Easy composting

Worm tower

This option is essentially an in-ground worm farm. Just dig a hole and drop in the worm tower unit. You can have just one, or several dotted throughout the garden. The beauty of going below the surface is that the system connects with the surrounding soil organisms, and the leachate is released straight into the garden to enrich the soil. You can buy a worm tower, or make one using a PVC pipe or a lidded plastic bucket with lots of holes drilled in the sides and the base.

Bokashi

In bokashi composting, food waste is added to a sealed bucket, inoculated with a blend of bacteria and yeasts (known as effective micro-organisms, or EM), and fermented in an oxygen-free environment. This creates acidic conditions that inhibit nasty pathogens and putrefaction, and allows you to add food waste not normally recommended for regular composting systems, such as meat, seafood and bones. Once the fermentation process is complete, the material can be added to the soil or a compost heap. Bokashi bins can be stored neatly and without odour in the kitchen. You can buy a specially designed bokashi bin, with a tap to drain the leachate, or make a simple system with two equally sized lidded buckets. EM is available from bokashi suppliers.

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