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Category: Green Johanna

Best ways to raise compost temperature

Posted on by Julie Halford

If your compost bin has cooled down, there are several steps you can take to help raise the temperature by making conditions in the bin ideal for heat-generating micro-organisms.    

  1. Aerate

The aerobic bacteria that get compost hot need oxygen to breathe. Regular aeration – about twice a week – reinvigorates microbial activity.  

 In the immediate aftermath of turning there will be a dip in temperature but ultimately it will result in a higher bin temperature for a longer time. After a couple of days, you should notice things are heating back up. Aerating the contents will prolong the time that the bin stays at these temperatures. As heat-creating bacteria proliferate they use up more oxygen so regular aeration is needed.  

Aeration also helps all the materials to make their way to the heat in the middle and to decompose at an even rate, as well as distributing water and nutrients to all areas.  Without air, the contents will turn anaerobic – the breakdown process will slow down and the contents start to smell unpleasant. 

  The aerator stick that comes with the Green Johanna has retractable blades which release after you have pushed the stick into the compost, helping to stir the materials.

An image of a man mixing composter in a green johanna with the aerator stick

If adding food waste in home compostable bags, use the aerator stick to split the bags open in several places to ensure microbes can easily access the waste. Tearing the bag up means it will also decompose faster.  

Tip – For deeper aeration, a manure fork is lighter and easier to handle than a garden fork.

2. Check moisture

The heat a compost pile generates can lead to dry spots.  Stirring enables you to check how dry the compost is inside. As you aerate you can check moisture levels to ensure the compost isn’t dry, especially if the bin is in a sunny spot.  Bacteria need moisture to move around the compost. But if there’s too much moisture, air will be forced out of the bin. With experience you can tell by looking.

The ideal moisture content is around 50 per cent. You can check by using a moisture meter or by doing the squeeze test – wearing gloves, grab handfuls of the bin’s contents and squeeze. Only one or two drops of liquid should appear. The ideal consistency is like a wrung-out bath sponge.

 If compost is too wet there is less air for the microbes – if this is the case, add carbon materials and aerate. If it’s too dry, add water from a small watering can with a fine rose spray and aerate so moisture is spread through the bin.

The presence of a lot of ants is a sign the compost is too dry; a lot of slugs means it’s too wet.

TIP – If you need to water compost that is dry, use rainwater from a water butt if you can – it’s naturally soft and free from minerals and salts and treatment chemicals. This also saves on using tap water. If compost is only slightly dry, add wet materials such as coffee grounds and fresh grass in small amounts.

3. Chop or shred

Items should ideally be 2 to 5cms.Smaller items provide a larger surface area for more microbes to work on.  The more micro-organisms at work means faster, hotter composting of waste.

TIP: If you have a lot of dead leaves throw them in an empty dustbin or compost bin and whizz them up with a strimmer. Or you can spread them over your lawn and mow, so you shred the leaves as well as grass, giving you a useful mix of nitrogen and carbon.  

4. Provide air pockets

Carbon-rich materials are often called bulking agent. They add structure and substance to the compost; high nitrogen materials can compost very quickly down to very little. They also trap air through the compost, getting oxygen to the aerobic microbes, and absorb excess moisture, which makes them essential to add alongside foods with a high moisture content such as cooked foods and fruit waste.

Cardboard can be torn into strips or squares. Look out for corrugated cardboard in packaging; the holes are great for adding air pockets. Other good sources of air pockets are egg cartons and the tubes from toilet rolls, which can be added whole.    

TIP: Wood chips (from untreated wood) are great for adding airflow, providing food for fungi and absorbing moisture from wet foods.   

5. Store carbon

It’s well worth the effort to prepare plenty of bulking material ahead of time.  If not, you might be tempted to skimp on the carbon that’s needed in the bin if you don’t have it ready to hand. 

 In home composting, food waste is usually plentiful (providing nitrogen) but carbon takes a bit more preparation. Prepare it in advance and keep it near the compost bin in tied bags or lidded containers – an old dustbin, empty composter, or lidded plastic tubs – so it’s ready when needed.

Doing this in autumn when you have lots of garden waste will keep you going through winter. Don’t let it get wet or it will start to break down.

Many people bag up and store dead leaves in autumn so that they’re readily available throughout the year.  Then when you add food waste or grass cuttings to the bin, you can add your carbon at the same time.

Some of our customers get into the habit of having cardboard tearing sessions while watching TV (don’t knock it till you try it!), or they get the kids involved as a family activity, introducing them to the basics of composting.   

Always cover fresh waste with a layer of carbon to prevent smells that could attract pests.

TIP: Cardboard is easier to tear into strips when wet.

6. Add soil

A quick way to add more beneficial microbes is to add a bucketful of soil or mature compost. A single teaspoon of soil can contain up to 100 million bacteria and 400 – 800 feet of fungal threads.

TIP: A layer of soil added to the top of the contents of a full bin that’s going to be left to mature will reduce heat loss and conserve water.

7. Try Bokashi

The fermented contents of a Bokashi bin turn into pre-compost – added to a compost bin this acts as an accelerator and speed up decomposition.

Great Green System carried out trials using the contents of a Maze Bokashi Bin that had been left to ferment for three weeks and were then added to a Green Johanna. Temperatures in the Johanna rapidly increased over a few days from around 36 degrees to 66 degrees Celsius (see photos).

Pre-Bokashi – compost temperature at about 36 degrees Celsius.

The fermented contents of a Bokashi bin are added.

Post-Bokashi – compost temperature is raised to about 66 degrees Celsius.

8. Add DIY accelerators

Nitrogen-rich materials that provide a useful boost to the composting process include chicken manure, bird feathers and grass clippings.

 Fresh grass will quickly heat up the compost and decompose rapidly, providing ample fuel for microbial activity, but too much will clump and turn slimy so it needs to be added in thin layers.   

Other accelerators include nettles or comfrey leaves, fresh or wilted, laid in a thin layer.

9. Ventilation

With a Green Johanna, if the weather is very cold, limit ventilation through the lid’s ventilation system – twist the lid towards the minimum setting to keep heat in the bin.

10. Fit the jacket

Add the Green Johanna’s Insulating Jacket – this provides insulation to retain heat but is easily removed if the compost temperature is getting too high (above 70 degrees Celsius).

The jacket is designed to fit snugly so that cold air can’t circulate round the bin. Follow the instructions so the vents in the base are left exposed and the top jacket sections overlap the one underneath by a few centimetres. This ensures that the vents at the top and bottom of the Johanna are kept free so the ventilation system can work efficiently.

