Rice/Pasta

[eskymo]

Well I'm not very impressed with the 'no smell' guarantee from Wiggly Wigglers - Whenever it's time to put a full bin of scraps/boakshi into the compost bin there is a definite very sweet putrid smell and the waste liquid stinks as well...not sure the bokashi is actually speeding up the process either. Don't think I'll be buying anymore. How is everyone else getting on? Have you noticed anything amazing as I've not....is it a big con?

[Alison]

Was just asking on another thread if there was a smell issue - sounds like there could be! How much bran do you get through Eskymo?

[eskymo]

Well my plastic bins are actually bigger than the expensive bokashi bins and so the bag of bokashi I get to last me 2 months doesn't go far enough. I'm just wondering if I'm doing it wrong. When you put the bokashi bran on your food scraps are you menat to mix it in so that everything is covered? The instructions just say to sprinkle it on top - maybe that's why I have a smeel issue as not all the scraps are covered - I'm going to try mixung it in this month and see if that helps.

[Sue]

Hi
I've got Bokashi and last summer had to take them down the allotment as they were attracting flies - just those greenbottles for some reason. Couldn't get rid of them and they were laying eggs under the rim - disgusting.
From what I've read you are just supposed to sprinkle the bran on top of the added waste not mix it in. But now mine are down the allotment I must admit I don't use them much now as have now gone vegetarian!
Also got fed up with taking bags for the compost, bags for the Bokashi and bags for the worms, and especially the Bokashi had to use too much plastic to stop people edging away from me on the bus. So yes I found it smelly but it does mean that no food waste goes to landfill but as I am no longer eating meat everything now goes in the main compost bin.
Sue

[Alison]

Still not totally sure about them, we don't produce that much waste that we can't compost anyway. Will have a bit more a think about it before I take the plunge although could try the Eskymo route and make my own.

[johnty greentoes]

Haver alsways put patsta, bread etc in the compost bin. I believe that the disuaders say it attracts vermin.

I've always found vermin to be more discerning - they always want to get inside the house.

[eskymo]

There's only two of us and we hardly ever eat meat - but we produce plenty of waste for the worms and for the compost bin and the dog! We recycle everthing - all foods scraps/waste, coffee/tea, fish bones etc - if the dog doesn't eat it, it gets given to the worms and if we've got enough for them it goes in the bokashi bin to ferment until it goes onto the compost bin. I like the fact that you have to leave the bin to ferment for 2 weeks before putting it on the compost bin as I hated all the daily trips I used to have to do. Still not sure about the smeel though. I'm going lift up my compost bin this w/e and see weather I can harvest any compost so I'll be able to see whether the bokashi is helping to create compost more quickly - I'll post the results and let you know.

[Alison]

Thanks Eskymo. Currently we put all our veg type waste etc in either the wormery or the compost heap. If we have excessive woody garden waste then it goes in the council green bin but they only get stuff that'll take ages for us to compost down. We do eat fish and meat but not in very large amounts and therefore not very much waste but I always feel guilty about throwing anything away. Do you have to be careful of the amount of anything you put in the bokashi bins or doesn't it really matter?

[Two_Sheds]

I had a Green Cone at my Brighton flat...it had to be dug about 2 foot into the ground, and didn't produce compost, it just all 'melted' into the soil.

Much better to just cook as much as you can eat, perhaps, and not have waste food at all?

[Alison]

Much better to just cook as much as you can eat, perhaps, and not have waste food at all?

Agree with you Two Sheds, however there's always going to be a bit of waste eg outer leaves, peelings, cores etc from fruit and veg and fish skins and manky bits on meat and I'm looking at ways of not throwing anything out if I can get away with it, hence thoughts of getting the bokashi bin.

[Two_Sheds]

Point taken, Alison. I was thinking from my own (vegetarian) perspective as regards cooked food...I forgot that you don't eat all the bones and skin!
As for peelings, veg waste...that goes to guinea pigs, then on compost heap. we don't have waste rice/pasta/cooked food because we only cook enough to eat, unless we plan to freeze it.

[Alison]

It does annoy me how much people waste, even if they don't care about disposal, you'd think they'd be upset at throwing their money away on stuff they don't eat.

[wheatleys wheels]

I personally have put cooked rice and pasta in the wormery it usually breaks down well if put in before the pasta dries out again. If there is a sauce on it it needs to be sure it's not meat based but apart from that since its just wheat and egg in pasta I've seen no problem with it and seems good to me.

[eskymo]

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.

[eskymo]

As for throwing things away...I'm working one day a week in a company in Edinburgh at the moment and I can't face people throwing things away. They have a coffee machine, and coffee grounds are thrown into the bin without thinking. I was horrified seeing the 'black gold' going to waste. They think I'm a bit nuts as I take all my 'rubbish' away with me - like my apple cores and banana skins - but I just see it as 'compost' and can't bring myself to throw it in the bin - what a different life we lead. Mind you - they all live in flats and none fo them have gardens so it's a completely different way of thinking.