permaculture

[yarrow@sfo.com]

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.