What's the difference between Compost Zing and Liquid Zing?

Magical Mycelium: The White Fuzz That Means Your Bokashi is Alive

Tue, 21 Apr 2026 02:29:25 GMT

What is the white fuzz atop your bokashi and why is it such a good sign?

You open your bokashi bucket…and pause...there it is again, that soft white fuzz sitting on top of your food scraps.

For many people, that moment brings a bit of doubt: Is this right? Is something going wrong? Should I throw it out?

But in bokashi composting, that white fuzz is actually one of the best signs you can see. It means your system is alive and working as it should. What you are seeing is mycelium , and it plays a much bigger role in nature than most people realise.

What exactly is mycelium?

Mycelium is the hidden root system of fungi. It is made up of tiny thread-like structures called hyphae that spread through organic material like an underground network.

Even though it looks soft and delicate, it is anything but weak. These fungal threads are strong enough to push through soil, wood, and dense organic matter as they grow and expand. When conditions are right (such as those inside your ZingBokashi bucket) mycelium becomes visible as a cottony white layer sitting on top of your fermenting food waste. You may even see fine white specks running through the scraps themselves. This is important as the presence of mycelium means your bokashi is active, rich, and fermenting exactly as it should be.

Why does mycelium appear in your bokashi bucket?

Your ZingBokashi system has been specifically designed to create a carefully balanced environment. It’s anaerobic, packed with organic material, and has optimal moisture levels. These are the perfect conditions for beneficial microbes and fungi to thrive. When everything is balanced, mycelium begins to grow. The richer the growth medium, the more mycelium you'll see.

This hard worker feeds on the food scraps in your bucket, releasing natural enzymes that help break everything down into simpler compounds. This is not rot or decay in the harmful sense: it is controlled fermentation. What you are actually seeing is nature doing exactly what it is designed to do: recycle organic matter cleanly and efficiently.

The quiet work happening inside your bucket.

While it may look like nothing much is happening when the lid is closed, underneath the sealed surface there is constant transformation taking place. Mycelium works quietly alongside beneficial bacteria, breaking down food scraps into a stable, pre-compost material, ready for soil organisms to complete the process. This is why a healthy bokashi bucket doesn’t smell rotten. Instead, it should have a slightly sour, tangy, or pickled aroma - a clear sign fermentation is working well.

When mould is a good sign (and when it’s not).

One of the most reassuring things to know is this: white mould in bokashi is normal. It is a sign that fermentation is working properly and the microbial balance is healthy. However, not all mould is a welcome sight!

White, fluffy growth is beneficial and shows active fermentation, whereas dark green, black, or foul-smelling mould usually indicates that air has entered the system or conditions are out of balance. In a well-managed bokashi bucket, white is what you want to see!

Once your bokashi bucket is full, the magic continues!

When you bury or add your fermented pre-compost to soil, the mycelium doesn’t stop working. It becomes part of the underground ecosystem, interacting with soil microbes, worms, and plant roots. Things get even more fascinating as mycelium forms relationships with plants through what scientists often call the “wood wide web”, a natural underground network that connects plant roots.

Through this network, plants and fungi exchange nutrients: plants provide sugars created through photosynthesis, while fungi help plants access water and nutrients deep in the soil. In some cases, plants can even send chemical signals to each other through these networks, helping neighbouring plants respond to stress or disease.

Why this matters for your garden (and the planet).

Beyond what you see in your garden, mycelium plays a quiet but powerful role in the environment. As organic matter breaks down, carbon becomes part of the soil instead of being released back into the atmosphere. Mycelium helps stabilise this carbon, locking it into the soil for longer periods. This improves soil health, supports plant growth, and contributes to long-term soil fertility. Healthy soil isn’t just better for gardens, it’s part of a much bigger global cycle that supports life on earth.

Do you need to add fungi to your bokashi?

Some gardening retailers sell mycorrhizal fungi as an additive to improve soil health and plant growth. But bokashi has already given you a head start by literally growing this in your bucket! By planting on top of buried bokashi, it gives new plants an instant connection into the fungal network below ground. The fermentation process naturally encourages beneficial microbes and fungal activity. So when you see white mycelium in your bucket, celebrate the fact that you’re already growing what many people try to buy and add separately.

Magic happening right there in your kitchen.

The simple truth is, that white fuzz in your bokashi bucket isn’t something to fear. It’s a sign that life is working exactly as it should and your food scraps are not rotting, they are transforming. And in that transformation, something powerful is happening beneath the surface. So next time you lift the lid and see that white, fuzzy layer, you don’t need to wonder if something has gone wrong.

You can smile and know:

Your bokashi is alive!

Your microbes are working!

Your soil is about to get stronger!

Happy CompostZing!

Grow Smart : How To Avoid The Glut

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 01:31:42 GMT

Avoid the overwhelm and keep your vegetable garden steadily giving, all season long.

Every gardener has experienced the “feast or famine” frustration when crops mature simultaneously, resulting in a glut of vegetables. While it’s lovely to gift our excess produce to friends and family, it can be disheartening after investing a great deal of time, hard work and money into growing your food!

Want some good news?
There’s a simple and effective way to even out your harvest and make the most of your growing space which, when paired with bokashi composting, becomes an efficient system that keeps your soil (and your plants) thriving all season long.

Keen to know more?
Staggered planting is a gardening technique whereby crops are planted in smaller batches at different times, creating a continuous harvest and avoiding having too much of one crop maturing at once. Instead of planting all seeds or seedlings for a given crop at once, plantings are spaced over several weeks. This ensures plants are at different stages of growth at any given time. When the first group matures and is harvested, the next group is still growing, and by the time that group is harvested, another will be ready. This strategy maximises your garden's productivity, providing a steady supply of fresh food and avoiding the glut that often occurs when crops all mature at once. This also allows for a longer growing season and increases the total yield from your vegetable patch.

Why does soil nutrition matter?
Vegetable crops are notoriously “hungry” and nutrients are rapidly depleted from the soil. Without constant replenishment, plants can struggle. This is where bokashi comes in. Due to its anaerobic fermentation process, valuable nutrients from food scraps are captured and preserved. Once buried in the garden, these nutrients are released slowly, right at the root zone, feeding plants exactly where they need it most. You’ll also collect bokashi “tea” a powerful liquid fertiliser teeming with beneficial microbes. When diluted, it nourishes plants and helps improve soil structure, creating a living, breathing soil ecosystem that supports strong, resilient, nutrient-dense crops.

Could this be the gardening Power Couple?
Staggered planting and bokashi go hand-in-hand, literally working in rhythm with one another. By coinciding the burial of your bokashi pre-compost with the staggered planting schedule, crops have a steady supply of nutrients at their root-tips meaning strong plants and high yields. As full buckets of bokashi need around 14 days to ferment, and it is advised to wait two weeks after burying bokashi before planting on top of it, a staggered planting plan allows for these intervals to occur.

How does it work?
Week 1: Set aside your first full bucket of bokashi to ferment for 14 days.

Week 3: Bury your first bucket of bokashi in a trench. Set aside your second bucket to ferment.
Week 5: Plant your first batch of crops above the first trench. Bury your second bucket of bokashi. Set aside your third bucket to ferment.

Week 7: Plant your second batch of crops. Bury your third bucket of bokashi. Set aside your fourth bucket to ferment.

Week 9: Plant your third batch of crops. Bury your fourth bucket of bokashi. Set aside your fifth bucket to ferment.

Keep repeating this cycle until your first crop is ready to harvest. As your first crop is harvested, bury new bokashi in the same spot, rest the soil for two weeks and replant. It’s a natural, ongoing rhythm that keeps soil rich and your garden productive.

Want some insider tips?

- Trench depth: dig your bokashi trench around 30cm deep and cover fermented waste with at least 10cm of soil.
- Timing: wait at least two weeks after burying bokashi before planting directly on top.

- Adapt your pace: Your planting intervals can easily be stretched to three weeks or more depending on your crops and climate.
- Not enough food waste? Consider accepting scraps from neighbours, family or community – it’s a great way to reduce local waste and keep your garden fed!

What’s not to love?
When you combine staggered planting and bokashi composting, you’re not just growing plants, you’re growing soil. So next time you’re planning your garden, think about what you’re planting and consider when and how you’ll feed your soil too.

Don't Kill the Good Guys! Keeping your Septic System Healthy

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 06:11:46 GMT

Your septic tank is more than just a container for wastewater, it's a living ecosystem.

The beneficial bacteria inside are the unsung heroes, quietly breaking down waste and keeping your system flowing smoothly.

However this delicate balance can be disrupted when things like bleach, antibacterial cleaners and pharmaceuticals are introduced to your wastewater. These substances upset the bacterial balance and can destroy the good microbes completely. When this happens, it often becomes obvious. You may start to notice bad smells, slow drainage, or even backups. These are all signs that your septic system is struggling.

Good habits for a Healthy Septic System

The good news is that with a few simple habits, your septic system can operate effectively for many years

Pump your tank regularly. Frequency depends on tank size, household usage and system type.
Watch for warning signs. Soggy ground, strong odours or slow drains can indicate issues.
Avoid harsh chemicals that disrupt the bacterial balance.

