A bitterly cold ‘Arctic blast’ to herald in the New Year with -5C overnight temperatures in the London area and no luck trying to dig up parsnips for supper: ‘Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone’, and Jacky Frost’s been at the windows… Not many venturing up to their plots this week and a covering of frost in the shadows that stays all day.
Meanwhile it’s a good opportunity to plan for this year’s growing season, thinking about crop rotation, what to put where, tool cleaning and sharpening, shed tidying and seed catalogues to check out. Many of us collect seeds from our own plants; this year I’m going to be sowing a variety of cosmos from last year’s long and successful flowering. Thoughts are also turning to that all important feature of plot growing – compost!
I’ve been reading up on the bokashi composting method, using all food waste, in Organic Way, Garden Organic’s publication: ‘The word ‘bokashi’ comes from the Japanese word meaning ‘fermented organic matter’, and the process is kickstarted via a small, air-tight bin with a tap. To this you add food scraps and an inoculant, such as bran or wheatgerm, which introduces microbes (normally found in the soil) into your waste to help it decompose.’ The process involves pressing down the materials as you add more organic matter to expel air and sprinkling more bran mixture – this is essential, ‘otherwise you will be left with a putrid mess’. The bokashi bin works ‘using an anaerobic process – without oxygen – so don’t be tempted to open the bin too much to check on progress.’
An indication that the process is working is being able to siphon off ‘compost tea’ from the bin base; eventually the contents become usable for the compost heap, worm bin or dug into a trench. ‘The bokashi method is very energy efficient and can significantly speed up the composting process. Better still, it allows you to process all waste without attracting rats, and the end result becomes a highly nutritious part of you composting arsenal.’ (Alice Whitehead, Every Trick in the Bokashi, Organic Way, Autumn/Winter 2023 – Issue 235).
Has anyone tried this method and can give feedback? Meanwhile our compost heaps will be ready for spreading come the spring to enrich and improve; in Arthur Fallowfield’s immortal words (cue heavy West Country accent courtesy of Kenneth Williams): ‘The answer lies in the soil!’ Happy Composting!
Jenny Bourne
05.01.26