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  • From: yarrow@sfo.com
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Compost Tumbler....
  • Date: Mon, 14 May 2007 21:39:34 -0700

At 11:24 AM -0400 5/14/07, Noctaire wrote:
Anyone using a compost tumbler?

I have one that I picked up from a fellow Freecycler and I gotta admit, I'm
not entirely pleased. I've added all manner of organic material to it from
kitchen scraps to leaves to grass clippings and all I end up with is a
gloppy mess. It's in the sun, I turn it every few days to mix things up
well, and it's definitely reducing, but I'm yet to see that black gold come
out.

At this point, I'm about ready to give up on it as a source of compost and
just consider it a convenient way of dealing with kitchen waste without
freaking out the neighbors. :)


I don't use one myself, because the way they're meant to be used is to fill up with the proper mixture of browns and greens at one go, and then turn regularly. It's not an efficient composter if you add incrementally, or if you don't add browns.

It sounds like your mixture is greens, which does become a gloppy mess no matter what type of container. You need to balance with browns, such as straw, torn-up newspaper, chipped branches, and other drier materials. If you don't have browns, consider a worm box (which I also don't have), but which is supposed to work well for kitchen waste with a small amount of tending.

In the summer, I get compost in about 2-3 months; it takes a lot longer in the winter.




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