However, something many people don't realise is that pumping your tank, while necessary, reduces the vital microbial population. That’s where Restart ^TM comes in, helping restore that ecosystem to keep it thriving.

Naturally Restore Balance with Restart S and Restart L

Restart S and Restart L are natural, organic products packed with beneficial microbes to help replace and rebalance the biology in your septic system. These live cultures work by breaking down organic waste, sludge, and even algae in outlet pipes, helping to keep your system clean, odour-free, and functioning well. Both products have been carefully designed to perform specific roles, so they are applied in slightly different ways. Used together, they help maintain healthy bacterial activity across septic tanks, sewerage treatment plants, grease traps, and sludge tanks.

Purpose and Usage:

Benefits of using Restart ^TM

Reduces unpleasant odours
Improves system performance
Contains only natural, organic ingredients
Minimises long-term maintenance costs
Breaks down sludge and organic waste
Controls surface crusting
Reduces harmful organisms

Ideal for use in:

Septic tanks
Domestic sewage treatment plants
Sludge tanks
Grease traps

Keep Your Septic System Healthy — Naturally

Whether you’ve just had a pump-out or want to prevent future issues, Restart S and Restart L give your system the natural support it needs. Shop now or contact us to learn how Restart ^TM can help you get the best out of your septic system.

Safe Handling

Store out of reach of children
Keep in a cool, shaded area
Avoid inhalation and enclosed spaces
Wear gloves and a mask during use

Bokashi vs Direct Burying

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 02:28:50 GMT

Let’s be honest, any kind of composting is a big win for the planet. Whether you’re a hardcore composter, a casual scrap-burier, or a devoted bokashi bucket-lover, you’re doing something amazing: turning waste into soil magic .

If you’re new to composting or wondering why we believe bokashi beats simply digging a hole and tossing scraps in, keep reading.

"Why not just bury it?"

A good friend of mine swears by burying food scraps straight into her garden. For her, it’s simple, practical, and it feels like the most natural way to return organic matter to the earth. And she’s not wrong - it can work well, especially if you’ve got space, time, and soil that doesn’t need much adjusting.

Burying food scraps directly into the ground is certainly a no-fuss method. If you’re not planning to plant in that area any time soon or you’re not too concerned about fine-tuning your soil’s nutrient balance or pH, it might seem like the perfect solution.

But here’s the part that often gets overlooked :

When raw food scraps are buried, they need to go through aerobic decomposition (breaking down with oxygen). This process can take several months, depending on your soil’s temperature, moisture, and microbial activity.

During this time:

Up to 50% of key nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus can be lost through leaching or gas emissions.
Pests may become a problem, especially if the scraps aren’t buried deeply. Rodents will catch the scent and dig them up.
Breakdown is slow , delaying when you can plant in that area.
Crucially, the nutrients aren’t readily available to your plants until full decomposition is complete.

So while traditional burying can work, it’s not the most efficient or nutrient smart way to return food waste to the soil - especially if your goal is to actively build a thriving, fertile, garden.

That’s where bokashi composting comes in…

Bokashi Composting

Bokashi composting takes your food waste to the next level helping you produce rich, living compost from your kitchen bench.

Unlike buried scraps that rot slowly and lose nutrients, bokashi uses a controlled anaerobic (no oxygen) fermentation process. Your food waste is sealed in an airtight container with a specific mix of beneficial microbes that ferment (rather than decay) the contents. This method transforms your waste into a pre-compost material . Since the food waste is fermented, there’s minimal nutrient loss and, best of all, no unpleasant smells, pests, or months spent waiting for it to break down. You're not just feeding your plants...you're restoring life to your soil.

Not All Food Waste Is Created Equal

One big advantage of bokashi composting is that it can handle all types of food waste , including meat, fish, dairy, cooked leftovers, citrus, and even small bones. These items are discourage from being buried directly into the soil , as they rot, smell, attract pests, and can disrupt the soil’s microbial balance. Bokashi’s fermentation process neutralises pathogens and odours, making even tricky food scraps safe to add back into your soil.

The benefits go beyond nutrients:

Bokashi improves soil structure — making soil lighter, airier, and easier to work.
Bokashi enhances water retention — especially helpful in sandy or dry soils.
Bokashi supports the soil food web — laying the foundation for long-term soil fertility.

So, while burying food scraps may feel like the natural solution, bokashi offers a faster, cleaner, and more nutrient-smart way to compost. And with a system that’s easy to use indoors and low in ongoing cost, its ideal for anyone wanting to garden more sustainably, whether you're based in the suburbs, on a lifestyle block, or in an urban apartment.

The Bottom Line

Bokashi composting is more than just a way to deal with food waste — it’s a smarter, faster, and more effective method of returning nutrients to your soil and supporting the ecosystem. By fermenting rather than rotting, you’re preserving valuable nutrients, avoiding pests and smells, and enriching your soil with beneficial microbes, all from the convenience of your kitchen.

Yes, there’s a small initial investment to get started, but ongoing costs are minimal at just 18 cents a day for the average family to create high-quality, microbe-rich compost you know and trust. And let’s not forget the simplicity: just scrape, sprinkle, and seal.

That said, if you’re composting in any way, you’re part of the solution, and that deserves a high five! But if you’re looking for a method that’s fast, clean, and packed with soil-building benefits, bokashi is hard to beat.

Ready to give it a go?

Explore our ZingBokashi kits or get in touch — we’re here to help you start.

Happy compost-zing!

Michelle

Winterising your garden

Wed, 01 Jun 2022 03:02:59 GMT

Winter is an important time in the gardening calendar, as what you do during this time can dictate how your garden performs in the next growing season.

One of the more important principals of regenerative gardening is to ‘keep the ground covered ‘ while the second principal is to 'keep roots in the ground.’

We are probably too late to get roots in the ground at this time, however, let's briefly cover this point.

'Keep roots in the ground'

The most effective way to achieve this is by green or cover cropping. This is simply a matter of growing a green manure crop in any bare soil. These should have been sown out in April or May at the latest. The most common green crop is either lupins or mustard.

I prefer to use rye corn because it produces dense and bulky roots, in addition to a good amount of green leaf.

The many advantages of green manuring are:

The ground is covered and protected against wind, rain, and sun.
Weed growth is inhibited or limited.
The green manure's plant roots loosen and aerate the soil.
The plant roots foster both humus growth and the soil crumb structure
Plant roots provide an important food source for soil bacteria and other soil-living organisms.

Any green manure crops should be cut down before flowering and while the stalks are still soft.

Often, we forget about our garden until after we have removed our final summer and autumn harvest. Consequently, we have overlooked the need to ‘keep roots in the ground’ and thus have to revert to the second best method.

'Keep the ground covered’

Simply the easiest way to do this is by placing a layer of mulch over your garden.

Pea straw is a good material for this and a matter of simply spreading a light cover across your bare soil. The material will provide a protective layer and will slowly decompose over the winter months and can be dug into the topsoil in late winter. To bolster the soil microbial population, I recommend applying a sprinkle of Earth Zing across the soil surface before covering it with mulch material.

If you don't have access to pea straw, you could use a fine bark mulch or compost material.

At the end of winter, around late July, or early August start your new garden season by digging in your cover material.

I also recommend before incorporating your cover material into the soil, sprinkle over the cover material with either Gypsum [if you have soil with a clay content] or garden lime.

Do all the above or even only part thereof and you will certainly see the difference.

See you next month,

M r Bokashi

Beat the heat in your garden

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 10:04:33 GMT

We are moving into summer, and I trust your garden is thriving. However, summer also means increasing temperatures and less rainfall which can lead to issues in the garden.

The main issue is soil moisture loss which must be replaced by irrigation or watering. Water your garden either early in the morning or in the evening when temperatures are not so harsh. Watering in the heat of the day can cause leaf damage plus loss of water from evaporation. To reduce evaporation, you can also mulch around plants using good quality compost or pea straw.

It’s best to ‘deep water’ once or twice a week rather than a little every day. Deep watering encourages plant roots to grow more deeply so they are better able to survive the ravages of summer heat.

Increasing temperatures and regular watering creates a nice environment within the plant foliage, which provides ideal conditions for plant disease and insect infestations.

Inspect your plants regularly for signs of pests or disease so you can control these earlier than later. With a bit of practice, you will spot changes in plant growth which often is a sign that problems will soon arise. This way you can reduce the need for pesticides. Creating healthy soil and using natural organic fertilisers often means reduced disease and pests.

I use and recommend regular use of either seaweed or fish-based sprays. As a control for a wide range of insect pests (including aphids and whitefly), I use Neem Oil and recommend ‘Naturally Neem. Mix this with a high oil fish fertilizer which helps the Neem adhere better to plant leaf surfaces. Ensure you obtain a good leaf coverage by spraying both sides of leaves.

