Bokashi Bin Working Together With Our Worm Farm

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.

What to do with dog poo?

It has been interesting to view the statistics on each post.  By the far the most popular post has been ‘Doggie Poo Loo’.

 

As a recap on this post, I decided that it would not be the best option to add our dog poo to our worm farm.  So we have been scoping it up and placing in a bucket with a lid and then once a week burring it in the garden.

 

I have read so many blogs and websites on this issue. I was concerned and confused with the suggestion that burring dog poo in your garden (what we were doing) is better than placing the waste straight into your garbage bin to be taken to landfill.  Isn’t both processes anaerobic (without air) brake down and this produces methane?  We know methane is a greenhouse gas.

 

Often we can feel better about the environment knowing we are doing something but I struggled with the idea that I was just creating my own little personal methane producing landfill at home.

 

So this is what I have decided to do now:

 

I will continue to scop the dog poo up into a bucket with a lid as before but now will sprinkle EM Bokashi powder over the waste each time I add new dog waste.  Then burry the dog poo when the bucket is full.

 

What is EM Bokashi?

 

“EM Bokashi is a pleasant smelling product made using a combination of sawdust and bran that has been infused with Effective Micro-organisms (EM). EM Bokashi has traditionally been used to increase the microbial diversity and activity in soils and to supply nutrients to plants.” *

 

Why do I think adding EM Bokashi over dog waste is better?

 

1)       Apparently EM Bokashi neutralises the methane and hence is not emitted into the atmosphere.

2)       Burying waste next to plants without EM will mean the waste will produce methane which apparently can harm or kill your plants.

3)       Waste brake down with EM is apparently quicker.

 

From my current understanding, using EM will mean that our dog waste will no longer create methane when it brakes down and hence I will no longer have a personal landfill at home.

 

I believe this will be a better way of dealing with dog poo than what I was currently doing.

 

* Resource ‘Bokashi Composting Australia’

 

 

 

 

Reviewing Our Worm Farm

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.