Garden Composter

Best Garden Composters for Sale

2010-04-20T03:34:00.000-07:00

Here at the Garden Composter site we have looked at a wide variety of garden compost bins. With small or urban gardens in mind we thought we would bring you our favorites; the Best Garden Composters for Sale today. Because amazon offer such a wide range of home compost systems at low prices, and with reliability and service in mind we suggest you buy from them. Click the images or highlighted text to go directly to the amazon sales page for each of our favorites...

Envirocycle Spinning Composter

The Envirocycle Composter has to be our preferred compost tumbler for smaller yards. The reasons are varied.

They look good. There is nothing worse than an ugly piece of practical garden equipment spoiling a smaller yard.
Solidly built, with a decent guarantee means you're not buying anything cheap or easy to break.
Made at least in part from recycled materials
Sturdy. Because they have a low center of gravity and sit low to the floor there is far less chance of knocking these over than with the more expensive compost tumblers sitting on long metal legs.
It doubles as a compost tea maker. Not only does this give you a way of catching all that useful compost water (a great plant food), it also means you do not get any unsightly run-off around the base of your garden composter.
Reasonably priced and quick to do their job of making compost.

For more information and a full Envirocycle Compost Tumbler Review click to view our previous article about this amazing piece of home composting equipment.

Earthmaker Aerobic Composter

The Earthmaker Aerobic Composter is a vertical compost bin. It creates a continuous cycle of home composting. This system is a little more expensive, but has distinct advantages for those with limited space for multiple compost bins...

A continuous cycle vertical composting system means you always have room to add more material to the top of the bin.
Once established (which will take around two months or so), you will have a continuous supply of fresh, well rotted compost to add to the garden.
Simple to use - no turning spinning or digging which makes it perfect for those in less than robust health.
Large 120 gallon capacity means the Earthmaker Composter is able to cope with the organic waste of even the largest families.
Simple snap together assembly.
Reasonable pricing when you consider that you really will only ever need one garden composter.

For a more detailed Earthmaker Composter review click to view our earlier post.

Worm Factory 360 WF360B Worm Composter

The Worm Factory 360 is another superb choice for those wanting to create great compost at home, without taking up too much space in the yard. Simple to use, quick and very efficient worm farms offer a portable alternative to the large garden composter...

Quick and simple to set up. Pop your worms in and you're ready to start home composting.
Very small and portable, the Worm Factory 360 will deal with a lot of organic waste but won't take up too much room.
Suitable for urban situations without a garden at all. Worm farms can be sited indoors or on patios and balconies.
Collects compost tea so you have a ready supply of organic liquid feed.
Includes a fact sheet built into the lid so no-one should forget what can and cannot go into the compost bin.
A simple way to recycle kitchen food scraps without attracting flies.
Not for everyone though. We know that as useful as worms are for the gardener, some folks simply do not want them too close to the house!

The worm factory is an easy to use way of recycling food waste at home without taking up too much valuable space. The resultant worm castings are said by some to be the finest fertilizer known. If you want to read the full Worm Factory 360 Review click to refer to our earlier article.

Soilsaver Compost Bin

The reason that we still love the SoilSaver Garden Composter is simple. This is a no-nonsense, no-frills, basic garden composter. What that means is that it will probably outlive you and keep on producing great garden compost forever...

25 year guarantee - need we say more? There just isn't really anything to go wrong with this one, so long as you remember the golden rule and put it somewhere flat.
Cheap. For under $80 you get a decent sized compost bin that is well-made and simple to put together.
Made at least in part from recycled materials.
Dark, well sealed means quick compost (not as quick as the Envirocycle though admittedly) and something that is easy to disguise in a small garden.
Really easy to keep vermin proof.
Well ventilated so your garden waste and kitchen scraps will break down aerobically without you turning it unless you really need your organic compost quickly.
Cheap enough to buy two!

That last point is the one negative point for the SoilSaver Compost Bin, in some situations. Once it is full you will need to leave it a few months to do its work of digesting all your organic waste. During this time you need another garden composter. If you have space that's fine just buy two. But, if space is really tight we'd suggest you buy the Earthmaker instead as that continuously offers somewhere to place your peelings. Click to read our full SoilSaver Composter Review.

Best Garden Composters for Sale

So, there you go, our preferred garden composters for sale today. None are likely to cause you any problems as long as you assemble them correctly and site them suitably. They all work quickly to provide organic garden compost out of your yard waste and kitchen scraps. They look tidy and unobtrusive in even the smallest gardens and are all priced economically.