Don’t forget to use the ‘juice’ from your Zing Bokashi Composting System to add nutrients to your garden soil. Find out more about how to use your ‘juice’ and the correct dilution amounts here.

One of the home gardener’s biggest problems over the summer months is the arrival of the white butterfly and once they arrive, they lay eggs on brassica crops (cabbage/cauliflower/broccoli/ kale / Brussels sprouts). Eggs hatch and then you have an infestation of caterpillars – indicated by the sight of holes appearing in leaves. If not controlled quickly these caterpillars will soon eat all the plant leaves and you will be left with nothing but disappointment.

As soon as you see white butterflies hovering around your brassica plant check for signs of eggs or small caterpillars and immediately begin a control programme. I use a mix of Dipel and Naturally Neem and often include fish fertiliser which acts as a plant leaf sticker.

As your first planted crops mature these can be replaced with crops either for autumn or winter use. Remember that the first planted crop with have used up plenty of nutrients and these will have to be replaced.

Lastly remember to regularly weed your garden plot. Weeds also like moisture and food and thus are competing with your edible food crops.

See you next month,

M r Bokashi

Preventing bitter lettuce

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 19:02:40 GMT

I am sure that every gardener has experienced the unpleasant taste of bitter lettuce leaves during their gardening journey. Lettuce is one of the easiest plants to grow, however it also tends to change from sweet and juicy to bitter quickly.

So, how can we prevent this and grow fresh tasty lettuce for our summer salads?

Interestingly, lettuces are cool climate plants although we tend to grow them during the warmer months of the years. Heat is the first culprit when it comes to bitterness as temperature change causes the lettuce to want to start to seed which is characterised by a plant with hard inner leaves.

To avoid heat stress plant your lettuces in a semi-shaded spot in your garden. If you live in a hotter area of New Zealand, you may wish to consider planting your lettuces in the cooler months of the year such as spring or autumn and avoid mid-summer.

Lettuces need plenty of water and moist soil, along with a good supply of nutrients such as nitrogen. Take care not to add too much nitrogen though as this can cause rapid growth with lots of large outer leaves and no heart. This is particularly important with Iceberg lettuce and some leafy varieties.

To boost the soil nutrients, you can add a sprinkle of Earth Zing to the soil when you plant out your lettuce seedlings. Maintain a regular planting programme starting in spring if you want a regular supply of nice fresh tasting lettuces throughout the warmer months.

Pick leaves off as the plant grows for salad bowls and remember to pick the whole lettuce before it gets too mature, otherwise it will become bitter.

To recap: the basic rules for growing tasty, fresh lettuces are frequent watering, good nutrients, and cooler temperatures. Discard any plants with hard centres or yellowing leaves.

Tips for picking lettuce

Pick lettuce in the morning as it will have recovered from the sun overnight. Water your plants in the evening to help with this.

Place your leaves in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes, then dry and place in the fridge for a few hours before eating.

Lettuce can go from bitter to sweet after a good downpour of rain so if you suspect that your lettuce may have turned bitter pick it after a shower of rain.

See you next month,

M r Bokashi

Feed the bees

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 19:43:20 GMT

Last month was Bee Aware Month 2021 so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to discuss how we can supply bees with an ongoing supply of pollen and nectar throughout the year by planting bee-friendly trees and plants in our gardens.

Bees are incredible insects; however, they are under threat all over the world. Bees and other insects play a vital role by helping to pollinate our food. When bees forage for nectar and pollen they pollinate each flower that they visit which increases crop yield. Without bees many food crops that need pollination by insects could not be grown on a scale large enough to feed us.

How then can you help these important insects to thrive? Simply plant something to create a bee friendly paradise in your garden.

The easiest thing to grow are herbs. They do well in small pots with a bit of sun. Try something you can use in cooking such as basil, borage, rosemary, or thyme or any other herb of your choice. Just remember to let some flower as you want to attract bees to your herb garden.

Anything that flowers will be perfect for all sorts of pollination. Try to have a couple of the plants flowering in your garden all year – rosemary is particularly good as it flowers for longer periods of the year when other herbs remain dormant.

Add a little Earth Zing to the soil before planting your herbs to give them the best start.

Top herbs to attract bees

Phacelia (purple tansy – a relative of borage): a very good food source for bees and beneficial insects such as hoverflies which eat aphids. A fast growing annual, growing 1-1.2 metres high, which grows well in dry ground.

Borage: has high levels of nectar and pollen and has vibrant blue petals, however, it has a short life so sow seeds in succession over the seasons, starting in spring through till autumn. It prefers moist ground in a sunny position.

Thyme and rosemary: supply high levels of both pollen and nectar. Hardy and grows well in all areas, given sun and free draining soil.

Other ideas for herbal plants include basil, lavender, mint, sage, nasturtium, lemon balm and echinacea.

To benefit bees, plant your herbs in groups that include a variety of herb species, so that the bees do not have fly so far and use precious energy.

Lastly please remember to avoid the use of pesticides around your honeybee garden.

If you have a larger garden area there are also many trees and shrubs available which provide nectar for both birds and bees.

A few good examples include: pussy willow, wattles, kowhai [Sophora tetraptera and microphylla] matipo, pittosporum tenufolium, cabbage tree cordyline australis, hebes [many species], flax [Phormium tenax], and Lacebark [hoheria populnea]

For more information, please visit Apiculture New Zealand’s Bee Aware Month website here.

See you next month,

M r Bokashi

Tips for terrific tomatoes

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 01:00:01 GMT

Tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetables to grow and nothing beats eating fresh juicy tomatoes straight from your own garden. Growing tomatoes takes a bit of effort but the rewards of biting into a delicious home-grown tomato that’s full of flavour and vitamins are well worth it.

First steps

To create the best quality tomatoes, you need good, healthy, fertile soil as the nutrients from the soil will fuel the growth of your tomato crop.

Add good quality compost to your growing area to ensure your tomatoes have the best start to life.

The compost created from your Zing Bokashi composting kit provides plenty of nutrients. As a guide, use one bucket for every two tomato plants. Four to six plants will yield a good harvest for you and your family.

I prepared a spot for my tomatoes a little while ago and have already planted my first plants. Now is a great time to get planting, whether you are planting outdoors or in a glasshouse. If you haven't a glasshouse, then site selection becomes important. Tomatoes love a warm and sunny spot and well sheltered from prevailing winds.

Let’s Get Growing

Select the area for growing your tomatoes – it is best to choose a sunny location which receives at least six hours of full sunlight every day.
Trench in a bucket or two of fermented Bokashi composted food waste over the next few weeks. Learn how to create Zing Bokashi compost here.
Add in a few handfuls of Earth Zing if you haven’t got sufficient fermented food waste and lightly incorporate this into the soil. A light sprinkling of good quality compost over your selected area can be useful. Add a little gypsum and seaweed meal into the soil, these help to supply lots of trace minerals for your plants.
Allow at least three weeks before transplanting your seedlings. If you are running short on time you can purchase plants from your local garden centre. I recommend a variety called Taupo which is excellent both as a greenhouse or outdoor variety. There are lots to choose from! Look for some “early season” and some “late season” varieties to have a good crop throughout the summer. Personally, I have a small greenhouse and grow Taupo which I get from my local garden centre, though most varieties will grow well within a greeenhouse environment.
Once your plants are established, stake or string them up to help them maintain their shape. Tomatoes like to grow upwards towards the sun, but they need a little guidance. Also, when they are laden with beautiful fruit they need support– nothing worse than the leader snapped just below full trusses!
Pinch out the side laterals (branches sprouting on the side of the main stem) on a regular basis to help them grow straight.
When flowering has occurred, add a little sulphate of potash fertiliser around the base of each plant and water them. Repeat this again when the tomatoes are starting to colour up.
Tomatoes like water on a regular basis. Irregular watering can cause some plant disorders so stick to a regular schedule.

Check in

Finally, to maintain healthy plants, spray your tomatoes regularly with liquid fish fertiliser. This is best done in the evening when it is cooler.

Also, if you notice insects such as aphids or whitefly, I suggest you add neem oil in with your fish spray.

If you have any questions about growing the best tomatoes, feel free to contact us for additional help.

See you next month,

M r Bokashi

Prepare for spring and Christmas dinner!

Sun, 01 Aug 2021 22:29:34 GMT

The days are growing longer and we’re experiencing warmer afternoons which means that spring is just around the corner. The arrival of spring means a new and fresh start to a new growing season for all avid and budding gardeners.

In this blog, we’ll look at a few simple jobs we can do to give us a flying start on our spring gardens and how to get started on planting your potatoes, so you have lovely new potatoes ready to harvest for Christmas Day.

Prepare your soil

By now you should have turned in any green manure crops back into the soil. However, if you haven’t done this you can do it over the next few weeks.

Due to the recent wet weather, I have delayed this chore because of overly wet soil. If your soil is still very wet, holding off won’t cause any issues as generally your soil will also be cold. The soil needs to be warm and free draining to break down the organic matter in the green cover or manure crop.

