Compost Bin

[jvs]

I bought an inexpensive compost bin about 2 yrs ago  and I am now reaping the benefits of it.
 
Besides cutting down in the garbage bill, I am getting a very rich additive for the garden.  I am willing to bet it takes 100 lbs of scraps to get 10 lbs of compost.  All it takes is time.  Even over the winter it works, maybe not as fast, but when spring comes, the bacteria really get going.
 
I am just glad the outside critters haven't found my secret as yet.
 

[charles p]

I've had an Urban Compost Tumbler for about five years.  I have problem generating enough brown waste to mix with the fruit and veggie matter I put in.  Never an odor, but thousands of insects inside (maybe why no odor).  I can only get one good batch of compost per year.  My tumbler holds about 45 gallons.

[keith44]

built my own this past spring, haven't pulled anything out of it yet, but posted about it here:


http://www.gboreloaded.com/forums/index.php/topic,231927.0.html


LOTS of yard and garden waste, along with the non grease or meat kitchen waste (even shredded paper was put on the pile) 


I also am sheet composting mulched leaves in the garden, and around the blueberries.  My raised bed is also being treated to kitchen scraps coffee grounds, and two feet of mulched and bagged leaves.


Some of the best fertilizer available is free for the taking 

[jvs]

Tea bags (no tags or string), coffee grounds, egg shells, old baked goods... including bread, cakes and pies; potato peels, carrot peels, banana peels, apple cores and alot of anything else contributes to the cause.  Whatever two of us can generate.  Probably not less than 5 lbs per week goes in there.
 
I also add layers of mulch and a very little 10-10-10.
 
I dont have a tumbler, but wish I did.  My composter is fed from the top and I can shovel from the bottom.  Which I suppose is good enough for two people.

[keith44]

I don't use synthetic fertilizers on my compost pile, because they break down into salts and take away from the compost rather than adding to it

[jvs]

I dont disagree that the use of artificial fertilizers have long term adverse effects, especially on the ph end of things (as you noted), but the amount that I 'sprinkle' in the compost bin probably has little or no effect, except to bolster the breakdown of the contents.
 
I would also agree that natural fertilizer, such as manure would be best, but I dont have a horse, a cow, chickens or a rabbit.
 
I am thinking of throwing some red worms or nightcrawlers in there.  They would probably love it.

[charles p]

I had bad luck putting worms in my tumbler.  Think I killed them as I tumbled.

[keith44]

I had bad luck putting worms in my tumbler.  Think I killed them as I tumbled.

Worms live in the ground where temps over 70 degrees are considered hot and the worms move down in the layers of soil to cooler climes.  Since the tumbler is a hot process composter I'd bet you cooked em    eh no I don't think you can get em done enough for me to eat 

[jvs]

Ground temperature is a constant 50 degrees below the frost line, which is 30 inches in my area.  Until you go much, much deeper.  I have a well, and my water is always a constant temperature (somewhere around 50).  I'd be willing to bet that the soil directly under my compost bin never freezes in winter.  And that is where the worms will congregate.
 
As long as that pile of compost generates its own heat, which it does even in the winter, worms can survive if there is enough compost in the bin.  My bin is not completely above ground, air does not circulate under it.
 
I may throw a dozen of each in the bin as an experiment to see whether they survive the winter.  You think they will survive?

[keith44]

from the sounds of it your composter is a cold process unit and like mine takes a long time to produce compost.  The worms will survive.  A tumbler heats to over 150 degrees F and is an anerobic process, worms don't stand a chance

[reliquary]

I had a tumbler-type bin, don't remember the brand.  It was given to me by a frustrated owner.  Even with my doing everything according to the instructions, it took over 5 months to make the first load.  With the second load, I added a handful of the septic-tank bacterial mix I use (Rid-X) and it only took about 4 months.  When I went to a larger-scale setup, I gave it to a Junior High science teacher to use in one of her save-the-world projects.
 
On the advice of Keith44 and some others, I went to a bin-type and got one good load out of it to till in this fall.  I added some Rid-X and some ammonium nitrate sprinkles every now & then.  Composting uses up a lot of nitrogen?  Anyway, nightcrawlers migrated to the bin on their own.  The one I have going now will be the first one on the ground over-winter and we'll check on the wigglies in the spring. 

[keith44]

never thought about rid-x, should work fine (apparently it did for you).  Yes composting requires nitrogen, and a bit of lime is sometimes needed to keep things balanced

[jvs]

As you know composting requires bacteria to get started and work its magic.  When you first start you are starting with nothing but scraps.  It takes time for the bacteria to take over, which is why it may take longer the first load than you expect.  If you leave a fraction of compost in your bin or tumbler, it should follow through by itself.  I never completely empty my composter between loads.
 
And I do mix in a little lime every 3 months or so.  Mostly because I sprinkle in a little 10-10-10 once a year.