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Bokashi composting low carb food waste

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Guide to bokashi composting for low carb diets

Bokashi microbes thrive on the sugars and carbohydrates in our food waste. So, can you still use bokashi composting if you don’t have many carbohydrates and sugars in your food waste? Maybe you eat a diet high in protein and fat, such as the Keto diet, carnivore diet, or low starch diet. The simple answer is yes. With our top 5 tips, you can successfully bokashi compost your low carb food waste.

Why are carbohydrates and sugars important for bokashi composting?

Bokashi composting uses microbes to ferment or ‘pre-compost’ food waste. Bokashi composting works on all food waste, but the bokashi microbes thrive off of the sugars and carbs present in typical household food waste. That’s why its so effective and fast with a good mix of food waste. Fruits, most vegetables, pasta, bread, all contain carbohydrates to feed the microbes in your bokashi bucket. For successful bokashi composting, we recommend adding a mix of food waste to your bokashi composter, with plenty of fruit and vegetable peelings. This said, it is possible to use bokashi composting for low carb, high protein food waste by following our 5 simple tips below.

Top 5 tips for bokashi composting low carb food waste

 1. Add sugar

One of the simplest ways to bokashi compost food waste lacking in carbohydrates and sugars, is to mix sugar with the food waste when adding it to your bokashi bucket. Sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar each time you add food waste. This will give the bokashi microbes a good source of food and kick start the fermentation of the rest of your food waste.

2. Collect food waste from family, friends and neighbors

Alternatively, collect food waste from friends and family who eat a diet higher in fruits, veggies and other carbs. Mix this food waste with your own and add as usual to your bokashi bucket.

3. Add extra bokashi bran

If you are bokashi composting food waste low in carbs and sugars, then you can try doubling, or tripling the amount of bran you add to your bokashi bucket. The extra microbes in the bokashi bran will help to successfully ferment and pre-compost the food waste. This is standard practice when bokashi composting hard-to-compost items.

4. Leave the bokashi bucket to ferment for longer

Another option for composting low carb food waste is to leave the bokashi bucket for longer than the standard 2 weeks. As there are fewer carbs and sugars, the bokashi microbes may take longer to multiply through the food waste. Leaving the bokashi bucket to ferment for longer will allow the microbes more time to completely ferment the food waste. Remember to continue draining the bokashi tea throughout the fermentation period.

5. Bury the pre-compost deeper and leave it for longer

Our final tip when composting low carb food waste, is to bury the bokashi pre-compost deeper and leave it for longer to fully assimilate into the soil.


Order now! Find all your bokashi composting supplies in our online shop.


Other posts you might like to read:

Bokashi bran: soil amender, compost accelerator and compost tea brew

Why bokashi?

The importance of healthy soil

 

2 responses to “Guide to bokashi composting for low carb diets”

  1. Tania says:

    What about adding a liquid bokashi innoculant that contains molasses (which is high in sugar)? I’ve seen a YouTube video where bran was excluded, but a homemade innoculant made with molasses was sprayed onto the scraps.

    • Nicki Casley says:

      There are bokashi sprays available (these are basically activated EM (effective micro-organism solutions). In our experience, these have a short shelf life and are harder to ensure a good covering. Adding just a molasses spray will not work. The food waste already contains ample carbohydrates (aka sugars). The purpose of the bokashi bran is to introduce the beneficial bokashi microbes to the food waste. It is these microbes that feed on the carbohydrates in your food waste and ferment the food waste. Simply using a molasses spray will add more sugar, but there will be none of the bokashi microbes.
      Hope that helps.
      Happy composting

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