Monday October 6th, 2008
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Compost bins or tumblers?
Posted by SirTravers on May 6, 2007 - 4:17pm.
Jess and Doug,
My name is Justin. I'm from southeastern New Mexico right on the west edge of the high plains. Our dirt here is poor to say the least so I've been composting for the last 4 years since moving here. My compost is in 3 side by side bins pade out of pallets. I have a typical sised small town yard. I get all my clippings and several neighbors clippings to put in my bins which stay pretty full.
I've read about the compost tumblers, but I'm not sure if they could handle the large amount of materials that I collect. Do you think I'm on the right track using bins or do you think there's a tumbler that could handle the amount of compost I'm trying to make.?
Thanks,
Justin
Justin, I hope you have seen the blogs on LIME about composting the last couple of weeks. If not, check them out. Very informative.
http://www.lime.com/blog/jlehrer/11144/soil_enrichment
Justin,
Here's a little compost information I took from our book Grow Organic, I think it will help.
I prefer bins myself. Anything organic will eventually turn to compost. the question is-How long do you want to wait?
I use a three bin method. Bin #1 is filled up with fresh material. Then Bin #2 is used, then #3. By the time #2 is full, #1 is usually ready.
Everytime you turn a pile it decomposes 50% quicker. So you can get in there and turn it, or move it to the next bin over, that's how Jess likes to do it, and I bet she gets compost much quicker than I do.
You should compost more than grass clippings, but in any plant material and kitchen scraps you can find along with something brown like leaves or straw.
Hope that helps!
I greatly appreciate the links and the information. I guess I forgot to mention how fast our "grass" grows and dies out here. We do have grass that we cut, but the wind brings in wild grass and sagebrush seeds also. They're not worth fighting so we get quite a mix of green and dry stuff in the clippings every time we cut. I do save what leaves I can in the fall. Seems I'm one of few people taking advantage of all the leaf bags on the curbsides.
I am glad to hear I'm on the right track with the bins, although I'm starting to think I need one or two more bins for the amount of material I'm collecting. Luckily my 10 year old daughter likes getting dirty so I've gotten her a second turning fork to help out.
Thanks for setting up this forum and for providing the excellent information every Saturday!
Justin
Lovington, NM. USA
Observe the world as though you were a child and enjoy the wonder of it all.
Justin,
Let us know if you need some more help. It's great that you're speinding time in the garden with your daughter. One tip, get a garden journal and write down what you are doing together, it will make great reading in the future.