They are all great for incentivising the whole family to recycle more and use less. No more sending kitchen scraps to land-fill and no more new compost to buy - perfect!

Keter Super Composter Review

2010-01-15T06:47:00.000-08:00

Buy the Keter Super Composter, 115-gallon Capacity

Here at the Garden Composter site we are always looking for good deals on practical compost bins for the average backyard. One of the most popular static compost bins at the moment is the Keter Super Composter. With a practical, no nonsense design and any eye for being environmentally friendly in more ways than one, we are starting to understand its appeal.

Made from 90% pre-consumer recycled polypropylene plastic the bin offers a good capacity at 115 gallons but is still suitable for a small garden. The dimensions are a compact 32" H x 33" W x 33" D. Though obviously if you are only using static composters you will need at least two to ensure you always have a receptacle for new scraps whilst the full bin is busy digesting your old ones. Though this is square, the wider based that increases stability and capacity make it less than perfect for placing against a wall in the smallest yards. So if you need a particularly small composter a design such as the SoilSaver or BioStack may be preferred.

There is no complicated assembly required, the parts simply clip together without tools and in minimal time.
The lid is simple to open and clips securely shut, with side vents allowing air to circulate amongst the prunings and vegetable scraps.
To ensure collecting the finished garden compost is as simple as possible, the Keter Super Composter is cleverly designed to include an access door on each of the four sides. As a little bonus these doors also double as leaf grabbers too!
The price is pretty good, with the Keter Compost Bin coming in at under $100, though again the SoilSaver beats this at a much lower price of around $75.

All in all the Keter Super Composter is looking like a pretty useful product, but for us the SoilSaver wins in this price bracket and style of garden compost bin, as it is made from post consumer recycled plastic, is more compact and a little cheaper too.

Composting with the Worm Factory 360 Black Worm Composter

2009-11-11T04:14:00.001-08:00

Buy the Worm Factory 360 Black Worm Composter®

Worm composting, or vermiculture is gaining in popularity. An easy way to create rich garden compost that relies on red worms to do all the dirty work. The worm composter can be sited indoors or outside and all manner of kitchen scraps, not usually added to the garden compost bin can be recycled. In fact if you like you can even buy a worm farm to compost pet waste.

Worm Factory 360 Black Worm Composter®

Worm composters are a great place to recycle all kinds of kitchen food scraps, waste paper and cardboard. The most popular model currently for sale with amazon is the Worm Factory 360. This is a particularly good model for the beginner as it includes everything you need to set up your new worm composting system. Plus with a unique ventilation system it encourages even speedier composting than with more traditional worm farms. And, if your composting needs grow the worm farm can grow with you being expandable up to eight trays high.

The Worm Factory 360 is made in the United States from recycled food grade plastics, so is environmentally friendly in more ways than one. The worms get to work so quickly and are helped out so well by the air flow system that there are no odors from the worm farm. This means it is suitable for home composting even in apartments and kitchens.

The ventilation system works by drawing in air from all four sides at the base. The air rises through the farm as heat is produced inside, and exits out through the lid. This gives the worms inside a constant supply of fresh air, so they can work on recycling all your kitchen scraps in perfect health.

Included with the Worm Factory 360 worm far kit are a 16 page illustrated instruction manual, coir brick, worm bedding, hand rake, thermometer and scraper. The four trays supplied can be expanded on to create a taller worm farm with greater capacity but still taking up little floor space, if so desired. This worm farm will house between 8000 and 12,000 worms who will eat their way through 5-8lbs of food per week.

The life expectancy of this worm factory is thirty years and comes with a twenty year warranty for parts and workmanship.

Worm Composting

Using a worm farm could not be easier. You start by placing a hand full of worms and food scraps, plus paper and cardboard into the bottom tray. The worms will get to work quickly digesting the food and destroying any harmful bacteria therein. When this lowest tier is full, begin placing waste matter into the tier above. The worms will make their way upwards to follow the food, leaving behind nutrient rich worm castings for you to use in the garden.

The red worms will reproduce to suit the volume of food available, so once established this method of composting is completely self sustaining.

Liquid formed withing the worm composter is collected and can be drained off from the spigot. This provides you with a rich organic liquid feed that may be used to feed indoor plants, lawns and garden plants.

Because worm farms generate their own heat you can create garden compost all year round, and always at a fast pace. With the Worm Factory 360 Worm Composter this process is speeded up even further.