TIP: In autumn and winter ensure the vents at the bottom do not get covered by leaves or snow.

Benefits of the Green Johanna’s jacket

Posted on by Julie Halford

  As the temperature outside plummets so the compost in your bin might cool down, but by maintaining good composting techniques you can keep your compost ‘cooking’ even in the coldest winter periods.

In the case of the Green Johanna, adding the insulating jacket also helps.

The Johanna pictured below in January in Leeds kept its compost warm at 40 degrees Celsius while the ground temperature was at zero.

This particular Johanna received all food waste from a family of four, rising to 10 people over the Christmas period. Carbon sources include stored shredded leaves from several trees in the vicinity, as well as Christmas paper waste such as cardboard packaging, compostable wrapping paper and Christmas cards.

The Great Green Systems team tend to keep the jackets on our Green Johannas for most of the year, not just in winter, as we’re based in the chilly north of England.      

Don’t worry that using the jacket will make the Johanna too hot for worms, as one customer suggested. This is not a problem because worms can easily enter and leave the composter through the small holes in the base plate. At temperatures approaching 30 degrees Celsius they will move where it is cooler, usually the bottom of the bin where the compost is maturing, or they can leave the bin entirely.

 The jacket is made from foamed polyethylene – a lightweight, water-resistant material that is tough but flexible and designed to fit snugly to prevent cold air from circulating round the Johanna. It’s made for Great Green Systems by a specialist foam manufacturer in Northamptonshire.

When fitting the jacket, it’s important to ensure that the bottom section doesn’t cover the vents at the sides of the Johanna’s base as these are necessary for airflow.  

The jacket should be installed with the two upper sections pulled down so they overlap the section underneath by about 5 cm. Doing this means the ventilation holes are left clear.

Green Johanna wearing the Insulating Jacket

 Also check throughout autumn and winter that the vents at the bottom of the Johanna are not blocked by leaves or debris or snow. Air is taken in at ground level so keep this area clear so that air can enter freely.

The jacket can easily be removed if the compost gets too hot (above 70 degrees C) in warm weather. Compost thermometers, which have a stem to reach down into the compost, are a useful aid.    

  • TIP: Give the bin’s contents a boost by adding beneficial bacteria in bokashi bran or a layer of soil or mature compost. You can also add coffee grounds or chicken manure to add a hit of nitrogen to your mix.  

Johanna planner for winter:

  • In freezing weather limit ventilation through the Green Johanna lid’s ventilation system – twist the lid towards the minimum setting.
  • Wood chips are a great addition, creating airflow and adding plenty of fungi to the bin.
  • Keep adding to the bin – ideally about three times a week – to maintain the composting process. The Johanna’s generous 330 litre capacity means the compost mass acts as an insulating factor. 
  • Chop items up. Smaller items provide a larger surface area for more microbes to work on. 
  • Aerate regularly – about twice a week – to ensure the aerobic microbes breaking down the waste get enough air.  Without air, the contents will turn anaerobic and start to smell.   
  • Check moisture levels – by doing the squeeze test; grab handfuls of the bin’s contents and squeeze. One or two drops of liquid should appear. The ideal consistency is like a wrung-out bath sponge.

What is hot composting?

Posted on by Julie Halford

Hot composting is a way of composting that uses various techniques to achieve higher temperatures than the traditional method of composting. As a result, you can add a wider variety of food waste and compost will be produced faster.    

A compost bin isn’t absolutely necessary for hot composting – you can hot compost in a large pile – but using a container makes the process more manageable and less messy.

Hot composters are designed to nurture heat-generating micro-organisms and to retain the heat they create as they break down organic waste and multiply.

For hot composting, you need the right ingredients in the correct proportions mixed properly.

What are the advantages?

Hot composting takes more effort than traditional composting but most people find it’s worth it for the benefits, such as:

  • A wider range of foods can be composted that are not usually recommended for composting, such as cooked food and meat.
  • Pests are deterred because food scraps break down faster at higher temperatures.   
  • Pieces of natural clothing, such as wool, cotton and linen, can also be added. These usually take a long time to break down in traditional composting (usually called cold composting).
  • Weeds can be killed at high temperatures.
  • Faster compost is produced in around 4-6 months. Cold composting takes between 6- 18 months.

Materials:

The eco system in a compost bin thrives on a balanced diet of nitrogen and carbon. Nitrogen is needed by the micro-organisms for growth and reproduction, while carbon provides them with energy.  

Nitrogen-rich materials are wetter and faster to break down. Carbon-rich materials are dry and slower to break down. In composting terms nitrogen materials are often referred to as Greens and carbon as Browns.

Nitrogen (Greens)

Food waste

Coffee grounds

Fresh green garden waste, such as grass mowings and green leaves

Wilted flowers

Seaweed/kelp

Tealeaves, tea bags (non-plastic)

Natural fabrics

Manure from herbivore animals

Carbon (Browns)

Dead leaves

Paper

 Cardboard

 Woody garden waste, such as twigs, branches and stalks

Wood chips from untreated wood

Sawdust from untreated wood

Pine needles/ cones

Straw

An image of a very full Green Johanna composter

Balance

Ingredients are added in proportions referred to as the Carbon: Nitrogen ratio (C:N ratio). The ideal C:N ratio is considered to be around 30:1 but it would be difficult to calculate this exactly as every item has a different ratio. Most plant materials are a mixture of both, but more carbon than nitrogen as they get older and tougher.  You don’t have to be too precise with this or worry about it too much.  

A good guide is to simply add equal amounts of carbon to nitrogen (followed by a thin covering layer of carbon to prevent smells), then observe the bin’s contents and make adjustments if your compost lets you know something is wrong.

For example, if your bin starts to smell unpleasant, it’s likely that there’s too much nitrogen and not enough air. If breakdown is very slow, there’s probably too much carbon.

Adding waste

Hot composting can be achieved using different methods; our focus here is on active home composting where householders use one or two bins in an ‘add as you go’ system, adding food waste as it occurs every couple of days, mixed with carbon content.

Aeration

Good airflow is essential for hot composting. The micro-organisms that create heat are aerobic so need oxygen to survive. This is achieved by regularly aerating the bin’s contents, stirring and turning the waste materials with an aerator stick.  

An image of a man mixing composter in a green johanna with the aerator stick

In the immediate aftermath of turning there will be a dip in temperature but ultimately it will result in a higher bin temperature for a longer time.

At the outset, covering the bin’s base with a layer of 15-20cms of twigs will help to create airflow through the contents.

