to brake down due to the EM Bokashi powder, I have found that the worms are eating the contents (even though there is protein, citrus etc) and the EM powder will also continue to brake the waste down as well. The EM Bokashi powder doesn’t appear to bother the worms.
If you have a large garden you can burry the Bokashi bin waste into the ground but as we live in the inner city with limited garden space, we need our wormy friends to continue the brake down process.
As the waste has already started to brake down due to the EM Bokashi powder, I am finding the worms together with the EM powder are decomposing the waste a lot quicker than just the worms on their own. This has solved our problem of creating too much waste for our little worms to handle.
Also below I have added my original video about using a worm farm.
Also wanted to mention again that if you live in Sydney, the City Council have free composting & worm farm half day courses. You are even given a free compost bin or worm farm at the end of the course (about three hours).
How to use a Bokashi Bin
How to use a Worm Farm
Last weekend my car was forcibly broken into. L The back rear passenger window was smashed to gain entry.
Luckily however I was insured so after a call to my insurer on Monday, I was surprised with the speed the car window was fixed. Tuesday morning the ‘window man’ came around to the house. It was all very convenient and easy.
One of the first things the ‘window man’ said to me on arrival was “you must be a good gardener” as he eyed off my flowering orchards. To which I proudly responded “worm fertiliser”.
I have said it before and I will say it again, worm fertiliser is like liquid gold for plants. They love it!! It makes any ordinary gardener like me look brilliant!
Time for show and tell…………. thought you might like to enjoy my flowering orchards too.
It is 4am in Sydney and I can’t sleep because my head is throbbing and breathing is difficult due to having tissues stuck up my nose to stop the continual mucus stream (sorry for the imagery).
This is a killer cold (well I doubt it will actually kill me but you get the idea). I have become a personal tissue waste factory. Dead tissues lay beside my bedside table & in my winter robe pockets.
So what to do when you can’t sleep?
Whinge and tell the world your wows and or get up and inspire others with a quick worm farm tip.
Yes I know this will be a bit gross but it is worth sharing. All our family used tissues for the last year have been recycled (yeah I know…….I warned you this would be a little gross).
We have a small bench bin in our bathroom / laundry, were we place all used tissues. Once full I empty the bin in our worm farm.
Believe it or not our little worms love them.
Tissues are now one less thing we are sending to landfill.
Bon Appetit little wormies!
I have been reviewing my post about ‘recycling household waste using a worm farm’.
After reviewing the video attached to this post, I noticed there were a couple of things I said that I needed to research. I mentioned the bad smell of the worm farm & the small flies. What can be done??????????????????
Again it is a local council website that comes to my rescue. Wollongong City Council
Here is what the Wollongong Council website suggested:
There are lots of small flies. Are these a problem?
These are vinegar flies. They are not a problem, but an indication that you are over-feeding your worm system. Reducing the feeding rate should help.
My worm bin smells. What should I do?
This is a sign of anaerobic conditions. Stop feeding and stir the material with a small fork and add lime. (* see below)
It looks as if we are creating too much organic waste for our little worm farm and hence over feeding our worms. What can I do about this?????? Well Wollongong council website suggested this:
How can you help the worms eat faster?
Shred or mash the food scraps.
Don’t add too much acidic food such as citrus fruits and garlic; add lime with these.
Keep the worm system at around 24 degrees. (Celsius)
The problem of over feeding our worms (because we have too much organic waste for them to eat) is not the only limitation I have found with having a worm farm. Worms are a bit fussy on what they will and will not eat. They are not fond of onions, diary, and citrus and will not eat protein at all. This means our household is still sending a lot of organic waste to the tip (landfill).
I am looking into purchasing a Bokashi bucket for recycling the organic waste that the worms will not eat.
I have a couple of concerns about these Bokashi buckets that I am researching. I will keep you posted. Please fill free to leave any suggestions, comments or opinions on Bokashi buckets.
* Anaerobic conditions means without air. See my post on ‘Are worm farms any better than landfill’, which explains anaerobic conditions a little more.
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