Small Wooden Garden Composter

2009-11-06T06:04:00.000-08:00

If the only thing stopping you from creating your own garden compost is that you are not a big fan of large plastic drums, you need a Wooden Garden Composter. These are perfect at providing a secure sight fro recycling garden waste and kitchen scraps into great organic fertilizer BUT they are in keeping with a more traditional garden scheme.

Choosing a garden composter that looks good is most important when siting one in a small backyard. Here you want something that will not detract from the overall garden scheme. Most of us would happily agree that wooden garden structures always look good and always look part of a garden rather than something utilitarian stuck in the middle of the yard.

In Europe there are hundreds of wooden compost bins (UK sales) to choose from, but in the United States they are still few and far between. Of course you could always make your own, and if that's what you fancy have a look at the Simple Compost Bin Plans. But, let's be honest fewer of us are really that confident in our DIY skills than we would like to admit. Even locating lumber that is treated well enough to last can be a real struggle so it seems clear why we would rather buy one premade, and simply put it together in the backyard.

People can be a little concerned about whether wood is suitable material for a compost bin. In fact it is what the original garden composters were made of. So long as the wood is adequately treated.

The Exaco Wooden Garden Composter
Exaco Trading ECO-88 90 Gallon Wooden Composter offers a green solution to garden composters that like the idea of home composting but do not want a plastic compost bin. The Exaco ECO 88 is a purpose built product that is likely to outlast a lot of the competition. It will create beautiful compost without compromosing your garden design ethic either.

Exaco ECO-88 Specification

This wooden garden composter is produced from FSC Certified Canadian Spruce. This is chemically heat treated to ensure the structure is long lasting and termite proof.
The size of the wooden composter is 26.25 inches long x 26.25 inches wide x 30 inches high providing a 90 gallon capacity for all your organic waste materials.
There is no bottom to the compost bin. Placed directly over bare earth, the natural micro-organisms and earthworms that form part of the composting process have easy access to the waste.
A heavy wooden lid ensures animals cannot get into the compost bin and the wind will never blow it away.
Simple assembly, with no tools required. Wing nuts and bolts are supplied to fix each of the four sides together.

This Small Wooden Garden Composter offers a new solution for gardeners who would like to create garden compost in a more natural setting. Long lasting, tough and extremely ecological, the Exaco Trading composter allows for a more traditional approach to buying a compost bin. See our earlier articles for more ideas for the best Small Composters to choose for small backyard composting.

Small Composters

2009-10-28T06:44:00.000-07:00

If space is at a premium there are ample Small Composters to chose from. You can still create perfect, useful garden compost in abundance. Indeed size really does not matter! It is all about how you use your garden composter, not how big it is.

Even in the smallest backyard there will be a suitable small composter to ensure you can recycle all your garden waste and kitchen scraps. In an ideal world all gardens would contain two or more compost bins. So before deciding on which bin to buy consider whether you could manage to squeeze in two bins rather than just the one. This will help determine what sort of composter to go for.

Cheap Small Composters

If you think you will be able to fit two or more composters into your yard you can get away with buying very Cheap Small Composters such as the SoilSaver or the BioStack (Scotts Company) static bins. Both these square compost bins offer extremely good value for money and will last long enough to produce great garden compost for many years to come.

Basic small composters should come with a long guarantee. The SoilSaver for example has a 25 year warranty. And so it should. After all, these basic bins are not complicated to produce so one would hope they get things right first time. Built of tough plastics with a high post consumer recyled plastic content, they offer good insulation properties to the organic waste inside.

Fast Composters for Very Small Gardens

If you really cannot squeeze two static compost bins into your backyard not to worry. While two bins (or more) is always to be preferred there are ways around the problem. Choosing a compost bin that will create organic compost very quickly ensures you do not have too much 'down time' whilst waiting for the waste to be digested when the bin is full.

Although originally thought of as a little 'gimmicky' perhaps by traditional gardeners, these fast composters are sprinting ahead in popularity. In fact many outsell their more conventional (and cheaper) rivals. For the small garden there are two sorts of compost bin that are ideal due to the speed at which they work; Spinning Composters and Vertical tiered systems such as The Earthmaker Composter.

Small Spinning Composters

Our favorite Spinning Composter has to be the Envirocycle Composter. It is ideally suited to small gardens in many ways.

