If you’ve just got a Bokashi Organko 2 and thought, “That lid doesn’t feel very tight,” you haven’t missed a clip or a secret locking mechanism.
The Organko 2 works differently from a standard Bokashi bucket with a tight-fitting, clip-down lid. Its outer lid is more of a cover. The important bit is the flexible tamper inside the bin.
The tamper does the pressing
Add your food scraps and sprinkle on Wiggly’s LIVE Bokashi Bran. Then open out the tamper and press it gently down over the food.
This pushes the scraps together and squeezes out as much air as possible. That matters because Bokashi works by fermentation in low-oxygen conditions. The bran supplies the beneficial microbes; pressing the waste down helps create the conditions they need to do their job.
You don’t need to ram it down with all your might. Press steadily until the scraps are compacted, then leave the tamper sitting on top of the waste. Put the outer lid on afterwards.
The tamper can fold in half when you lift it out, which makes it easier to remove. Open it out again to press the next layer. It can also be used as a scraper when you empty the bin.
A simple routine
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Add your food scraps. Chop up larger pieces if you can.
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Sprinkle LIVE Bokashi Bran over the new layer. The Organko instructions suggest about 20 ml for every 5 cm of waste, with more for larger amounts.
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Press the scraps down gently with the tamper to remove air.
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Leave the tamper resting on the food and put the outer lid on.
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Drain the Bokashi liquid regularly.
When the first bin is full, set it aside to ferment and start filling the second one. That’s the advantage of the double pack: you can keep adding kitchen scraps while the first bin is finishing its fermentation.
Why doesn’t it have a tight outer lid?
Some Bokashi bins rely on a tightly sealed outer lid. The Organko 2 uses a different design: you press the food down with its flexible inner tamper, while the outer lid covers the bin. It may feel looser than the lid on a clip-down bucket, but that doesn’t mean you’ve assembled it incorrectly.
The useful thing to remember is: the tamper presses; the lid covers.
Wiggly’s LIVE Bokashi Bran is made here on our Herefordshire farm. We ferment it, then dry it so it stores well and is ready to use. Sprinkle it on your food scraps, press them down with the tamper, and let the microbes get to work.