Aerating compost:

  • Helps all materials to make their way to the heat in the middle and to decompose at an even rate. 
  • Prolongs the time that the bin stays at higher temperatures.
  • Helps to distribute water and nutrients to all areas. 

Moisture

Moisture is essential for efficient composting. The contents should be moist but not saturated, with a moisture content of roughly 50 per cent.

The consistency of compost should be damp like a wrung-out sponge.  You can check this by doing a squeeze test – take a few handfuls of compost from different parts of the bin and squeeze – only one or two beads of liquid should be visible.

If compost becomes too wet the water will deplete the amount of oxygen in the bin. Then microbes that thrive in anaerobic conditions will take over, causing slow breakdown and an unpleasant smell. In this case, you should add more carbon content and aerate well.

As micro-organisms become more active, they use up water, causing the compost to dry. In dry compost, microbes will not be active or reproduce.

 If you are regularly adding food waste, there will usually be enough water content in the bin. If you do need to add water, ideally use stored rainwater from a water butt added to a small watering can with a fine rose spray.

Chop or shred

For hot composting, it’s best to chop or shred the materials before adding them. This increases the surface area in contact with microbes in the pile. Smaller pieces – ideally 2 to 5 cm – also make turning the pile much easier.

If you have access to a shredder, you can shred Greens and Browns at the same time, blending materials as you shred. This creates a fine-textured mix that heats up quickly.

Alternatively, you can chop materials using a pair of hedge clippers and a board.

Large pieces will still break down but will take longer. You can get away with larger pieces if you also have other ingredients with a much smaller surface area, such as grass or sawdust.

 If items are too small, they can clump together, reducing the ability of air to circulate through the bin.

What happens?

When there’s enough carbon to fuel these billions of micro-organisms, enough nitrogen and water to help them grow, and enough oxygen to let aerobic bacteria thrive, composting magic happens.  

Heat builds in the bin and heat-loving bacteria multiply, breaking down the materials.

As the temperature increases in the bin, different populations of micro-organisms rise and fall, either going dormant, or becoming fodder for the next wave of bacteria that thrive in even hotter temperatures.

When temperatures are between 20-40 degrees Celsius, this is called the mesophilic phase; from 40-70 degrees Celsius is the thermophilic stage when fast, hot composting takes place.  If temperatures go above 72 degrees Celsius this is too hot for the aerobic micro-organisms to survive. This will cause the process to slow down or stall.

The power of observation

Composting depends on a blend of factors: contents, moisture, size of materials, size of bin, the composter’s efforts, climate and soil conditions.  Even neighbouring households will experience different outcomes due to a difference in diet.  

 Ultimately the best guide is your own observations – how your bin looks and smells. With experience you develop a feel for your materials and can tell what’s needed just by looking.

 Most people find the fact that they can influence the quality and speed of their compost a rewarding aspect of hot composting.  

Why a Green Johanna works well for hot composting

  • The Johanna has been designed so that vents take air in at the bottom to send it upwards through the bin. Incoming air goes up past the four ventilation plates on the inside of the base plate, past the maturing compost layer up into the decomposing compost where it provides oxygen for the micro-organisms.
  • Ventilation in the lid helps control airflow depending on conditions. Switch to minimum in cold weather to keep heat in the bin.
  • Use of the Insulating Jacket helps to control temperature.
  • The conical shape encourages compost to fall back into the centre and not stick to the sides.
  • The generous capacity of 330 litres means the mass of materials acts as an insulating factor.

For more information about composting in general we recommend A Gardener’s Guide to Composting Techniques by master composter Rod Weston.

Tips to send the rat pack packing

Posted on by Julie Halford

Some of our customers claim the Green Johanna is rat-proof as they have never had any problems with these unwelcome visitors.

That is the experience of most people, but since rats have been known to chew through concrete, glass and even some metals nothing can really be called rat-proof.

However, there are steps you can take to deter rodents by making your compost bin and garden so unattractive to them that they will move on to a more accommodating environment.

If there’s a problem with rats locally it’s worth checking whether a neighbour is exacerbating the issue by leaving food out for wildlife. This was the experience of one of our customers, who discovered that his next-door neighbour was getting animal bones from a butcher and leaving them in his garden overnight to feed foxes. The neighbour even thoughtfully left his garden gate open at night to encourage visiting wildlife. But foxes weren’t the only ones coming round for a feast.

 Such issues obviously need to be addressed first. If there is a persistent problem in your neighbourhood consider professional help to sort it out.   

The Johanna has been designed with an integrated base to deter rats. Using the Insulating Jacket also provides another layer of material as well as insulation to help keep temperatures high enough to discourage rats.   

As part of the Green Johanna’s and the Green Cone’s five-year guarantee, Great Green Systems will replace any parts that suffer rodent damage.

Recommended deterrents:

Some rat psychology is useful – make sure your composting environment is filled with things they hate. Rats are neophobic (they hate anything new) so make your bin a place where change, movement and noise happens.   

In winter especially, with falling temperatures and shorter days, rodents will be out looking for food and shelter, so any extra precautions you can take with your compost bins are a good idea.

  • If you can, site your compost bin in an open, uncluttered area as rats hate being exposed. Open space makes them nervous.
  • If you know there is a rodent problem locally, try to avoid siting the bin along fence lines or near log/brick piles and shrubbery or thick vegetation that provide protection for them. Rats have poor eyesight and use fences and walls to run alongside for direction.
  • If there are overhanging trees, cut away the lower branches so they don’t provide means of reaching the bin.
  • Protect the composter’s base – place paving slabs, bricks or gravel around the base. Placing thorny prunings around the composter will also make access difficult.  One of the Great Green Systems team swears by a barrier of spiky-leafed branches pruned from a Berberis Darwinii bush. (Wear gloves when handling and boots in case you step on them.)
  • Rats hate noise and being disturbed, so bang on the bin with sticks every time you go past so they get the message this is not a peaceful place.
  • One customer recommends creating a stockade fence of bamboo sticks around composters. Push each stick into the ground as closely as possible (easier to do after rain).
  • Keep the bin active. If you’re going away ask someone to keep your composting activity going for you so the bin is not left undisturbed for weeks.  
  • Ensure food waste is well chopped to provide more surface area for microbes and accelerate the breakdown process. Smaller pieces are also easier to stir and mix with garden and paper waste.
  • After adding and aerating fresh contents, finish with a covering layer of shredded paper, cardboard or dead leaves to prevent smells attracting flies or rodents. You can also add mature compost or soil.
  • Aerate composter contents regularly.
  • Keep the mixture moist. Moisture levels should be around 50 per cent. You can use a moisture meter to check or do the ‘squeeze test’ – take a large handful of compost and squeeze. If one or two drops of liquid come out that is likely to be right – the compost should be the consistency of a wrung-out sponge. Add water if needed in summer months, preferably rainwater from a water butt.
  • Place builders’ mesh (available at DIY stores and online) underneath the composter.  The Johanna already has an integrated base but mesh would provide an added deterrent. One of our customers recommends placing builders’ mesh under the Johanna’s base extending a little way up the sides.
  • Rats hate strong smells so try planting mint round the bin and add mint leaves to the bin.
  • Scatter chopped onion around – refresh the onion every few days.
  • Make a spray using peppermint, eucalyptus or citronella essential oil – use one part essential oil and nine parts water in a spray bottle. Then spray this mixture around the edges of your garden. High-strength peppermint oils are also available as powders which should be sprinkled around the plot.
  • Also sprinkle chilli powder, cayenne pepper and cinnamon around as well as spreading lavender and bay tree cuttings around the base. The fermented contents of a bokashi bin are said to be a deterrent as rats dislike the sour smell.
  • A niche solution – if you happen to have access to owl feathers then scatter them around your garden.  Rats sense threats easily so feathers from their predators scare them.  
  • An obvious point but sometimes overlooked – be vigilant that you never drop any food waste around a composter, bin or food caddy.

