Text and photo: Lars Lund

l@rslund.dk

I find my Thai neighbour Sar very interesting, especially because she brings a lot of new to the garden culture. A few years back I made a video with her on YouTube, in which she shows how to propagate roses. The video is quite popular and has more than 40.000 views. Even though she no longer lives in Thailand, but in the cold Denmark, she still manages to go against the traditional rules of cultivation – and she is always successful. For example, she does not mind propagating roses in November.

Her latest idea is to make compost from kitchen waste. That may be old news, but her method is new. My neighbour uses a big paint bucket as a container. She then pours 1 kg (2,2 pounds) of cane sugar in 3 litres (105,5fl oz) of water and then boils it so it dissolves. Sugar is good for the bacteria which decompose the green waste. Then the sugar mixture is cooled and poured into a bucket. Lastly, all the green waste are put in the bucket with a lid on top. She regularly stirs it, and the green waste are gradually dissolved while using all the nutrients from the vegetables. In the end the liquid will have a yellowish and beige colour that has a sour smell. After three to four weeks, she will get a glass of the liquid and mix it with 1 litre of water. This is the finished product. And what is most important, according to her husband, is that the fertiliser is free.

Another simple method I have seen is to use a plastic box. Pour a bit of sawdust in the box followed by a thin layer of soil. The bacteria in the soil will process the green waste, and little by little you put the green kitchen waste in. The decomposition process will create a great amount of fluids, for which you can add more sawdust. A few months later, you will have usable compost soil.

The third method is a method called Bokashi. It is a Japanese method where you add a small sprinkle of bokashi bran to the kitchen waste. Five to six weeks later it will have turned into soil.  You can find bokashi composting solutions in online stores.

Bokashi-ban is a Japanese method to make compost and it is a great way to reuse your kitchen waste.
Photo: Byhaver.dk