It’s also time to boost the nutrients in your soil. I recommend sprinkling some agricultural lime and or Earth Zing over your soil. Add these products just prior to digging over the soil. Even if you had bare soil over winter, it’s still fine to add these products. Don’t add any other fertilizers or plant foods at the same time and take care not to spread any lime where you will plant your potatoes as this can lead to a skin defect called scab.

Select and plant your potatoes

Decide on your preferred variety and purchase these. If you need help just ask your local garden centre about which varieties suit the local conditions.

It’s best to purchase certified seeds as these are guaranteed to be disease-free. My personal preferences are Jersey Benny and Liseta. I plant just enough ‘First Early ‘seeds to grow for eating just prior to Christmas and through till early January when these early ones are replaced with either a mid or late season variety.

For my mid to late season option, I prefer a general-purpose potato like Desiree or Agria which have both proven themselves in my garden over the last 15 years. Desiree is also an excellent early variety (good for Xmas) when small and if left until later, they mature to a good size. Try a few different options to discover what grows well in your conditions.

Lay your seeds out in trays (old egg cartons are great for this) for 4-6 weeks to allow ‘shoots’ to sprout. Place your trays in a warm spot out of direct sunlight. You will have seeds ready to plant out by early to mid-September. Most early varieties take between 70-90 days from planting to maturity so you should be digging your first new potatoes from late November onwards. There are regional differences due to varying soil temperatures across New Zealand.

Tips for planting out potato seeds

1. Place seeds with the ‘sprout’ facing upwards and bury seeds just below the soil surface.

2. When I plant my seeds, I place a little Guano (1-2 teaspoons) under each seed as a fertiliser.

3. When the first shoots appear through the soil surface gently form a mound of soil to fully cover the shoots. Repeat this process weekly until you have a reasonably large mound. If you are planting in rows this will usually be just prior to when leaves start to touch each other. Also, just before your final mounding you can side dress with a fertiliser. I use blood and bone with a little sulphate of potash added.

4. Once the first true leaves have formed on the potato plant, I spray the foliage 7-10 times per day with liquid fish fertilizer (seaweed is a good alternative).

5. After the flowers on the potato plants have died, your potatoes will be almost ready. To test, simply gently scratch around the plant to check the tuber size.

All the best,

Mr Bokashi

What makes our Bokashi so good?

Thu, 01 Jul 2021 03:03:39 GMT

I need to wind the clock back to over 20 years ago when I developed our first Bokashi product (Compost Zing) to share the story of what makes our Bokashi so good.

Starting in 1999, I spent over two years developing New Zealand’s first Bokashi product and was lucky enough to receive technical assistance from the late Dr Ravi Sangakkarra; a professor of agronomy in Switzerland and Sri Lanka. After Compost Zing went to market, Dr Sangakarra described Zing Bokashi’s Bokashi as the best Bokashi in the world.

The word “Bokashi” doesn’t reveal much on its own as it’s a generic word meaning “fermented organic matter” and the ingredients contained in Bokashi products can range from low quality material through to the high-quality ingredients contained in our Zing Bokashi product.

In my opinion, what makes Bokashi stand out is the use of locally produced high quality ingredients which are scientifically tested and proven to work. A good quality product needs to be technically sound and remain robust over time. That is why we spent plenty of time testing different materials and combinations when we were in the development phase of Compost Zing.

Developing a product to meet these criteria took some time and it was a process of trial and error to develop our Bokashi product with many failures occurring along the way, however, those combinations which showed promise were lab and field tested until I was confident that we had a high-quality market-ready product.

During this process, I was fortunate to have technical assistance and advice from several skilled scientists and technicians from New Zealand and overseas. Much of our field testing was carried out at the biological husbandry unit at Lincoln University and at Mr Bokashi’s organic certified farm in Canterbury.

After releasing Compost Zing to the market, we established a Code of Good Practice which still endures to this day. Key to this practice is regular ongoing lab testing of our Bokashi products. Recent testing has proven that we have the right chemistry in our products, but we never rest on our laurels and aim for constant innovation in every area of the business.

We test not just the finished product, but individual ingredients to ensure we always have the perfect mix of elements present in our Bokashi range. This commitment to continuous improvement is what really sets Zing Bokashi’s products apart from our competitors.

You can learn more about our Zing Bokashi composting system and view a step-by-step guide to creating high quality compost for your garden from your food waste by clicking here.

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

Probiotic feed boosts poultry health

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 01:24:07 GMT

In 2012, a visitor to our stand at the Green Living Show in Auckland (now known as the Go Green Expo) prompted the development of Poultry Zing when they asked if we had a product suitable for boosting the health of their backyard chickens. This was around the time when there was a surge of interest from people wanting to have their own chooks within urban settings so they could produce healthy free-range eggs.

After researching various options, I developed a suitable product to meet this request and Poultry Zing was born. The product was trialled by a selection of small poultry farm owners who reported that their birds produced more eggs which were larger in size, converted their feed better and appeared to be much more contented in general. Another benefit was that their faecal matter was more solid with a reduce odour.

Poultry Zing as an organic probiotic feed supplement, but what how does this work to boost the health and wellbeing of your chooks? The term probiotic is used for products which stabilise the intestinal flora and these consist of one or a few well-defined strains of micro-organisms (World Health Organisation, WHO, 1994).

Basically, by adding Poultry Zing to your chicken feed you boost the microbiological activity of the feed and improve the digestive process by enhancing the intestinal flora. It contains crushed wheat, bran, NuFeed and natural microorganisms (GRAS approved).

Poultry Zing has grown in popularity as more people now have backyard chickens on their lifestyle blocks, rural and urban properties. We also supply Poultry Zing to commercial poultry operators who order in bulk – like this commercial client who orders 200kg at a time to add to their chicken feed.

Benefits:

• Improved quality of eggs/meat produced

• Boosts intestinal microflora

• Provides disease resistance

• Reduces odour and the breakdown of faecal matter

• Enhances digestion and conversion of feed

How to use:

Poultry Zing is a feed additive and is used a supplement for your chicken’s daily feed ration.

• Chickens - Add 2-4 grams (approx. 2-3% of daily feed) per bird per day.

• Layers/broilers – Add 4-5 grams per day (3% of daily feed) per bird per day.

Customer feedback

“Feed digestion levels improved incredibly, thus improving hen health and productivity which means they have produced more eggs while needing less feed.”

Don’t forget to send Michelle a photo of your chickens to be in to win one of two bags of Poultry Zing in this month’s giveaway so you can experience the benefits of this fantastic product.

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

Put your garden to bed

Sat, 01 May 2021 01:05:43 GMT

By now, you will have harvested your late summer and most of the autumn crops from your garden and will still have winter vegetables growing.

After the last harvest of summer crops, my rule of thumb is to ensure that any bare ground that remains empty is “covered” during the cooler months ahead. This is my way of “putting the garden to bed” over the winter. Just like humans and animals enjoy resting when the temperature drops, so too do our gardens.

“Putting the garden to bed” ensures that no bare soil remains and is thus protected from any heavy winter rain and ice while also preventing valuable soil nutrients from being washed away.

To get the most out of this restful practice, sow a cover or green crop into any bare areas. There are two different options for boosting your veggie patch:

1. Cover or green crops help build carbon and roots in the soil, along with fostering and encouraging soil microbial activity.

My preferred cover crop is rye corn, which is not only fast growing and hardy, but also has a thick root structure which provides lots of organic matter for your soil when its dug back in.

Other common cover crops are green oats and mustard, and these can be purchased at most garden stores. Rye corn can be obtained from agricultural seed suppliers.

When your cover crop is well established, generally around July, dig this back into the soil. As the material breaks down it provides valuable organic matter to the surrounding soil. At the same time, you can also add lime or gypsum and a light sprinkling of our popular Earth Zing to assist in the breakdown of the dug-in material.

2. Another option is to simply spread mulch material over any bare areas if you cannot plant one of the crops above. Pea straw is ideal for this and provides a protective layer over the soil, while also breaking down over the winter months which allows any remnants to be dug back into the soil.

I highly recommend applying a light coating of Earth Zing over any bare areas first before applying the mulch layer.

Happy gardening and enjoy getting back into the earth,

Mr Bokashi

Starting your Bokashi Composting System

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 23:59:05 GMT

We have had some requests from customers to provide more information on getting started with your first Zing Bokashi Composting System.

Like anything new, getting started with Bokashi can be exciting but also daunting. Luckily, our Zing Bokashi composting process is simple and easy to master.

One of the greatest advantages of our composting system is that you can put all your kitchen food waste in your composting bucket including citrus, raw or cooked meat, fish, and chicken (including small bones).

This means you can lessen your environmental footprint and avoid food waste going to landfill, while creating high-quality nutrient-rich compost for your garden. The closed-loop system means that your food waste is going back into the earth to fuel your next crop of home-grown vegetables or to enhance your flower beds.