Firstly it is squat and good looking, important in a small garden when the compost bin is likely to be in full view.
It is fully portable. If you need more space for a family get together for example you can simply roll the Envirocycle out of the way.
It is easy to spin which means you are more likely to spin the compost more often. This in turn ensures you really do achieve your goal of creating finished compost in weeks rather than months.
It saves any liquid run-off from the composting matter inside. This stops unsightly wet patches forming around the composter, and provides a great resource for you; free organic liquid fertiliser.
It doesn't cost an arm and a leg. So many compost tumblers are over-priced. But the Envirocycle comes with a decent warranty at a decent price.

Of course there are several Compact Compost Tumblers available but the Envirocycle is our current pick of the bunch.

Vertical Gravity Fed Composters for Small Gardens

Another option when gardening in a small space is to opt for the one type of garden composter that simply never gets full. These vertical compost bins look pretty ordinary from the outside. But, internally they are full ofbaffles to catch debris as you add it to the top of the bin. As the waste breaks down small particles are fed down into the lower chambers. This leaves you more room at the top to add more waste.

The Earthmaker Composter is an exceptional product for those only able to fit one compost bin in their garden, but being a little more complex to make, it is a more expensive item. It is still great value for money when you consider just how much free organic compost you will produce over the years and how great you will feel being able to recycle so much garden waste as well as all those kitchen scraps.

The Envirocycle Spinning Composter

2009-10-10T08:03:00.000-07:00

Buy the Envirocycle Composter

The Envirocycle Spinning Composter makes composting easy and quick. One of the main drawbacks of the compost heap and static compost bins is that the contents tend to become compacted. This is why so many people find large bundles of sludgy matter, or worse still matter which is not digested at all, when they come to empty out their gardencomposter onto the garden. The best way to get around this problem is to turn the compost heap.

Turning the compost heap is really just a matter of mixing up all the contents of the compost bin. Getting the stuff from the outside into the middle and viceversa . During the process of mixing, air is incorporated right through the garden waste and kitchen scraps. With the organisms which carry out decomposition needing oxygen, this isimperative . It also ensures water can drain freely through the mix so things do not get too wet and sodden, another factor which inhibits the activity of micro-organisms in the gardencomposter.

The Spinning Composter such as the Envirocycle Composter, ensure all the matter in the compost bin is mixed up thoroughly on a regular basis. All gardeners know the benefits of turning compost, but the practicalities are that with a conventional static bin, it is really hard work and so often a chore which is neglected. With the Envirocycle composter the entire drum containing all your garden waste is easy to spin so can be turned several times a week. This means everything stays aerated with great drainage. Subsequently the organisms which work in the heap are able to work much more effectively. Garden Compost is thus created much more quickly than with a conventional bin, and also made to a far finer standard.

With the Envirocycle Spinning Composter you can easily create garden compost in a matter of weeks rather than months, no matter what the weather, or your physical strength.

Earthmaker Aerobic Garden Composter Review

2009-09-14T00:01:00.000-07:00

Buy the Earthmaker Aerobic Composter, 120 Gallon

NB All the links below are for US Sales of the Earthmaker Composter - UK Earthmaker Sales here.

The Earthmaker Aerobic Garden Composter has all the attributes one could wish for in a garden compost bin. It's unique desiign makes creating garden compost fast. Making new garden soil from kitchen scraps and garden waste just doesn't get quicker than this. Unlike virtually all other compost bins, this one never has to be left to digest. So you are never left with nowhere to place all your scraps. Just keep on adding as long as you have waste material to add, and the Earthmaker will go on digesting and giving you good free compost on a continual basis.

The Earthmaker Composter

The Eathmaker Composter, from Exaco provides continuous cycle composting. There is always room for more material to be added at the top, whilst completed compost is ready for continual collection at the bottom.

The process is pretty simple, but unique to the Earth Maker Compost Bin. As you add material at the top a series of baffles stop it all falling straight to the bottom.

Each month you open the chamber floors from outside to allow composting material to move through to the chamber below.

This continual cycle composting gives you three separate chambers;

a first section for mixing new garden waste and kitchen scraps
a second middle chamber for digesting your recycled waste
a third where the almost complete compost matures until ready to use

The Earthmaker Compost Bin Works Fast

Because the Earthmaker Compost Bin keeps the waste aerated at all times and keeps new waste and digested compost seperate it works extremely quickly. On average the Earthmaker Aerobic Composter will take around three months to establish. From then on you should be retrieveing around ten gallons of finished garden compost each month.

With no 'down time' that is phenomenally fast, and convenient because you never have to wait for the bin to do its job. As waste material composts and matures in the lower chambers you carry on adding more to the top chamber.