With the Green Johanna:

  •  Keep temperatures in the bin high by fitting the Insulating Jacket when suitable, adding bokashi bran, and keeping the bin filled and aerated. Hot composting generally discourages rodents because of the heat and the fact that food scraps are quickly broken down. Even though the jacket is not particularly thick, it does seem to offer some kind of deterrent. Members of the GGS team report that from time to time the jacket on their Johanna has been nibbled in places but then the culprit has obviously given up. An allotmenteer once showed us evidence of a badger attack on his Johanna and again, there was some nibbling on the jacket but the culprit hadn’t gone further.
  • When setting up the composter, wait until the composting process is well under way before adding cooked food scraps.

The composting environment

  • Discourage rats from making a home in your garden or allotment by sealing access under chicken houses, sheds or decking that can provide shelter for them.
  • Keep the area well maintained – check for anywhere that rats could burrow under or through.
  • If you store bird feed or chicken food in the garden, make sure it is in lidded containers and kept off the ground. Sweep up any fallen birdseed as birds are messy feeders. Put paving slabs under a bird feeder so any fallen seed can be easily swept up.
  • Make sure any bins are not overflowing and food caddies are locked tight.
  • Maintain drains – rats can come up through poorly maintained drains.
  • Keep an eye out during bad weather and flooding as rats are likely to be on the move looking for shelter.
  • Rely on rodents’ old enemies – keep a cat or terrier.

With the Green Cone:

  • Ensure that the top of the black basket and the bottom lip of the green outer cone are below ground level, so that any odours are filtered out into the surrounding soil.
  • Never allow food waste to come higher than the top of the underground basket. Food waste should never reach as high as the Cone itself.
  • Press builder’s mesh (available at DIY stores) into the soil of the hole you have dug for the black basket to provide an additional deterrent.
  • Add accelerator powder regularly to boost the breakdown process. Aim to use one sachet per month.
  • Ensure the Cone is in a sunny spot as the digester relies on solar energy to enable efficient digestion.

What about badgers?  

Master composter Rod Weston (in his book A Gardener’s Guide to Composting Techniques) advises using human (male) urine diluted and sprayed around the plot every four weeks. 

We also read an interesting piece in The Sunday Times when a reader asked for advice on how she could deter the badgers which were wreaking havoc in her garden. Another reader wrote in to suggest: ‘Regularly scent-mark your territory with male human urine’. He added, ‘Yes, I know. But it does work.’

Rod also makes several recommendations, some of which he says are more practical than others (as you’ll see when you read them):

  • LED lights triggered by infrared sensors (which are effective, but badgers can get used to them).
  • A ‘smelly’ washing line at badger height hung with cloths impregnated with various oils, including citronella, clove, eucalyptus, menthol, juniper berry, wintergreen.
  • Scotch bonnet peppers chopped or crushed and scattered on the ground.
  • Lion manure.

After an attack

Rod also has the following advice in the wake of a rodent attack: in order to become less appealing to rats (and we would suggest until you’ve had a chance to put other measures in place) avoid for the moment adding bread, cooked food, and foods that rats particularly like – such as potato peelings and fruit waste – until the contents have been emptied and replaced with a higher proportion of garden waste.  With luck, by this time the rodents will have moved on.

Of course, it’s difficult to know which measures in particular have been effective; it would be nice to see a dejected rat or badger packing their bags and walking off into the sunset as proof that your strategies have worked, but we’ll just have to be happy with an un-nibbled compost bin.  

Johannas give hope to South African townships

Posted on by Julie Halford

There can’t be anywhere on earth putting Green Johannas to better use than the townships of South Africa.

The food waste composters are a vital tool there in the work done by local women to sustain their families, communities and the environment.

The women, known locally as Kamammas (‘mothers who carry their child and community’), use the Johannas to recycle food waste into compost to grow their own food.  They then use this produce to cook traditional homemade cuisine for tourists who stay in their guest houses, providing a true taste of the real South Africa.

A Kamamma and Johanna

These ‘Homestay’ experiences are organised through the Dreamcatcher South Africa Foundation, a non-profit social enterprise which gives communities, especially women and youth, the opportunity to raise themselves out of poverty through training and employment.

Township residents are trained as hosts, guides and small business owners, enabling them to introduce tourists to the culture of their country.

Dreamcatcher’s founder Anthea Rossouw remembers the Kamammas’ reactions when she first showed them how they could learn to compost using a Green Johanna (shown in the video below).

‘Their reaction was amazing. Such joy, because they could see what this meant for them – to be able to grow their own food.  They started singing – ‘Give Me Hope Jo’Anna’ and dancing round the compost bin!’

Dreamcatcher’s recycling work is now even more important since the South African government has committed to halving food loss and food waste by 2030.  In recent months Anthea and her team have been running workshops to get more people recycling their food waste with Green Johannas.

A lorry load of Green Johannas destined for South Africa

The idea for Dreamcatcher came to Anthea more than 30 years ago during the apartheid era when she knew she had to do something about the suffering she saw around her.

‘There was so much injustice, inequality and insanity on a human level and an environmental level,’ she says. ‘It was obvious it couldn’t continue.’