Top tips for successful composting:

1) Collect your food waste throughout the day in a closed-lid container (this prevents fly larvae from entering your compost)

2) Ensure your food waste is fresh and has not started to putrefy (keep food waste containers in a cool spot out of direct sunlight)

3) Only add your collected food waste to the Bokashi system once a day

4) Remove excess air for better fermentation (do this by pressing down on your food waste with a potato masher or similar item)

5) Drain Bokashi liquid regularly (every 2-3 days – you can use it to feed your garden or to clear clogged pipes naturally)

For more detailed information on how to compost with Zing Bokashi please click here . To learn more about the Zing Bokashi Composting Kit options click here.

There is also a fantastic video put out by Wellington City Council which details the composting process. Click here to view the video.

See you next month

Mr Bokashi

Which composting toilet is right for me?

Mon, 01 Mar 2021 23:59:02 GMT

Composting toilets are a popular alternative to a flush toilet and as they use no water, they are an environmentally friendly option.

They are becoming increasingly popular for use in tiny houses and for Airbnb-type accommodation which has a focus on minimising environmental impact. They can also be used in a traditional house setting.

We have various composting toilet options for a wide range of situations. It is important to consider how many people will be using the toilet and whether it will be used full-time or part-time (as in a holiday house-type situation).

If you would like to see our range of toilets in person, please visit us at the Go Green Expo in Auckland this weekend. In the meantime, we’ll answer some common questions:

What is a composting toilet?

A composting toilet is an alternative to a flush toilet and septic tank system. It uses controlled ventilation within a container or chamber to provide a good environment for the composting or the decomposition of human waste. Composting toilets use no water, so can be described as “waterless composting toilets”. They require more operator input than a conventional toilet and need a building consent, so you do need to put in a bit more work.

How do they work?

Airflow is provided 24/7 via a fan system which allows airflow to enter from the toilet pedestal and flow through a compost pile (which is contained in or collects within a chamber) below the seat or pedestal and exits via a standard type venting pipe. This continual airflow also helps to evaporate moisture from the waste pile.

To facilitate the composting process, a bulking agent is placed into the chamber after every solid deposit. A bulking agent is generally a coarse organic material like untreated wood shavings and as well as allowing good airflow thru the waste pile it also assists with the absorption of excess moisture. This provides ideal conditions for the decomposition or composting of waste. When you first start using your toilet you can kickstart the composting process with our Nature Quick Microbes.

Any excess moisture exits via a drain system from a chamber and is disposed of via a leachate field. Some toilets, such as our popular Nature Loo Mini have urine diverters in the pedestals, which allows urine to be diverted to separate containment for use when diluted as a fertiliser or this can in some cases be plumbed into a separate greywater system.

Most composting toilets use some form of containment for human waste and under the NZ Standard for Compost Toilets this is required to be composted for a certain period, which in New Zealand is around 4-5 months at an average temperature of 12 degrees Celsius. After this time, the composted waste will have lost much of its original weight and the resulting product should resemble a good compost like material.

General information

Don’t use compost from a composting toilet on or around plants which will be consumed. Best practice is to bury all waste in the soil to at least 30cm and then cover it over.

There are legal requirements associated with this disposal which generally includes distance requirements from existing waterways, wells, and boundaries .

Some councils do have special conditions around alternative waste systems so if you are considering installing a composting toilet in your home, I would recommend that you first approach your local council office and make an initial inquiry as to the requirements for the installation of a composting toilet.

Please be aware that if you have a reticulated sewer close by then you are obliged by law to connect to this system.

Once you have established that you are able to install a composting toilet, please contact us for further help with model selection and pricing. You can also visit the composting toilets section of our website to do further research.

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

Optimise your garden to boost growth

Mon, 01 Feb 2021 23:58:57 GMT

Optimal plant growth depends on a balance of six factors:

• light

• heat

• air water

• nutrients

• mechanical support

If these factors are unbalanced plant growth can be reduced or prevented. Whichever factor is the least optimum determines the level of crop production.

This concept must be considered when dealing with nutrient elements. We must check each element, and how it relates to other factors affecting plant growth.

Certain elements are necessary for healthy plants. These essential elements need to be in usable forms and in optimum concentrations. Additionally, concentrations of the various elements in the soil must be balanced.

Seventeen elements are essential for plant growth and these are used in different amounts.

These are:

• carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen -mostly from air and water

• nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and sulphur from soil solids - used in relatively larger amounts.

• iron, manganese, boron, molybdenum, copper, zinc, chlorine, and cobalt from soil solids - used in relatively small amounts.

Higher growing plants such as vegetables, trees and shrubs obtain most of their carbon and oxygen from the air by photosynthesis. Hydrogen is derived from water in the soil. Nearly 95-99.5 % of fresh plant tissue is comprised of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and just 0.5 to 6 % is from soil constituents.

However, nutrient elements from soil usually limit crop development. Plant growth, except in cases of drought, cold weather, poor drainage, or disease is restricted by a lack of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

Let’s look at soil and the fourteen elements it supplies. These are:

• nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, sulphur, magnesium, iron, boron, chlorine, molybdenum, manganese, cobalt, copper, and zinc.

What does this mean for gardeners who want to grow their own produce?

In previous posts, I emphasised soil and soil organic matter. When the soil is rich in carbon or organic it can retain more nutrients and moisture.

Plant growth is based on nutrient supply and we can obtain nutrients via a balanced fertiliser. Most are classified as N.P.K fertilisers, N=Nitrogen, P=Phosphorus, K= Potassium and generally the package is marked with the % of each e.g. -N6:P12:K8. These elements are essential for plants and we often include trace elements to ensure access to all the essential elements. Look for fertilisers marked as N.P.K plus trace elements.

Unfortunately, it is never simple to identify which elements are contained in your soil. You could have a soil test; however, these are expensive. We usually try a scattergun approach of adding fertiliser to the soil, planting seeds or seedlings, and seeing what happens.

Observing your garden over time and building on knowledge helps us understand plant needs. One year or season is rarely the same as we constantly battle the weather as well.

My simple recipe for good gardening:

1. Prepare your planting area with a good quality compost. You can also add animal manure - e.g. -sheep pellets, chicken, or cow manure.

2. Add some garden lime to balance soil acidity. Plants have different needs regarding soil acidity so don’t overdo the lime. If you are unsure use gypsum which is soil acid neutral but supplies calcium and sulphur- two of our essential elements.

3. Provide essential elements via a quality N.P.K. plus trace elements fertiliser mix. If you prefer an organic option substitute with seaweed and or fish-based fertilisers. I use these options with good results.

4. Supplement your soil with a microbial inoculant like Earth Zing which supplies additional soil microorganisms and helps release previously unavailable plant nutrients.

5. Water as required and mulching helps avoid moisture loss plus provides a food source for soil animals.

This guide provides a good starting point. We haven’t discussed plant pests and disease which can indicate soil issues. We’ll investigate these in a future post.

See you next month

Mr Bokashi

Deep watering helps plants flourish

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 23:58:55 GMT

With the arrival of hot dry summer days, it is essential that our plants receive increasing amounts of water in order to flourish. My rule of thumb is that a single deep soak beats many light showers of water.

The most efficient method of watering or irrigation is “deep watering”. This involves watering to thoroughly soak the soil to what is known as “field capacity” – the point at which the soil cannot hold any more additional water. You may only need to water your garden once a week using this method. Deep watering is highly recommended throughout East Coast areas of New Zealand (i.e., Hawkes Bay /Wairarapa/Canterbury) where low humidity conditions often prevail during summer months.

Most plants roots are not sitting close to the soil surface, so deep watering encourages plants to extend roots wider (outwards and downwards) to seek out moisture, instead of producing drought prone shallow roots which sit near the surface of the soil. Plants will also stay healthy when soil water levels reduce.

Applying small amounts of water encourages plant roots to remain near the surface and this causes plants to be exposed to considerable stress during temperature fluctuations. Such conditions can also make the plants ‘bolt’ and start to set seed when you least expect.

Sprinkling plants with a little water that only soaks into the top inch or two of soil means the water will quickly evaporate and be wasted. You should aim to deliver water to the plant’s total root system. To check if you have watered deep enough, dig down into the soil with a trowel or your fingers to ensure that water has soaked deep enough into the soil.

Generally, plants need the most water when they are flowering and when their crop is growing. Vegetables comprised mostly of water such as lettuces and salad greens need continuously moist soil as they will turn bitter if they dry out.

In addition to deep watering, it is also helpful to maintain a good mulch cover around plants, which assists with reducing moisture loss and maintaining cooler soil temperatures.

As mentioned in my previous blog posts, taking the time to prepare the soil prior to planting helps increase the ability of the soil to hold moisture and assists with healthy plant growth. The use of Earth Zing during this time helps increase soil organic matter and soil water holding capacity. As a result, natural rain will also be held within the soil for longer which reduces the need for more frequent watering later on.

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

Dealing with pests on foliage

Tue, 01 Dec 2020 23:58:53 GMT

Last month we discovered the importance of building healthy soil to combat pests and disease and this month we are going to focus on dealing with an infestation of pests on plant foliage in a natural way.

