Pickled Compost

Love these rangatahi and their dedication to ensure valuable Kai scraps cycle back into the whenua. To support their mahi (where they provide FREE māra maintenance services for kaumātua) you can buy a bag of their Rongo bokashi flakes and/or starter kits - OR their beautiful maku organic Kawakawa balms 🍃 🥰 https://www.maku-organics.com/rongo

Our collaboratively produced BONE Char is made from regeneratively raised cattle bones.

While a lot of these bones are made into nutrient rich bone broth or given to beloved pet dogs - finding a home for all of them is proving difficult. So while we encourage you to buy these bones for these purposes, we don’t want anything to go to waste!

That’s where Pickled Compost steps in - turning any leftovers bones into bio char or ‘bone char’.

What is biochar? 🖤🖤

It’s a stable, carbon-rich material made by heating organic matter (in this case, bones) at high temperatures with very little oxygen.

When added to your pickled compost (or bokashi), this stable form of carbon becomes a permanent home for microbes — which includes the microbes in your Pickled flakes aka Bokashi inoculant.

Because biochar (and bone char) is so porous, it’s also great at absorbing ‘funky’ odours from your pickled compost or bokashi.

Being able to turn a waste product into a soil enhancing product that enables the cycling of nutrients - particular calcium and phosphorous to become more available to plants AND a permanent home for your Pickled microbes is a very big win-win.

For more info check out the link in the comments below 👇.
soilhealth

BONE CHAR - using A Complete Cow A Complete Cow bones - we’re making our very first biochar product.

What is biochar?
It’s a stable, carbon-rich material made by heating organic matter (in this case, bones) at high temperatures with very little oxygen.
And yes - it can absolutely be made from bones.

Because biochar (and bone char) is so porous, it’s great at absorbing odours from your pickled compost or bokashi.

👉 Now, to use it - it does need to be “activated” with beneficial microbes. Which is why it’s perfect to add into your bokashi or Pickled system - where microbes can move in and get to work.

This not only helps manage odours… but also supports better soil over time 🌱

It becomes especially handy when adding higher protein scraps - like fish and seafood 🐟, meat 🥩, and dairy 🥛

So yes it’s a way to ramp up your soil health even more.. with just a little less ‘pong’ 😅

Proud of this complete collab - featuring a new ‘joint’ product!! 🦴😜

*We think the 🐄 were a little too curious about it as well 😅*

We are turning A Complete Cow bones into a beneficial product for your compost and garden 🪏

Introducing our bio char or bone char! 🦴🔥🧡

When added to your pickled compost (or bokashi), this stable form of carbon becomes a home for microbes — the same microbes in our Pickled flakes or bokashi inoculant.

This means when your finished pickled scraps breakdown in your garden, the bone char provides the microbes a stable home to get to work building strong, healthy soil structure.

Why do we want good soil structure? Well this means your soil can:
💧 hold more water
🌱 support stronger plant growth
🌦️ better handle extremes — from drought to heavy rain

This is about more than composting — it’s about creating resilient soil from what is often put in the trash.

If you’re already using Pickled, our bone char might just be your next step.

👉 Follow along or search “bone char” on our website to learn more.


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No garden to compost? Try a soil factory! 🤎🏭

If you’ve only got concrete to work with, you can still compost your food scraps.

All you need is a storage tote container – like this 57-litre one from

Here’s the simple method:
1. Add 10 litres of soil to the bottom of the container.
2. Add up to 10 litres of fully pickled Bokashi scraps.
3. Cover it with another 20 litres of soil.

If you’re starting a soil factory from scratch - I would opt for a 30-litre bag of soil, and use about a third on the bottom, add your Bokashi scraps, then use the rest of the bag to cover it.

You can also use old potting mix or garden soil that needs replenishing or enriching, as it is a great way to bring life back into tired soil.

What you end up with is about 40 litres of organic matter breaking down into beautiful soil usually within 2–3 weeks over the warmer months.

That means every time you add 10 litres of pickled food scraps, you’re effectively creating an EXTRA 10 litres of organic material for your soil.

And because everything is fully buried in soil and the lid clicks on, it helps keep dogs and pests out as well. WIN!!

CLEANING YOUR PICKLED BUCKET 🧽🪣

When cleaning your Pickled Compost / Bokashi bucket, keep it really simple and just rinse it with water.

If there’s a bit of food residue, you might need to give it a light scrub, then just leave in the sun to dry off.

But please do not use harsh chemicals like detergent or bleach, because that can kill the good pickling microbes and disrupt your next batch.

If your bucket needs a deeper clean, just soak it in hot water with a tablespoon of baking soda. This helps loosen any leftover bits without harming the microbial life.

Once I’m done, I empty that water straight back into the garden — making the most of those beneficial pickling juices rather than sending them down the drain.

Using Bokashi in the garden 🌱

After digging a 30 cm trench, I can finally add this bucket of Pickled Compost / Bokashi that’s been sitting for 2 months while I was away on holiday.

And the best part?�The food scraps are perfectly preserved.

For those new to Bokashi – the food doesn’t break down in the bucket.�Instead, it ferments (or “pickles”), preserving all the nutrients.

The real magic happens once it’s added to the soil. ✨
�That’s when soil microbes get to work and the food scraps break down incredibly fast, feeding the soil and ultimately your future plants.

If you’re worried about pets or pests digging it up, simply place some mesh over the trench before covering with soil. In this case I used aviary mesh, which works perfectly as a simple deterrent. Just place heavy blocks on top to secure the mesh - and then can wait just a few weeks (over warmer months) for it to fully breakdown. In the colder months it takes longer but the process still works beautifully 🤎

‘Businesses who bokashi’ - a new series to highlight how possible it is to compost business food waste ♻️🤎🎥

And we’re stoked to share that the incredible team at 🩷The Rad Pad Coffee 🩷 in Masterton, along with their satellite café at Riversdale Beach, are still pickling their food scraps 18 months after joining the Pickled Compost pilot funded by Masterton District Council. 🙌

What’s even better? It’s now simply part of their normal waste system!!

Laura and her team were early adopters during the trial, and have successfully reduced their general waste collection from weekly to mostly fortnightly over the past year and a half.

For a small caravan setup, the system works brilliantly:� - Food scraps can be stored compactly� - No smells – meaning they don’t need to empty rubbish every night� - Less heat and odour buildup in rubbish bins (a common issue in small food setups, especially in the summer☀️)

When their Pickled bucket is full, it’s processed in their soil factory outside, turning food scraps into nutrient-rich compost.

Even better, community members often stop by to ask if they can use some of the compost for their gardens. 🌿

It’s a fantastic example of a small business making a big difference - reducing waste, building soil, and supporting the community.

So next time you’re near the Masterton Skatepark or Riversdale Beach, go grab a coffee and homemade baked goods and support their epic, community-minded mahi. ☕ 🛹🏄🏼‍♀️🍪