Raised in South Africa by parents who championed diversity in defiance of the apartheid system, Anthea believes in turning challenges into opportunities.

Her father, a master builder of English descent, used to tell her, ‘Forget the pie in the sky and get down to earth.’ He could never have imagined how literally his daughter would take that advice, as getting people composting is one of the many strands of her vision for a better world.    

Over the years she has run many composting workshops, both in South Africa and the South of England where she divides her time.  She reckons that 99 per cent of the people she talks to have never composted before, but before long they are as evangelical about it as she is.

‘Composting is all upsides – you’re taking food waste out of landfill, where it’s an environmental disaster, and out of homes, with all the health and hygiene issues that involves. And it creates free, organic compost for people to grow their own food and flowers.’

When starting Dreamcatcher, she felt that an answer to many of the problems faced by townships could be found in a new kind of tourism. The tourism industry at the time was booming but completely bypassed the townships, with tourists being driven straight past the communities as though they didn’t exist. She saw a way for the inhabitants to share a piece of the tourism pie by offering visitors the chance to ‘life-see’ as well as sight-see.

A Kamamma gives tourists an authentic taste of South Africa

Anthea’s first proposals centred on the community of Melkhoutfontein, Western Cape, which at the time was one of the most destitute areas in the country, situated between two rubbish dumps and surrounded by waste.

The response from the authorities was ridicule. ‘The attitude was, “But no one will want to go there, no one will want to eat there!” ‘

 But Anthea connected with the international marketplace, convinced that tourists would relish the chance to meet the people (as well as the elephants!) of South Africa, thereby getting to know the soul of the country, not just its beauty spots. And she was proved right. Since its inception, Dreamcatcher has facilitated trips to South Africa for hundreds of tourists from over 30 countries.

Dreamcatcher developed authentic tourism experiences led by local people. It is based in the region that boasts the earliest known examples of human artistic activity, in the 73,000-year-old drawings discovered in the 1990s at Blombos Cave.

 Homestay with Kamamma

Focusing on struggling areas situated within established tourist routes, Dreamcatcher gives people the skills and knowledge they need to support themselves. Then, armed with these new skills, they develop enterprises such as ‘Homestay With Kamamma’ and ‘Cook-up With Kamamma’ and they go on to mentor others in the community

Educational programmes help to transform children’s lives, breaking the cycle of poverty. A good example of this transformation is one Kamamma who has three children – one is now a trained chef, one is training to become a teacher, the other to become a doctor.

Anthea knew that tackling waste was essential to Dreamcatcher’s tourism aspirations. So she set up a waste education scheme called ‘Waste – it’s Mine, it’s Yours’ in collaboration with the University of Brighton. She describes the waste problem in South Africa as a legacy of apartheid, when the dumping of waste was a way of expressing opposition to the system, as well as a protest against the lack of infrastructure caused by the forced removal of citizens. Moreover, in many communities the inadequate infrastructure led to waste being openly burned in the community or at dumpsites. Over time, waste and litter became a way of life, so training was invaluable in introducing the best ways to manage waste. An environmental ethos soon followed with local people taking pride in their role as custodians of their environment. And what a stunning environment it is!

Rubbish as a resource

Waste is no longer seen as rubbish but a resource. Dreamcatcher has created a thriving crafting industry, with tuition provided by visiting artists, so that young people can intercept waste that might end up on the beautiful beaches and in the ocean and turn it into craft products to sell to visitors. Plastic films are turned into bowls depicting the rich cultural heritage of the area, porcelain pieces incorporated into tiles to embed in walls and old jeans and waste textiles are transformed into bags and backpacks.  

Anthea is understandably proud when describing how mass-produced items that are deemed worthless can be given value thanks to the skill of a local craftsperson.  

The University of Brighton partners with the Dreamcatcher community. With the help of visiting volunteers and artists, local people have transformed the sides of buildings with brightly coloured paintings that tell the stories of their ancestors – bushmen and women with a rich history and many diverse cultures.

A volunteer takes compost from a Johanna

So how did Green Johannas come to play a part in this story?

Anthea first worked with Green Johannas through a community composting project she started when she was living in West Sussex in England in 2008. She took the same method of training back to South Africa, where she knew it would be transformative.

She believes the fact that the Kamammas were already producing their own food meant they were protected from some of the hardship caused by the Covid pandemic.

Inspired by a Nelson Mandela quote – ‘Something is only impossible until it’s done’ – Anthea says she is excited to see what can be achieved over the next few years.

A daily source of inspiration are the Kamammas themselves.

‘When I first met them I was overwhelmed by their warmth and generosity,’ says Anthea. ‘Each woman brought something from the little she had to make me welcome.

‘These are women who were rejected by their own culture, who had to struggle to raise their children but succeeded in sending them to university. They are survivors every day of their lives. They’ve gone from being servants to service providers.’

Great Green Systems couldn’t be prouder to be part of the Kamammas’ inspiring journey.

Locals learn how to use the Johanna with Anthea, right.

Tips to deal with fruit fly nuisance

Posted on by Julie Halford

Fruit flies are a common nuisance in the UK, affecting more than 60% of households.    

They’re most common in summer and autumn because they’re attracted to ripe and rotting food, especially bananas, melon, tomatoes, squash and apples. The smell attracts adult flies, which lay their microscopic eggs in the fruit skins. The eggs might already be present in fruit that you buy or get from the garden. If you then put the rotting fruit or peel into your food waste caddy and then into your garden composter you might be unwittingly transferring fruit fly eggs to the compost to hatch out later when the temperature is right.  

Good composting management usually keeps flies away.  A few flies can be beneficial since in the compost food web they are considered physical decomposers, helping to break down compost material. Their eggs are also a source of food for other compost creatures. But flies breed fast and if there are a lot of them it’s both a nuisance and a sign that something is out of balance. 

Their presence is likely due to the following issues in the bin:

  • Lack of oxygen – when there is not enough air, composting is slow and the temperature drops – conditions which attract flies. So add oxygen by aerating with an aerator stick. You can also poke holes in the compost with an iron bar. Deep aeration also disturbs the fly reproductive cycle; some types breed every five days. 
  • Too much moisture – the water content should be about 50 per cent. If there is more water than this, it can force air out, which leads to anaerobic conditions (without air) causing slow decomposition and bad smells, which attract flies. You can monitor compost moisture levels by testing with a moisture meter or by squeezing it in your hands. If it feels like a wrung-out sponge, it has the right consistency. There should only be one or two drops of liquid visible. If it’s wetter than this, add some absorbent material such as shredded paper or sawdust and aerate.
  • Imbalance of materials – a mixture of materials high in carbon (Browns) and nitrogen (Greens) is recommended for active composting. Aim for roughly half and half of both.  
  • Poorly-covered nitrogen-rich materials (Greens) – bury smelly foods in the compost, wrapped in newspaper if possible. Create a covering layer over the top to capture smells. This can include straw, sawdust, wood chips, soil or mature compost.  A fly-proof mesh over the top of the contents will keep flies out while allowing air in.  