The juice from your Zing Bokashi bucket can help to prevent diseases and anecdotal evidence has shown that regular “juice” applications can help to control black spot and scale insects. Learn more about how to create the best juice for your garden here.

To use your juice for spraying crops, dilute by using 1tsp of juice to 5 litres of water and spray every 7-10 days. Good ‘juice’ is acidic in nature so do not exceed the recommended dosage rate as leaf burning can occur. Remember to spray in the evenings when it is cooler to prevent leaf burn and aim to spray during calm weather as windy conditions mean that you won’t get an even coat of spray across the entire plant.

Ensure that you cover all sides of the plant foliage. This helps to create a biofilm of beneficial microorganisms which help to combat any unhealthy or disease-causing organisms.

Continue to apply this juice solution during the time before you expect insects to arrive . If you are already dealing with an infestation of insects which are attacking your veggie patch the juice application alone will not work as it is designed as a preventative, not a cure.

If you discover thousands of aphids or other creatures attacking your prized vegetable garden, there are some good natural options to deal with these pests. You can add neem oil mixed with a sticking agent such as Enspray 99 or liquid fish, and this will help reduce or control insect infestations. My preference is Naturally Neem.

Using neem oil every 4-5 days will help deal with persistent pests. Apply neem oil again after 4-5 days. After the second application wait 5 days and then check if you need to repeat the application.

If you prefer not to use liquid fish, you can use Enspray 99 as mentioned above. This product is an organically certified mineral oil.

I hope your veggie garden will bounce back to life after trying one of the natural pest infestation solutions detailed above. Once you have dealt with an infestation make sure you refer to last month’s blog on building healthy soil so you can boost the soil nutrients from the ground up.

Next time we’ll investigate how to balance your soil to provide the perfect growing environment for healthy vegetables.

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

Creating healthy disease-resistant soil

Sun, 01 Nov 2020 04:50:45 GMT

At this time of the year, you may start to notice issues with disease, pests, and weeds emerging in your veggie patch as the garden awakes from its winter slumber.

We are going to learn how to deal with these issues from the ground up by focusing on building healthy soil this month and then in December we’ll look at how to deal with foliage pest and disease problems.

Bokashi is linked to Nature Farming which is a concept developed in Japan in the 1930s based on the principle that “when the power of the soil is fully utilised, crops naturally grow healthily”. This differs from the direct control method which many of you will be familiar with.

Nature Farming focuses on the “power of the soil” and believes that the essential causes of diseases, pests and weeds can be found in the soil and the crops. The concept avoids the use of fertilisers as these pollute and weaken the power of the soil. It also states that the excessive use of fertilisers causes more pests and diseases to emerge in the garden.

Our philosophy closely mirrors the concept of Nature Farming as we believe in the power of the soil and reusing food waste to boost the health of the soil, which in turn creates thriving vegetable crops for you and your family to enjoy.

To create healthy crops, we need to focus on nurturing the soil. Fertile soil reduces the occurrence of diseases, pests, and weeds. This soil has a well-developed structure that assists with root development so nutrients can be absorbed in a balanced manner.

Zing Bokashi products will help you to increase the power of your soil as the microbial technology used in our products will build disease resistant soil over time. When new beneficial micro-organisms are added to soil regularly, they increase in numbers to exclude the bad organisms. It can take a few years to build up disease resistant soil, so we need to be patient.

This is the process I recommend:

Use the fermented food waste from your Zing Bokashi Composting System to add nutrients and beneficial micro-organisms to your garden. Learn more about the process here.

Add regular amounts of Earth Zing to help build disease resistant soil. Earth Zing is full of natural organic material which release nutrients into your soil to improve plant growth without the need for chemicals.

Earth Zing is best used once crops are established by applying it to the soil in between crop rows. Generally, one application should be sufficient. Otherwise use Earth Zing post -harvest of crops and/or again in early spring prior to soil preparation.

Use your Zing Bokashi juice as a drench for bare soil at a dilution rate of 1 part “juice” to 100 parts of water. This juice is “liquid gold” for your garden as it contains food waste nutrients and is alive with beneficial microbes. Dilute the juice to 1:100 (2 Tbsp to five litres of water) and apply to your soil.

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

What's the difference between Compost Zing and Liquid Zing?

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 04:21:05 GMT

We have had a few customers asking lately about the difference between Compost Zing and Liquid Zing. I personally use Liquid Zing as a complementary product alongside our key product Compost Zing which plays an essential role in creating the best environment for your Zing Bokashi Composting System.

What’s Compost Zing?

Compost Zing is a unique New Zealand made mix containing organic materials which have been carefully fermented with a proprietary culture of beneficial microorganisms under controlled temperature conditions. The end-product is dried and resembles fine sawdust. We dry the product to ensure freshness and a minimum 2-year shelf-life. Compost Zing will remain active for at least 2 years if kept dry and out of direct sunlight.

Why do I need it?

Compost Zing helps to transform your food waste into an organic nutrient rich soil conditioner. It acts as the “house” for the beneficial micro-organisms and when introduced to an organic food source such as food waste, these micro-organisms will multiply and start a process called fermentation.

The fermentation process works best under anaerobic conditions - i.e.- without oxygen, and the action of the beneficial microorganisms also creates conditions where undesirable micro-organisms cannot survive.

The beneficial microorganisms have a sterilising impact on the fermentation process, and this helps to preserve your food waste for the next step in the process when your food waste is buried in your compost heap or in the soil.

Benefits

• Reduces comp ost processing time by up to 50%

• Reuses waste and reduces your environmental impact

• Enriches your soil and supports healthy plant growth

What’s Liquid Zing?

Liquid Zing also contains a mixture of beneficial organisms to help kickstart the fermentation process, however it differs from Compost Zing as it has a much reduced shelf-life of 9 months due to its liquid form, compared with a minimum shelf life of 2 years for Compost Zing.

When should I use it?

Liquid Zing is designed as a complementary product to work alongside Compost Zing. It helps to speed up the fermentation of food waste and reduces any unpleasant odours. I would recommend using Liquid Zing when you have a lot of dried food waste to break down such as bread, pastries, or crackers.

Generally, the fermentation process works best under drier conditions which is why I recommend Liquid Zing as a companion product to Compost Zing, rather than a replacement. Compost Zing is a more versatile product which works well with a wide range of food waste products. Food waste contains around 70% moisture which means that we will usually be dealing with a wet product.

There have been claims made that Liquid Zing can be used as an alternative to bran based Bokashi mixes such as Compost Zing, however based on my 20+ years of experience with Bokashi I would recommend Compost Zing as the main product for our composting system. However, using the two products together can provide an advantage when you have a high percentage of dry foods to add to your compost bucket as mentioned above.

Usage

When you have a lot of dried food products add a couple of squirts of Liquid Zing to the dry material and then continue with the normal process by adding a layer of Compost Zing between your layers of food waste.
Spray into your Bokashi bucket after emptying food waste to reduce any odours. Wash your bucket first and then dry before adding a few squirts of Liquid Zing to the inside of your bucket.
Spray into your rubbish and recycling bins to reduce odours
Spray on pet bedding to freshen up the bedding and reduce odours

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

What's up with your Compost Zing packaging?

Tue, 01 Sep 2020 09:24:13 GMT

What's up with your Compost Zing packaging?

Lately, we’ve had several customers requesting alternative packaging for Compost Zing. We wanted to explain how we’re addressing your feedback and why in some cases we still need to use plastic packaging until a durable alternative product is available.

Zing Bokashi is committed to sustainability and reducing packaging (especially plastic) wherever possible throughout our business. Maintaining the highest quality standards for our products is also vital which means we need our packaging to measure up to the same standards.

Compost Zing must remain totally dry from when it leaves our production facility through to the time it reaches our customers whether they buy it directly from our website, retailer, or a reseller. Even the smallest amount of moisture will jeopardise our Compost Zing and the Bokashi process.

Retailers require us to supply our Compost Zing with a minimum 2-year shelf-life so we need packaging to last that long without breaking down. The packaging needs to be durable enough to withstand all the handling it goes through from the time it leaves our production facility until it reaches our customers.

Other forms of packaging such as paper and compostable products have been considered and trialled, but these are not durable enough to maintain our high standards of quality control while withstanding the minimum 2-year shelf-life required by retail outlets.

Our current packaging keeps the product airtight, waterproof and in perfect condition during transportation to our customers, retailers, and resellers.

Like you, we are committed to doing our bit to minimise our impact on the environment, so we have come up with several solutions which while not perfect, are a step in the right direction.

Some of our resellers are opting to stock Compost Zing in bulk bins so customers can bring in their own dry reusable containers to fill in store. We are in the process of working with other resellers to set up the same model so that we can eliminate or reduce our plastic packaging wherever possible.

When customers purchase Compost Zing from bulk bins, they need to ensure that they store the product in dry, watertight containers to retain optimal microbial activity.

We’re also introducing Ecolite packaging for Compost Zing. The Ecolite bag uses 33 per cent less plastic, is soft plastic recyclable no 4, and locally made in Christchurch to reduce our carbon footprint.