Easy Compost with the Exaco Earthmaker

This really is one of the easiest compost bins to use. There is no manual turning or even rotating to be done every few days. And, the effort you put in will take around ten seconds each month. That's all! Really the hardest part to the Exaco Earthmaker is probably putting it together, and that assembly is easy, you don't even need any tools.

All you need to do, to keep this garden composter working effectively is remember to open the unit's chamber floor panel each month. This allows small particles to tumble down into the next chamber. Rather like sieving flour, this movement aerates the compost. As all the organisms which carry out the transformation of your waste material into finished garden soil, need oxygen, this aeration helps them no-end. The Aerobic Composter allows material to break down twice as fast as in a conventional compost bin. Faster decomposition means fewer odours and fewer insects buzzing around too.

Earthmaker Customer Reviews

The Earthmaker Reviews show that this garden composter is extremely simple to assemble, and really does create compost quickly. Even a family of six cannot fill it up, which makes it ideal for those who do not wish to make space for two or more garden composters, which is the usual requirement if you always want somewhere to add more compostable material.

Exaco Earthmaker Specifications

Continuous Cycle Backyard Composter
123 Gallon Capacity
Family Sized - 47 inches High by 30 inches Diameter
Gravity-fed Triple Chamber - Separates and aerates material for quick composting
Once a Month Simple Maintenance - Simply slide the floor panel to allow material to fall through.
Creates 10 Gallons of Finished Garden Compost per Month
Easy Tool Free Assembly
Large Top Opening - makes for easy filling
Secure Swivel Door - keeps animals out

The Exaco Earthmaker Composter is ideal for anyone hoping to create garden compost with minimum fuss. Whether you need to recycle waste quicky as a large family, or have only a small yard without the room for multiple bins, the Earthmaker Compost Bin is ideal.

Buy the Earthmaker Compost Bin from Exaco at here for great savings over other garden retailers.

Dog Poo Composter - The Dog Poo Wormery

2009-09-02T07:29:00.000-07:00

NB The links below are for US Sales of the Pet Poo Converter UK BUYERS - Pet Poo Converter Wormery for sale here.

Composting Dog Poo is not something usually advised. But, if you use a dedicated Dog Poo Composter you can put all the poop your pets produce to good use. The Dog Poo Wormery is a two tier worm farm, simple to use to recycle your dog waste safely.

The concept is simple; Add worms and dog waste to the top tray and allow the Tumbleweed Pet Poo Converter and nature to take its course. Natural, organic liquid feed can be drained from the bottom. Dilute and use as a potent plant and lawn feed. The worms will munch their way through all the pet waste and safely destroy all harmful pathogens found therein. Then when they've finished they will leave behind beautful worm castings, the perfect garden compost.

Worms live well providing you an easy system of Dog Waste Disposal. The only proviso, is that the worms perform best on a diet of pet poo only. So this is not a Garden Composter for recycling garden waste and kitchen scraps. For that you'll have to use an additional Compost Bin. Worms like either kitchen scraps or animal waste but not both. Fussy aren't they?

Pet Waste Disposal with the Dog Poo Composter

A great idea for dog lovers, as no more smelly garbage bins and no more dog waste sent to landfill, where it tends to cause more harm than good. The Dog Poo Wormery provides the gardener with valuable free compost and the dog owner with a safe and easy method of Pet Waste Disposal.

The Dog Poo Composter will handle other pet waste as well but do not add pig manure or bird droppings. Remember also that most kitty litter is not compostable, and can actually harm the worms so this is also best avoided.

The Pet Poo Converter is designed to minimise odours, but you can help it out a little by adding some high carbon material to the composter. Sawdust, corn cobs, shredded newspaper, ground cardboard or coco fiber will all improve aeration, stop odours and act as a buffer against fruit flies.

Manure - Natural Worm Food

It might seem a little strange at first. But worm farmers use manure exclusively to feed worms, and a look at your backyard will prove the point. The reason food scraps should not be added to the same worm farm as pet poop is that the pathogens contained in dog waste will breed too quickly in the presence of food scraps, for the worms to deal with safely.

The Dog Poo Wormery is specifically designed as a Dog Waste Disposal system. It is compact and portable. But, there is no reason not to set up any Worm Farm Composter to carry out the same job if you prefer.

The BioStack Composter - Another Garden Composter Review

2009-08-26T08:38:00.000-07:00

Buy the BioStack or Scotts 100164 Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Compost Bin

One thing most gardeners are sure of, is that turning compost is a chore. Our lack of enthusiasm for tackling this job is one of the reasons so many compost heaps fail, and also accounts for the boom in sales of Urban Compost Tumblers such as the Envirocycle Composter. There is another way, and that ways is the BioStack Composter. So, here at the Garden Composter we thought it about time to investigate the BioStack further.