As the compost becomes active, with raised temperature and faster decomposition, the fly infestation should end.

A word about fruit waste

If you add large amounts of fruit waste to your composter be aware that this will be high in water content. To avoid making the compost too wet (which attracts flies) it should be well mixed with equal amounts of dry carbon-rich content, such as woody garden waste, dead leaves, shredded paper/cardboard, wood chips, sawdust. An equal addition of sawdust, for instance, would be an effective way to absorb some of the moisture in fruit waste.

To avoid attracting flies, reduce the smell of fruit by wrapping it in newspaper and burying it in the existing compost, then cover with carbon-rich content and add mature compost or soil over the top. 

 Take these steps to reduce the chance of attracting flies.

In the home

  • Because fruit flies lay eggs on exposed food, take care to keep food stored in a fridge or lidded containers, not out in the open in fruit bowls.
  • Use up ripe fruit and vegetables as soon as possible.
  • Compost organic matter quickly as flies are attracted by the smell of decomposing food.
  • Keep stored waste in a lidded kitchen caddy. Always keep the lid on your caddy, even between new additions of waste as you are preparing food.

In the compost bin

Follow the steps mentioned above regarding composting management and also:

  • Add more carbon-rich materials (woody garden waste/shredded paper/cardboard/wood chips), and mix in well so that any food waste is covered.
  • Top the contents with a layer of fresh soil.
  • Try putting the composter in sunlight – flies like a warm but not hot environment.
  • Make sure that you always lock the lid securely.
  • Take care not to spill any food around the composter.
  • Monitor acidity – if you have added a lot of fermented content from a bokashi bin to your composter, add a handful of crushed baked eggshells to neutralise excessive acidic conditions as flies prefer a low (acidic) pH.
  • Flies don’t like the smell of certain plants – peppermint in particular – so you could add sprigs of peppermint to your waste and wipe round the compost bin with lavender, lemongrass, eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils.
  • Other smells they dislike are: citronella, cinnamon, pine oil, tea tree. Also try planting (in pots or directly in the ground) basil, mint, rosemary, marigold, lavender.
  •  Try a cayenne pepper bug repellent spray – mix 250 ml of water and one teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a misting bottle and spray it around.
  • Try a lemongrass spray – 25 drops of lemongrass essential oil with half a cup of hot water.
  • A tip we’ve come across but not yet tried: hang up a bag containing coins (or pieces of aluminium foil) in water – the coins reflect sunlight which dazes and deters flies as their eyes are sensitive to light changes.
  • Leave the lid off the bin for a while to allow predators such as ground beetles, rove beetles and earwigs easy access to the flies.
  • Use nematodes – microscopic worms that feed on fly larvae in soil.  

In the Green Cone

 In the case of the Green Cone Food Waste Digester, no garden waste can be added as the Cone only accepts food waste, so covering with garden and paper waste is not an option.

Because the Cone’s basket is underground, smells are filtered out by the surrounding soil, meaning there is no obvious attraction for ordinary flies. But if fruit fly eggs are already in fruit skins when added to the Cone, they might hatch inside it. Avoid this by following the advice above on preventing infestations in the home.

Also:

  •  Freeze your fruit and veg scraps in a plastic bag or container overnight to kill any eggs or larvae before adding them to the Cone.
  • Flies don’t like the smell of certain plants – peppermint in particular – so you could add sprigs of peppermint to your waste and wipe round the Cone with lavender, lemongrass, eucalyptus and peppermint essential oils.
  • Add accelerator powder to add more beneficial bacteria to speed up decomposition.
  • Remember food waste should never come higher than the top of the Cone’s underground basket; waste should always be below ground level.

 Get trap happy

You could also try a home-made trap that will act as a magnet.

Add an inch of apple cider vinegar to a glass jar with two drops of washing up liquid. Put a plastic wrap cover over the top of the jar and poke small holes through with a toothpick. Flies are attracted by the smell and can get in but can’t get out. Remember to change the liquid regularly to keep the fly trap working.

If all else fails, consider disposable fly traps which come pre-filled with bait or attractant and can be placed in the bin. Be aware that these may also kill other beneficial decomposers in the compost.                                                            

Keep food covered to discourage fruit flies.

The book that will keep you composting

Posted on by Julie Halford

You might expect anything written about composting to be down to earth (pun intended) but if you read a lot on the subject, as we do, you’ll know that’s not always the case.

Sometimes you come away from an article thinking you must need a PhD to compost. You wonder how Mother Nature manages without the aid of a spreadsheet and calculator for tracking temperatures and working out ratios. If spreadsheets and calculators are your thing, don’t let us stop you (some of the GGS team are guilty as charged).

But most of us just want simple advice we can follow. That’s why at Great Green Systems we often point customers towards Master Composter Rod Weston’s website (carryoncomposting.com) because it offers straight-forward, practical guidance. So we were delighted to learn that Rod has turned his knowledge into a book.

The Great Green team love this book and anyone who is into composting, or could be with a little encouragement, will love it too. It gives the lowdown on just about every compost bin going so it helps you to understand your own bin better or to choose one that will work best for you.

Rod hopes the book will encourage householders to compost their organic waste ‘and most importantly, to continue composting.’ He acknowledges that people new to composting may encounter various problems while trying to master the craft, but by showing different techniques to deal with issues he hopes to help new recruits to persevere.

‘The key message is to keep composting, whatever style you adopt,’ he says. ‘All techniques can be modified to suit your own particular circumstances.’

He also hopes to encourage groups to set up small-scale community composting on allotments, at schools, and on community gardens. He points out that if garden and catering waste can be dealt with on site, the environmental costs of transporting it to a central location for processing can be avoided.

We recently paid Rod a visit at the Stokes Wood Allotment site in Leicester, which includes a demonstration site that is home to every composter you can think of. Rod demonstrates different bins and techniques to the public.  

The site provides a community composting service for allotment plot holders and also takes food waste from the café on site. Plot holders leave their waste for composting in designated spots and can take compost (and liquid feed) for their own use when it’s ready.