With technology rapidly evolving we are confident that an even better solution will become available soon. We are watching this space with interest and will switch to an alternative form of packaging when a proven option becomes available.

As members of Wasteminz we are committed to continuous improvement and follow their industry best practice guidelines in terms of packaging both from an environmental sustainability and a health and safety perspective. They are always looking for new options for packaging and carry out rigorous testing on new sustainable options that come to market.

Thanks again for your feedback on this topic and rest assured that we will continue to improve our packaging as technology evolves so that we can continue to do our bit to improve our environment.

Happy gardening,

Mr Bokashi

What are the benefits of composting toilets?

Sat, 01 Aug 2020 22:08:22 GMT

Two of the most common questions I have been asked over the last 20 years or so are ‘what is a composting toilet?’ and ‘how do they work?’ so it was no surprise to hear these questions asked frequently at the recent Go Green Expo.

They might sound like simple questions but before you decide to purchase a composting toilet it is vital to know the answers because this will help you determine which model is right for you.

What is a composting toilet?

A composting toilet provides an alternative solution to a flush toilet and septic tank system. They are ideal when there’s no mains sewer connection or to reduce demand on the mains sewer. Examples include tiny homes, farms, community recreation areas and off the grid homes or new home builds.

Waste is broken down using controlled ventilation within a container or chamber. Sterile urine is separated from solids into a small gravel absorption trench (this can be collected, diluted, and used as fertiliser.) Solid waste is broken down into safe, odourless compost via simple organic decomposition.

Composting toilets provide a sustainable waste solution as they don’t require water; an important consideration given that around 10 litres of water is used every time a toilet is flushed. Using a composting toilet will save up to 35 000 litres of water per year for an average family.

How do they work?

Airflow is provided 24/7 via a fan system which allows air to enter from the toilet pedestal and this flows through a compost pile (this is contained or collects within a chamber] below the seat or pedestal and exits via a standard type of venting pipe. This continual airflow also helps to remove moisture from the waste pile.

To help with the composting process, a bulking agent is added to the chamber after each solid deposit. The bulking agent is a natural organic material such as untreated wood shavings. It helps to increase airflow through the waste pile while absorbing excess moisture. Maintaining good airflow and reducing moisture help create ideal conditions for composting waste.

Excess moisture is removed via a drain system from the chamber and is disposed of via a leachate field. Some models of toilets have urine diverters which allows for urine to be separated and diluted for use as a fertiliser or in some cases to be plumbed into a separate greywater system. You can learn more about the different models of toilets stocked by Zing Bokashi here .

Most composting toilets use some form of storage for human waste and under the New Zealand Standard for Composting Toilets this waste must be composted for a certain period of time which in New Zealand is around 4-5 months at an average temperature of 12 degrees Celsius. After this time the composted waste will have significantly reduced in size and will resemble a compost-like material.

For more information on how composting toilets work click here . If you’d like to know further details on the installation and maintenance of composting toilets, we have created a new section on our website which has all the details.

Important considerations

Composting toilets do require more attention and care than a conventional toilet.
A building consent is required to install a composting toilet.
Compost from a compost toilet must not be used around plants which are going to be consumed. It’s best to bury all waste in the soil at a depth of at least 30cm and then cover it over.
There are legal requirements related to compost disposal such as distance requirements from existing waterways, wells and boundaries.
We’re always happy to help guide you through the process of choosing the right composting toilet to fit your lifestyle and site requirements. Please get in touch if you require further information.

Happy gardening,

Mr Bokashi

Simple guide for a thriving veggie patch

Wed, 01 Jul 2020 04:08:33 GMT

We have seen a renewed interest in gardening over the past few months, especially among inexperienced green thumbs who are keen to learn how to grow their own vegetables. It is incredibly satisfying to nurture your vegetables as they grow and develop throughout their lifecycle.

To harvest a healthy crop of vegetables you need to start with a strong foundation which is all about proper preparation. Like anything in life, investing time and effort in a bit of groundwork pays great dividends later and helps to create a healthy veggie patch.

Before getting started, consider the best location for your vegetable plot. Taking the time to think about the best spot can make all the difference between a flourishing vegetable garden and one that produces a poor harvest.

Consider sunlight hours – the best spots have sunlight for at least six hours per day as most vegetables prefer direct sunlight.

Avoid exposed windy areas and if this is unavoidable then add protection by putting up some wind cloth to diminish the impact of strong wind on your vegetables. Add stakes for additional support and protection from wind.

Remember to pick a location that is easy for you access so you get regular reminders to check on your garden.

Don’t forget to order a couple of bags of Earth Zing to boost the beneficial microbes in your soil which will provide your veggie plants with the best start to life. This completely natural product also helps your soil retain optimum water levels which is essential for healthy plant growth.

Follow the steps below to create a flourishing vege garden:
Preparing your vege patch

It’s likely that your vege garden to have a green cover of winter weeds. To remove this weed cover naturally you can:
Pour boiling water over the weeds.
Cover the weeds with a heavy-duty black plastic cover and fasten it down at the corners. The black material will attract the sun and basically cook the weeds below.
Wait about two weeks to ensure the weeds are dead then double dig the area to incorporate the surface material below the soil. This brings a fresh new layer of soil to the top of your garden.

Apply calcium

Apply a generous amount of good quality lime (approximately 2-3 handfuls per m2) over the topsoil. If you have clay soil, then add a generous amount of gypsum. This helps to break down the clay while adding mineral calcium and sulphur.

Add compost and Earth Zing

Compost is the key ingredient for healthy soil. I recommend adding large amounts of good quality compost to your garden each year. Add around 5-10kg/m2 for the best results. By adding compost annually, you will maintain the soil structure while boosting nutrient levels and building soil humus.

Add Earth Zing at 1-2 handfuls per m2 to help break down the compost. Earth Zing also boosts beneficial microbes and adds trace elements to your soil.

Once everything is incorporated into the soil you are ready for the next steps.

Add nutrients and minerals

When we harvest food from our garden, nutrients are removed from the soil which need to be replaced to maintain quality and yields. I like to use seaweed powder and when transplanting vegetables or potatoes I add some of our Guano (1-2 teaspoons) into each hole prior to planting to help with plant root development. Guano is a natural soft phosphate fertiliser made from bird droppings which is completely organic.

Once my garden is established, I like to add 1-2 applications of liquid fish spray to boost growth as the plants start to take off.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about starting your first vege garden. We’re always happy to help our fellow gardeners.

Happy gardening,

Mr Bokashi

How does Compost Zing help you create the best compost?

Mon, 01 Jun 2020 03:59:00 GMT

If you want to play your part in reducing waste and your environmental footprint, composting food waste at home is a quick and simple way to start taking positive action.

Zing Bokashi makes it easy for you to turn your kitchen scraps into thriving organic compost in just four weeks with their unique New Zealand made Compost Zing Bokashi mix . The organic mix is added to the Zing Bokashi composting system to promote fermentation and reduce composting time by up to 50 per cent.

Everyone wants a bountiful crop of vegetables along with healthy plants and using CompostZing helps you create a flourishing vegetable and flower garden. Compost Zing kickstarts the fermentation process in your compost bucket and this increases the level of vitamins, amino acids and antioxidants in the compost which makes these vital nutrients easily available to your plants. Learn how to make Zing Bokashi Compost here .

Many people are put off composting due to concerns about odours, but CompostZing helps you solve this problem. When you sprinkle a layer of compost zing on top of your food waste each time you use your Zing Bokashi composting system, you will find that odours are eliminated.

Not all composting mixes are created equal and when you are making compost for your garden you want to be sure that all the ingredients are natural, especially if you are adding the compost to your vegetable garden.

Our compost zing is 100 per cent natural and handmade by us using ingredients sourced from nearby our Canterbury base. This makes compost zing the perfect choice for organic gardens, for people who prefer to use natural products in their homes and gardens, and for those who are concerned about their carbon footprint.

It is important to know what your composting products contain and one of the key differences with compost zing is that it’s a completely natural and live product. It contains a mixture of plant-based products which are pre-fermented with a beneficial microbial culture then dried for storage.

Compost zing encourages beneficial micro-organisms to thrive which speeds up the fermentation process to help you create a nutrient rich compost which your garden will love.

Here are our top ten reasons for choosing Compost Zing:

Makes nutrient-rich compost faster
Reduces odour
Produces healthier plants, flowers, and vegetables
Easy to buy online here or via one of our 100+ retail stockists throughout New Zealand
Handmade by us in Canterbury which reduces your carbon footprint
All ingredients produced or sourced within New Zealand and we use local ingredients wherever possible
Produced in small batches with strict quality control testing
Economical to use with one kilogram providing around 100 days of usage
Long shelf life of at least two years
Over 20 years of proven results

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

New Zealand’s original Bokashi

Fri, 01 May 2020 19:47:25 GMT

In 1999, the word Bokashi was unknown in New Zealand but that was all about to change thanks to a chance encounter I had at an organic farm.