Now, there is one proviso - though people still speak fondly of the BioStack Compost Bin, it doesn't actually still exist. Well, I'm sure there are still plenty out there, in use. But, I cannot find anyone still selling the BioStack which was produced by Smith & Hawken. No need to worry though as this Scotts Company Garden Composter is the same deal. A stacking compost bin system which should take the hard work out of turning the compost, and without the price tag of rotating compost system.

So forgetting, for a moment that BioStack Composters appear to be no more. The idea is still going strong in this stacking garden composter. For under $100 you get a sturdy yet straightforward static compost bin. Rot proof - rodent proof and waterproof it looks like any other basic plastic static garden composter to be honest. The difference is this is made of three tiered, bottomless sections.

Turning the Compost with a BioStack Composter

Okay, this is the bit that is supposed to make the BioStack (or now rather, the Scotts Company Miracle Gro Composter) so special.

When it comes to turn the compost you simply take off the top tier of the compost bin and lay it on the ground next to the bin.
Then shovel some of the composting material out of the one bin and into the section you've just put on the floor.
Now take off the middle section of the bin and add it to the lower section on the ground and fill with more garden compost.
Eventually you literally rebuild the BioStack compost bin next to where it originally stood and transfer its contents into the new bin.

All this moving and mix aerates the compost and gets things breaking down readily. But, let's face it, this isn't a no-effort method of turning the compost heap. It is probably easier than mixing the contents of a static bin in-situ, but it has none of the lazy summer day feeling of using a Compost Tumbler. And, though in itself it is suitable for a small backyard, don't forget you need the space of two to keep rebuilding it next to where it was last week.

That being said, this is a reasonably priced, sturdy garden composter which makes turning the compost easier than with a conventional heap. But the BioStack Composter is not the only alternative. You could just buy an equally sturdy, but cheaper Soilsaver Compost Bin. Then when you want to turn the contents, slide up one side of the bin and pull everything out. Then, re-fix the side and shovel the heap of stuff back into the bin. It's probably about the same amount of work but would be a little messier I suppose...

Bokashi Composter

2009-08-19T02:49:00.000-07:00

NB The links below are for US Sales, for UK Bokashi Compost Bucket Sales - Click Here.

Although this site focuses on the garden composter, there are other ways to recycle food scraps. The Bokashi Composter is one such way. Hailing originally from Japan this system of kitchen composting has really taken off. In fact the bokashi compost system is now used by school systems and other public organisations, because it is such a safe and simple way to create compost.

The Bokashi Composter uses fermentation rather than the aerobic decomposition of your common garden compost bin. This means the end results look a little different. Rather than creating hummus, the kitchen composter creates an almost pickled version of your food waste. It doesn't look great, but nor does it smell or need to be sent to landfill.

Using the Bokashi Composter

The Bokashi kitchen composter really couldn't be more simple to use. Each bin comes with a bokashi starter. This enzyme rich organic matter gives the composter all the organisms necessary to break down the food waste added to it.

Every day you simply put all your kitchen scraps into the bin and sprinkle on a handful of the starter. Once the bin is full, you leave for ten days and then your waste is ready for burial in the garden, in pots or alternatively in the garden composter.

Because the fermentation process takes ten days, it is recommended that you have two kitchen composters - one fermenting, the other awaiting food scraps.

The fermentation process is anaerobic so odourless, and the resulting organic matter is odourless too. This means all kitchen waste including dairy, fish, meat and bones can be recycled with this system. Once 'pickled' by the Bokashi composter the waste will not attract vermin and will break down into fantastic top soil within a month of going into the garden, or indeed being added to pots on the patio.

Organic Liquid Feed

The Bokashi kitchen composter comes with a grill to seperate food waste from the liquid it contains. A spigot allows this nutrient rich liquid to be drained from the Bokashi composter, providing an organic liquid feed you can use both indoors and out.

Garden Composters - The SoilSaver Compost Bin Review

2009-08-06T08:15:00.000-07:00

Buy the Soilsaver Compost Bin

Choosing to recycle garden waste and kitchen scraps into wonderful, free garden compost is not a difficult decision. After all, who doesn't want a healthier garden and a reduction in household waste? But, choosing which garden composter to use is another matter entirely.

