JP/Oyos Saroso H.N.

The Takakura bin has many advantages, not least that it is easy to make and the materials needed are easy to get hold of.

What you need:

• One large plastic basket with a lid

• Husks or sawdust

• Fertilizer made from sugar cane pulp

• Liquid microorganisms (bacteria)

• Eight kilograms of compost

• Two kilograms of organic waste

• One plastic bucket

• Needles, threat and scissors

• One meter of netting

• Cardboard

• 50 centimeters of stocking

• Sprayer

• Water

• One small garden fork or shovel

How to make it:

(1) Place the husks into a plastic container.

(2) Put the liquid bacteria into the sprayer, and spray onto the husks, while mixing by hand.

(3) Sew the netting to make two bags of about the same diameter as the bin. Fill the netting bags with the husks and stitch them up like pillows.

(4) Line the main bin with cardboard and place one pillow at the bottom of the basket.

(5) Spray the bacteria over the cardboard and husk pillows until they are evenly wet.

(8) Mix the starter compost and the fertilizer.

(9) Pour the mix into the cardboard-lined basket.

(10) Chop the fresh organic waste into small pieces, and put it in the bin, pressing it down so the fresh waste is in the middle of the compost/fertilizer mix.

(11) Cover the top with the second husk pillow.

(12) Close the lid of the basket and seal with the stocking so insects cannot enter.

Notes:

• Keep the Takakura bin out of direct sunlight.

• Be sure to use stocking, which is porous and durable so it will not interfere with the aeration process.

• Use fresh waste before it starts to go rotten. Waste you can use includes vegetable scraps, soft fruit skins (avoid using hard fruit shells like coconut, snakefruit etc.), fish or chicken scraps, leftover rice, eggshells, etc.

• Chop it into small pieces. The smaller the pieces, the faster it will decompose.

• When filling the bin each day, push the fresh load down into the existing compost until the new waste can no longer be seen.

• The cardboard used to line the basket will have to be replaced every few months. Wash the covering cloth when it becomes dirty.

• When the basket is full, take about one-third of the compost and leave it in outside out of direct sunlight for about two weeks. It can then be used as compost.

– JP/Oyos Saroso H.N.

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