As a practicing horticulturalist with a growing interest in organic farming, I was always keen for new information. While visiting an organic farm, I met an agronomist who told me about the potential of beneficial micro-organisms for agriculture and horticulture.

This idea stuck with me and I then visited Ag-Research where I met a soil scientist who was researching the use of beneficial micro-organisms in agricultural crop production.

My background in earth sciences allowed me to see the potential in such products and we discussed how I could be involved in using the product for horticulture.

With the assistance of a Japanese technician, I developed a Bokashi product for testing in my organic vegetable operation. I was fortunate to also have my product used as part of a research project at Lincoln University.

Further trials were carried out at my South Canterbury farm with the assistance of two Lincoln-based scientists. All these trials produced very encouraging results which highlighted the potential to develop a commercially viable product.

This product became Earth Zing and was instrumental in helping me becoming a finalist in the 2003 Ballance Environmental Farm Awards.

In early 2000, I was asked to create a product for a food waste trial for the Christchurch City Council. The Christchurch trial was a success and was promoted to ratepayers as a means of reducing food waste placed at the ‘kerb’ for pickup by the weekly rubbish collection.

Over the next few years, I travelled throughout New Zealand making presentations to council waste managers. I also attended several WasteMinz conferences where I presented papers on food waste management using the Bokashi system. I went onto to build a strong retail network across New Zealand.

My work also attracted interest from overseas as people realised that Bokashi from New Zealand was a high quality product. I partnered with an NGO in Hong Kong and several product shipments were made to support food waste trials for apartment dwellers.

I began receiving lots of emails from all over the world seeking advice on Bokashi products. This increased my understanding of the use of Bokashi in different settings which helped with further product development.

In 2016, I received a commendation award for Regenerative Impact at the NZI Sustainable Business awards and in 2018 I received an award from the Buy NZ campaign for the New Zealand product of the month.

After selling the business to Michelle in late 2018 I was pleased to remain part of the Zing Bokashi team as a mentor and research consultant.

I hope you enjoyed learning a bit more about the history of Zing Bokashi.

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

Bringing back the vege patch

Wed, 01 Apr 2020 22:29:37 GMT

As a baby boomer I grew up at a time where the ‘backyard garden’ was a major supplier of food to the family table.

Having a family of avid gardeners provided me with the opportunity to learn gardening skills from an early age which I have continued to develop throughout my life. I was also fortunate to hone my knowledge by entering school garden competitions which were commonplace in the 1950-60s.

With the change of lifestyle from the 1970s onwards, children these days no longer have the opportunity that many of us baby boomers had. We seem to be busier and having easily available food from the supermarket has led to the loss of gardening skills.

However, now that we are all spending more time at home due to Covid-19, starting a vegetable garden has become a hot topic with many garden centres selling out of seeds and vegetable plants prior to the lockdown commencing. I think people are also becoming more interested in knowing where their food comes from and are moving toward living more sustainable lives. Gardening also has plenty of health and wellbeing benefits which are increasingly important during this time of uncertainty.

With more time on your hands, put your food waste to good use by using our CompostZing system. It is such a simple and quick way to turn your food waste into an excellent source of nutrients for your soil and is odour free to boot.

Even if you only have a small section, there are many ways to make the best use of the space. Container gardening is a popular choice, plus there are now several dwarf fruit tree varieties which take up little space, while providing a fun activity for the whole family to enjoy.

A great example is my columnar apple tree pictured above. These trees grow upwards and produce a good amount of fruit, while only taking up a little bit of space. Pears, peaches, nectarines, and apricots are also available as dwarf varieties for your garden.

Get the family involved in preparing a new garden bed or if you already have one you could make this into a practical educational project for your children by getting them to do some online research about how to boost the soil nutrients before you start. Have a look at some of my earlier blog posts for a good starting point.

As we head into the middle of autumn, it is a great time to revamp your existing vege patch or prepare a new one for spring planting.

Here are my top tips:

1. Check your site first

Sunlight: does it receive a good amount of sunshine?
Shelter: is it located away from strong winds?
Drainage: a well-drained area is desirable. If you have heavy clay soils which drain poorly, then consider building raised beds to compensate

2. Prepare your site

If you have a ‘green cover’ such as lawn or a weed-infested area you need to remove this cover. This can be done by:
Laying down a heavy mulch to prevent light reaching the plant cover. Use heavy cardboard or black plastic sheeting.
Cultivating the ground by digging over to ‘bury’ the ground cover. Winter is a good time to do this as frosts will help breakdown lumps of turf and soil.

3. Apply a liberal dressing of lime

2-3 handfuls per square metre
If you have clay soils, break down the clay by adding Gypsum.

4. Add a generous layer of compost

Use at least 5-10kgs of good compost per square metre.
Recommended compost materials include composted bark, sawdust, pea straw or animal manure (horse, poultry, or sheep).
If you don’t have access to the materials above visit a garden centre and buy some organic compost.

Use Earth Zing to help break down the compost by sprinkling 1-2 handfuls per square metre over the compost and lightly incorporate through. Earth Zing boosts soil nutrients and adds valuable beneficial micro-organisms to the mix.

5. Invest in good compost each year

Investing in good quality compost each year helps to create a top-quality soil in a short time and you’ll benefit from an excellent crop of nutrient dense food for many years.
Continue to add ZingBokashi fermented food waste on a regular basis to help maintain soil quality.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab your EarthZing today, and happy planting!

See you next month,

Mr Bokashi

Autumn zing for veges

Sun, 01 Mar 2020 03:00:01 GMT

Autumn has arrived and with the first touch of frost here in the South Island the growing season is slowing down. March is a wonderful time to be harvesting the last of our late summer crops such as tomatoes, beans and corn. It’s also a good time to start preserving and bottling extra veggies from the garden to use over the cooler months. This is also a wonderful activity to get the whole family involved in while we are all at home together over the next month.

After a long dry summer your garden is most likely looking a bit run down as we near the completion of our summer harvest. Taking care of your garden at the end of the season will ensure that it continues to perform well and now is the time to boost up soil nutrients with the help of products like Earth Zing. It’s a completely natural product containing organic ingredients which benefit your soil including fishmeal, seaweed meal humates, microorganisms and basalt rock flour which are mixed with plant-based by-products.

Once you have finished harvesting the last of your crops, it’s time to start preparing your garden patch for the next season. There’s nothing better than having a continuous supply of veggies throughout the cooler months.

Start the process by:

Clearing away and disposing of any diseased material
Any good bulky material, green or dry can be composted either in a dedicated compost heap or simply added back into the soil.
You can add material back into the soil by:
Chopping up green material e.g. – cabbage and cauliflower leaves and leaving them on the soil surface to dry and break down
Digging a shallow trench and then add debris into the trench. When full, cover the debris with soil and then lightly cover over with mulch. This is a great way to dispose of stalks and leaves from sweet corn and pumpkins.
Increase the soil biology and organic soil matter by adding Earth Zing when trenching crop debris into the soil.

Next step:

Armour your soil surface
Plant a green cover or manure crop into areas of bare soil or spots where you have removed a previously grown crop.
(Ideal green manure or cover crops include)
Lupins
Mustard
Rye corn

Mulch the soil surface with materials such as pea straw or composted bark

Add Earth Zing to boost soil nutrients before you add your layer of mulch. This will help to improve your garden soil for future crops.

Armouring your soil with one of the above choices will protect the soil from winter rains plus help build-up the soil organic matter over the late autumn, winter and early spring months.

Enjoy your autumn gardening and see you next month.

Mr Bokashi

What's the difference between Compost Zing and Liquid Zing?

Magical Mycelium: The White Fuzz That Means Your Bokashi is Alive

What is the white fuzz atop your bokashi and why is it such a good sign?

Grow Smart : How To Avoid The Glut

Avoid the overwhelm and keep your vegetable garden steadily giving, all season long.

Don't Kill the Good Guys! Keeping your Septic System Healthy

Your septic tank is more than just a container for wastewater, it's a living ecosystem.

Good habits for a Healthy Septic System

Naturally Restore Balance with Restart S and Restart L

Purpose and Usage:

Benefits of using Restart TM

Ideal for use in:

Keep Your Septic System Healthy — Naturally

Safe Handling

Bokashi vs Direct Burying

Winterising your garden

Beat the heat in your garden

Preventing bitter lettuce

Feed the bees

Tips for terrific tomatoes

Prepare for spring and Christmas dinner!

What makes our Bokashi so good?

Probiotic feed boosts poultry health

Put your garden to bed

Starting your Bokashi Composting System

Which composting toilet is right for me?

Optimise your garden to boost growth

Deep watering helps plants flourish

Dealing with pests on foliage

Creating healthy disease-resistant soil

What's the difference between Compost Zing and Liquid Zing?

What's up with your Compost Zing packaging?

What's up with your Compost Zing packaging?

What are the benefits of composting toilets?

Simple guide for a thriving veggie patch

How does Compost Zing help you create the best compost?

New Zealand’s original Bokashi

Bringing back the vege patch

Autumn zing for veges

Benefits of using Restart ^TM