This is where the Garden Composter site can help. We're not affiliated to any particular company, we just enjoy garden composting, and hope to help others enjoy it too. We link to Amazon products when they are worthy of a recommendation, and when they provide an economical source for that product. And, yes, we make a few pennies if you buy your garden compost bin through those links. But, that just helps us spend more time composting, and writing about composting, it isn't quite managing to pay off the overdraft just yet!

Anyway, back to the purpose of this post. We're looking at small garden composters at the moment. Our current favorite small compost tumbler has already been reviewed, and now it's time to look at basic, common-all-garden compost bins. Our current pick of the bunch is the SoilSaver Compost Bin.

The SoilSaver Compost Bin Review

SoilSaver Garden Composter Specification

Size

This is not a tiny compost bin by any means. But, it is compact, and more importantly it is square. This means it can be sited up against a wall, tidily, perfect for the small garden.

The SoilSaver will help you make much more garden compost in one go, than the Envirocycle, as it has a much larger capacity of over 11 cubic feet. It's size is not too much bigger though, with a height of 32" by width and depth of 28".

Specification

This is another plastic garden composter. Depending on the model you purchase between 75% and 100% of that is recycled material, making this one of the most Eco of the plastic garden composters available.

The SoilSaver has two sliding sides, which make this one garden composter you do not need to struggle to empty. This easy access also means you can turn the compost fairly lazily, by simply dragging out the material, then simply shovelling back in, once the side is slid back in place.

The entire top of this garden composter is a lockable lid. This provides a large access hatch for ease of filling and aerating the compost, plus it ensures the garden composter is completely vermin proof.

All the fixings are nylon or plastic which means you have no worries about corrosion over time. The body of the SoilSaver compost bin is charcoal grey/black with added UV resistance. The contents are warmed with this black colour absorbing the heat of the sun, and it's foam molded reinforced interior providing insulation.

Warranty

As one would expect with a static compost bin, the warranty is an excellent 25 years. With no moving parts, and no corrosive materials, this garden compost bin should easily last a lifetime.

SoilSaver Compost Bin Reviews

Aesthetically, the SoilSaver is neat, dark and unobtrusive. I doubt anyone would consider it a design feature, but neither is it an eyesore. It is simply, a very dark, compact and square garden compost bin.

Looking at customer reviews of this garden composter, the over-riding point is that this is a basic product, that does exactly what it should. It is durable, sturdy and provides a welcome home for your garden waste and kitchen scraps, without letting pests in to steal anything. All customers confirm this is one garden compost bin which is straightforward to fix together and use. The lid ensures vermin cannot enter the bin to steal kitchen scraps, but their are ventilation slits to allow air to circulate around the decomposing material.

There are a few less than favorable reviews. These are concerned primarily on the speed of compost production using the SoilSaver. Perhaps unfairly, they compare this garden composter unfavorably with compost bin tumblers. There is no doubt that rotating compost bins produce garden compost more quickly than static compost bins. This isn't a 'problem' with the SoilSaver. It is, rather, a fact of composting. If you want garden compost to be created really quickly, you need to use a compost tumbler, or you need to get outside and manually turn the compost in your static compost bin.

Even so, the SoilSaver is not slow to produce compost. With correct use, and favorable weather it should only take around two months for the contents to break down into usable garden compost. If that is too long for you, think about a rotating compost bin instead.

One important proviso, is that you must have somewhere level to site this bin. If not, the corners are likely to be stressed and the lid difficult to keep in place. Without a flat area to site this compost bin, means it just won't stand the test of time, and it won't remain vermin proof for long.

One thing, which no customer who bought the SoilSaver can overlook is its economical price tag. These come in at around half the price of the compact Envirocycle tumblers. If you're not in too much of a hurry, that could be $65 well spent. And, the low price tag also makes buying two garden composters a more realistic option for many householders. As none, but the most expensive designs of compost bin can be used indefinitely, having two (or more) bins is the only way to ensure you have a continual store for new garden waste and kitchen scraps.

So long, as you are either in no huge hurry, or happy to turn your compost occasionally (which shouldn't be too difficult so long as you remove one of the sides of the bin to do so), the SoilSaver compost bin, makes for one of the most practical and economical garden composters available today.

Garden Composters - The Envirocycle Compost Tumbler Review

2009-08-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

Envirocycle Composter - Click for Pricing & Customer Reviews

Garden composting is certainly worthwhile. Reducing waste and improving your garden's fertility can only ever be a good thing. The only 'problem' is working out which garden composter you should choose. This issue is exacerbated when composting in a small yard. With space at a premium it is critical that you choose the perfect small garden composter for your needs.