Working bays and bins at Stokes Wood Allotments composting demonstration site

Rod’s book also explains the idea behind the Master Composters scheme. In 2004 around 40 per cent of householders who had started home composting gave up because of a lack of knowledge. Almost two decades later, councils and others now produce information and train Master Composters to provide support. This has resulted in a reduction in the dropout rate to between 8 and 14 per cent. In more recent years this has reduced again to 3.9 per cent. Obviously the scheme has been a great success.

Like many of his generation, as a child Rod helped his father on his allotment ‘in the days when allotments were an important piece of ground that played a major role in providing fruit and vegetables for the family’.  

Before becoming interested in the environmental aspects of composting, Rod initially composted on his own allotment in order to dispose of garden waste and to use the compost produced as a soil improver. He says it was his wife who first became interested in becoming a Master Composter ‘but then suggested it to me because she thought it would keep me off the streets!’

On our visit we loved talking to Rod about all aspects of composting. It’s so refreshing in this world of uncompromising opinions to hear his relaxed straight-forward views. Like us he’s pleasantly obsessed but not a purist. Rod’s attitude is that we can all compost – you just have to find a system and bin that works for you.  The more people who compost the better it is for all of us and for the planet.

Anyone living in or around Leicester is lucky to have easy access to his talks and demonstrations.

‘If you are interested and want to get involved with your bin, go for hot composting. If you’re lazy or too busy, just go for a cold system,’ he says.

He goes about the business of promoting composting in a practical, fun way, giving talks to garden clubs, allotment societies and schools.  For school visits, when talking about wormeries he takes along some slugs and snails as well as worms, knowing his audience will approve.

Other props are a soft toy rat and dog poo (spoiler alert – it’s fake) which is used to explain the workings of a wormery used for dog poo.

Sitting pretty – on the dog poo wormery

He thinks composting will become more popular as more local authority food waste collections come into operation, since a lot of people could prefer to compost their food waste in their gardens rather than having it waiting for collection by the council.

Rod is a fan of the Green Johanna and has a couple at home as well as one on the site.

‘It just sits there quietly and gets on with its job, breaking stuff down, with no trouble,’  he says approvingly.

Rod told us that badgers from a nearby wood had recently made a nocturnal visit and tried to get into the site’s Green Johanna, but failed.

We inspected the teeth marks on the Johanna’s lid and Insulating Jacket, proud that the Johanna had stood firm. And this Johanna is 13 years old.

Rod shows Mark evidence of the failed badger attack

The site also demonstrates an old Green Cone, which Rod says has never needed emptying or cleaning.

Apparently the number one problem with Green Cones that people ask him about is caused by the owner not having read the instruction manual properly. The manual states that food waste should never come higher than the top of the Cone’s underground basket, so there should never be food waste inside the Cone itself, which is above ground level.  Rod said he has seen Cones that have been filled right to the top like a composter, which would not be a great problem to have to sort out.

How a Green Cone should work – with food waste only in the underground basket

We appreciated this insight and we intend to make this point much clearer in the next edition of the Green Cone manual so that no one can possibly miss it. Although it’s obviously not much good if people don’t read the manual.

In his book, Rod says: ‘There are almost as many ways of composting as there are composters and, despite what might be read online, there is no single right way of doing anything. If what you are doing works, it must be right for you, although, of course, the method may be open to improvement. The main thing is to enjoy your composting in the knowledge that, while you are improving your soil to produce better crops, you are also, in a small way, helping to save the planet. ‘

Wise words from a Master (Composter).

How Bokashi boosts your hot compost

Posted on by Julie Halford

When it comes to boosting the composting process, we have found a Bokashi bin to be the perfect partner for the Green Johanna.

We recently carried out trials involving additions of fermented food waste from a Maze Bokashi bin to a Green Johanna and found that temperatures in the Johanna rapidly increased as a result.  

For our trials, we re-started a Johanna more or less from scratch, having previously removed large amounts of compost.  Using a permanently installed insulation jacket and large amounts of Bokashi bran and carbon-rich materials, compost temperatures were around 30 degrees Celsius. 

 We added the contents of a Bokashi bin that had been fermenting for 21 days, followed by a full 1kg bag of Bokashi bran.   We then added some mulch and stirred well with a garden fork, before completing the process with a thin layer of mulch. 

 The Johanna was then left for 48 hours.  Temperatures rose to 66 degrees Celsius whilst outdoor temperatures were in the 0-10 degree range.   After 48 hours we re-stirred to spread heat more widely through the Johanna.    Using two Bokashi bins in rotation we repeated this cycle roughly every three weeks and got the same results.

We used the Green Johanna in combination with a regular kitchen caddy (as the Johanna needs regular feeding to maintain the hot composting process), twin-bin Bokashi system, Insulating Jacket, Bokashi Bran as an accelerant and plenty of mulch.

Photos show starting temperature at 30 degrees Celsius/adding fermented waste from a Bokashi bin/ adding Bokashi bran/temperature at 66 degrees Celsius.

The Bokashi process was developed in Japan in the 1980s; the term means ‘fermented organic matter’ in Japanese.  It involves adding all your food waste, cooked and uncooked, to a specially designed airtight Bokashi bin, with the addition of Bokashi in the form of a fermented bran or spray. The food waste is compressed with a compactor to eliminate as much air as possible as this is an anaerobic process.  Once the bin is full, you close the airtight lid and leave for 2-3 weeks.  Many people use two or three bins to keep the process going.

The bacteria (lactobacilli) in the bran or spray will create lactic acid which will effectively pickle the food waste rather than letting it decompose as it would in a regular food waste caddy.  After a week or so, liquid should start to form in the Bokashi bin which should be drained using the tap.   This ‘Bokashi tea’ can be used as a drain cleaner or diluted for use as plant food.

 At the end of the fermentation period the waste food is a pre-compost mixture that can be added to a composter or buried in soil to become a soil enhancer. Its composition is such that virtually all its original nutrients, carbon and energy enter rapidly into the soil.   No greenhouse gases are released to the atmosphere as they are during regular food waste decomposition in landfill.

Bokashi composting has traditionally proven particularly popular in urban environments where traditional garden composting is difficult. 

Mark

Taking compost from the Green Johanna

Posted on by Julie Halford


At Great Green Systems we’re always keen to share our and our customers’ experiences of composting with the Green Johanna. This weekend we opened up a Green Johanna that we have been trialling with great results.

