Posted on 03/15/2009 12:02:04 PM PDT by Mamzelle
looking for a CONVENIENT way to manage compost, and would like to hear about equipment that works. I've linked to a pricey Hammacher-Schlemmer model.
1. Drive to Lowes.2. Purchase a 40- or 50- gallon trash bin.3. Cut a whole in the bottom half way across the can.
4. Wedge the part cut out into the can about half way down.
1. Drive to Lowes.
2. Purchase a 40- or 50- gallon trash bin.
3. Cut a whole in the bottom half way across the can.
4. Wedge the part cut out into the can about half way down.
I like the solar birdbath. Cool.
Good luck!
A similar thing is $249 over here
http://www.cleanairgardening.com/aerobic-compost-bin.html
The Tumbleweed looks like fun. ;-)
That’s the way I have done it in the past. Trouble is, fresh compost on top and no way to get the good stuff on the bottom without turning. Then I get the new mixed up with the old. Then I tried several compost piles at once.
I have three. Two round ones I got from the city and a square one I got from Sams Club. The best one is the big round one that has a lid that catches rain water and lets it drain into the compost. It has better ventilation and, as it isn't tapered and has a wide top, it is easy to stir. It's the biggest also.
The other round one tapers to the top and is difficult to stir. It keeps the rain out so I have to add water.
The square one from Sam's Club doesn't let in water and it doesn't breathe very well. It and the tapered round one are both too small and take the longest to compost material.
During leaf season, the city had a free how to build your own composter class. Basically, they took a section of wire fencing and tied the ends together to form a cylinder, stand it up and fill with leaves. Simple and cheap, but it works. You can also get black garbage bags, fill them, poke some holes in for ventilation and wait.
Our farming neighbors had a 55-gal. drum with a door in the side, a pipe through the top and bottom, and resting on risers. The pipe had two 90 degree angles to make a crank handle. Add kitchen waste and soil into the door, latch it, give it a turn or two, and when it is ready, you put the wheelbarrow under the door, open it, and dump out as much as you need.
I agree that unless you have a way to turn the compost, you’ll wait a LONG time to get decent compost going.
Plastic garbage cans can be too flimsy to allow turning unless you are clever.
You CAN do this —
Build your self an 8 foot (or so) long ‘park bench’ where the seat is canted to about 30 - 45 degrees (like a recliner.
Then you place the garbage cans (plastic or metal) on the park bench, with the open ends (duh) of the garbage cans pointed higher.
Each can can then be *partially* filled and rotated periodically (by rolling the cans along the ‘park bench’
You can also build a smaller park bench and use it only to rotate the cans.
I have found it useful to keep cans off the ground to keep interested vermin discouraged.
Also, a single composter may not have the capacity you really want and need. So if you buy just one of these pre-built varieties, you are gonna end up spending some real bucks to have more than one (for capacity overall and in progress.) Just a thought.
That's what I do.
I bought a 10-foot length of hardware cloth, 3 feet high, and wrapped it in a circle and tied it together. Fill it with leaves, produce scraps, manure, et cetera. I don't turn it.
Once every spring I unwrap the cylinder, move it to another location, and shovel the unfinished stuff from the top of the old pile into the cylinder and use the finished compost on the bottom, bagging up any extra to use later. If you want more suggestions on composting, go to the gardenweb.com forums. There is an entire forum dedicated just to composting.
I use the three store bought bins I have in stages with the tapered round one to hold last stage with the finished compost at the bottom. I bag up the leaves from the fall and slowly mix them into the bins with a neighbor's grass clippings all summer.
If I had more room, I'd build three larger walk in bins out of old fencing, but this is better than nothing. One can never have too much compost as the Carolina clay needs a lot of help!
This is what I use:
http://www.composters.com/compost-tumblers/the-archetype-compost-tumbler_35_2.php
It works good, but can be hard to turn when it is full.
I do the garbage can composter. We just drilled holes all over it. We haven’t had a hard time turning it. We just put 2 bungee cords on to hold the lid on tight (in an x) and twirl it around. It works fine.
Someday I may make a fancier one, I’ve heard how you can build one out of a 55 gallon drum, on a stand, that you can turn.
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