This Green Johanna was used from mid-September 2022 to mid-February 2023 with the insulating jacket permanently installed.
100% of the cooked and uncooked food waste from this household was recycled in the Johanna. There were between 2 and 4 people in the household during this time, with up to four more visiting through the Christmas and New Year period. The amount of waste diverted to the residual (grey/black) wheeled bin fell to less than 50% of the bin capacity (ie less than 120 litres) per fortnight compared to previous usage. Over the Christmas period, when bin collections were suspended for a week, the residual bin comfortably coped with three weeks’ worth of general waste.
The fermented contents of several 14-litre Bokashi bins that were accepted from relatives who don’t have their own compost bin were also decanted into the Green Johanna.
The food waste was liberally mixed with carbon-based materials, mainly autumn leaves and wood chips, and treated once per month with Bokashi bran to accelerate the composting process.
Using this method, we consistently achieved compost temperatures of 30-60 degrees Celsius even through the coldest winter temperatures. All the food waste generated from the household was comfortably accommodated by the composting system.

Saving the top section to go back into the compost bin

Compost can be accessed by unscrewing the hatches at the bottom or, since the Green Johanna is a modular unit made up of circular rings, the upper sections can be removed leaving an impressive tower of compost. As you can see from the photos, we chose the second route as we wanted to take a lot of compost out at once.
We removed the top sections of compost that are currently decomposing (taking care not to squash any worms) and placed these on an old wipe-clean tablecloth kept for this purpose until we were ready to put them back in the bin to continue the breakdown process.
More than half of the composter contents were removed for soil replenishment and other garden uses, with the remainder being returned to the Johanna for further composting.

Topping up planters with compost


How to get the most from your Green Johanna

Posted on by Julie Halford

When choosing a spot for your Green Johanna, look for somewhere that provides a flat surface with free drainage for any liquid produced. Make sure it’s also not too far from the house and easy to get to.

If you’re new to composting, a bit of basic knowledge will help you on your way but you will also learn as you go by paying attention to what’s going on in your bin.

Successful composting depends on three essential ingredients: materials, air, moisture.

Composting basics

 MATERIALS – The microbes in your compost bin need a diet that provides a balance between waste materials that are rich in nitrogen and carbon. In composting terms, nitrogen-rich materials are often referred to as Greens and carbon-rich materials as Browns.

Nitrogen-rich materials (Greens) include:

  • Food waste, fresh grass and leaves, plants, flowers, tea leaves, home compostable tea bags, coffee grounds. These items break down quickly and contain moisture so they keep the bin’s contents moist.

Carbon-rich materials (Browns) include:

  • Twigs, branches, dead leaves, paper, cardboard, straw, wood chips, sawdust. These contents are drier and slower to break down.

 A mixture that contains a 50:50 balance of nitrogen (Greens) to carbon (Browns) is a good place to start for composting. You may find that you have a lot more nitrogen-rich inputs (food waste) than carbon so it can be handy to store carbon-rich items such as paper, cardboard and autumn leaves so you have them ready to add with food waste.

 The smaller the waste items are chopped or shredded, the greater the surface area for microbes to work on and the faster the pile will heat up. Items that are added whole, such as apples or carrots etc, will take longer to break down. Egg shells should be crushed or ground. Garden waste should be chopped into pieces no larger than 5cms or shredded.

Getting the nitrogen/carbon ratio right can be a case of trial and error but you will learn quickly through paying attention to conditions in the bin. 

As the micro-organisms break down the waste, they generate heat. As the temperature in the compost fluctuates, the types of micro-organisms present also change.

AIR – The fastest form of composting is done by organisms that need oxygen.  To give microbes air to breathe we need to add air to the mixture by aerating the contents to make sure there’s oxygen throughout the bin.

You can create air pockets by adding the cardboard tubes from toilet or kitchen rolls whole and keeping cardboard egg boxes whole. Waste paper can be added scrunched up so that it provides pockets of air, or shredded. Cardboard should be torn up. Wood chips are useful as they hold structure and create pathways for air.

WATER – You want your compost pile to be moist, rather than wet or dry. The consistency of the bin’s contents should be damp like a wrung-out sponge.  Microbes struggle if their environment is too wet or too dry. They need water to live, yet too much moisture can limit the amount of oxygen they receive. If compost is too wet, it will start to smell bad. If this happens you need to add shredded paper and cardboard and aerate well so that moisture is absorbed.  

Add water to compost that is becoming dry by gently watering with a small watering can, preferably with rainwater collected in a water butt.

Adding food waste

Food waste can be added directly or in home compostable bags, never plastic. If you tie the bags, once you have added them to the Johanna make sure to break them open using the aerator stick to allow oxygen and microbes to reach the waste.

Add food waste and other Greens first, gently stirring these in with the older waste below.
This helps the micro-organisms working below to become part of the newly added materials.
Then cover with an equal amount of carbon materials (Browns) and gently stir again. If you
prefer you can premix these nitrogen/carbon materials before adding them to the bin. Finishing with a layer of carbon, such as dry dead leaves or shredded paper/cardboard, helps to prevent smells from food waste attracting flies and vermin.

The only food-related materials that are not efficiently digested by the Johanna are those that require a very long time to break down, such as bones, large amounts of cooking oil/fat, the hard shells of nuts and seafood (such as oysters and crabs) and avocado stones.

If bones are added to the Johanna they will not break down and it would be
necessary to remove stripped-down bones from the finished compost, which could present
a danger to dogs. For this reason we do not recommend that bones are added.

You can boost the breakdown process by adding bokashi bran (available separately), fermented waste from a bokashi bin, or a bucketful of mature compost.

The Green Johanna Insulating Jacket (available separately) helps to boost temperatures for hot composting and to maintain composting performance in colder weather for regular composting. It should be removed in hot weather or the internal temperature in the bin could become too hot for the composting creatures to survive (above 70 degrees Celsius).

And finally…

To access your finished compost simply unscrew the hatches at the bottom of the Johanna and remove the compost using the aerator stick or a garden hoe.

If you want to access larger amounts of compost that have been left to mature, you can unscrew and remove the Johanna’s top sections. Return any fresh organic waste to the reassembled composter to continue breaking down.

The Johanna was designed and originally manufactured in Sweden, but is now made for Great Green Systems in Droitwich, Worcestershire.

How the Johanna’s design promotes efficient composting

  • Vents leading in from the base plate allow air to flow upwards into the container.
  • The twist-lock lid regulates the ventilation system, helping you to adjust air circulation and temperature.
  • The container’s round shape ensures there are no cold corners so heat is spread evenly through the compost.
  • The tapered design means that compost sinks towards the centre of the unit and not to its sides, allowing air to circulate and oxygenate the compost.

Spare Parts