With this in mind, we've been looking at small garden composters and compost bins who's design makes them perfectly suited to the small garden. But, it seems time to delve a little deeper and really look at each of the main contenders for the title of perfect small garden compost bin. Today, we're looking at the Envirocycle Compost Tumbler.

The Envirocycle Compost Tumbler Review

Envirocycle Compost Tumbler Specification

Size

Firstly, let's just confirm, this compost tumbler is compact in size. It is sturdy and practical but it is reasonably small. If you create huge volumes of garden waste for composting, you will definitely need a few of these, rather than just one. But, it's compact stature means it is ideally suited to the small garden.

The Envirocycle composter has a seven cubic feet capacity. But, probably what has most relevant to anyone with limited outside space is how that relates to its actual size. The drum is 25.5" high and wide, with a depth of 20". The base is 5.5" high, 21.5" wide and 20.25" deep.

Specification

This is primarily a plastic garden composter. 50% of that plastic is virgin, but thankfully the other 50% is recycled post-consumer plastic. Using a plastic sealed unit, makes this a vermin proof method of garden composting, which is particularly important in gardens with children or pets to worry about.

The Envirocycle has one rotating drum, where garden waste and kitchen scraps are deposited. This is simply turned a few times a week to allow air to circulate and speed up decomposition. Underneath is a hollow base, where compost tea is collected. This is the excess moisture which drains from the compost into which a wide range of nutrients will have leached. It makes a fantastic liquid feed for plants and lawns.

The drum can be rolled off its base, allowing you to roll the entire thing, to wherever you would like to use the finished garden compost. This means if your garden is relatively flat you don't need to shovel compost into barrows or trugs, but can just roll the whole lot to wherever you want it.

This compost bin comes in two colours; green and black. Black always has the benefit of seeming further away than it is, so making your yard seem that little bit larger than it is. Choosing a black garden composter helps the compost heat up more quickly too. But, to be honest the difference in temperature is hardly likely to greatly affect the time taken for composting to occur, since even the green model is pretty dark, and more importantly, being sealed garden composters itself means they are insulated and heat up very quickly.

Warranty

As with most compost tumblers, the various moving parts have varying expected life-spans. The complete warranty is as follows:

5 years for the drum
2 years for the base
1 year for the wheels/axles/caps

I wouldn't be unduly concerned by this timescale. Looking at the customer reviews on Amazon it seems most customers who bought the Envirocycle garden composter are extremely pleased with how well it holds up over time.

Envirocycle Compost Tumbler Reviews

The primary reasons people choose the Envirocycle compost tumbler are based on it's neatness and it's simple rotating system.

On an aesthetic note, it is neat and tidy, and relatively unobtrusive in even the smallest garden. Thus those who do not want their yard turned into a farmyard, are still able to carry out small scale garden composting.

More importantly, this is an extremely economical type of compost tumbler. These new rotating compost bins have seen a huge surge in popularity, as more people turn to garden composting as a viable way of reducing waste, and recycling garden waste and kitchen scraps. This popularity has led to some extremely expensive and complicated designs becoming available. This is not one of them. The Envirocycle compost tumbler is available at prices up to around $190. Amazon have a few companies stocking them for around $125 to $135, making them one of the cheapest places to find this garden composter.

The beauty of using a rotating compost drum is that you do not need to manually turn the compost pile to keep it aerated and help decomposition. A tiresome and often hard job is made easy by relying on the garden composters ability to turn itself, with very minimal effort on your part.

The Envirocycle compost tumbler is a particularly simple form of compost tumbler. And, it is one which, being small and stable will remain simple to turn until it is around 75% full. At this point it should be left to finish breaking down, with no new additions. A few customer reviews suggest it will become rather heavy at around 50% capacity. However, it seems the customers who followed the user instructions most closely, ensuring the correct mix of contents and moisture levels, are the most happy with this being a simple to use, and efficient garden composter.

The speed at which your garden compost is created, varies hugely depending on what you're adding to the bin, how often you turn the drum and so on. But if the correct balance of 'green' and 'brown' materials are added, and the Envirocycle composter is turned three times a week, your garden compost should be ready within 6 weeks. In the summer, customer reviews suggest the garden compost can even be created in as little as three weeks, though a few tough items such as avocado peel need to be put back in for a second time to complete break down.

One issue with nearly all garden compost bins, including the Envirocycle compost tumbler, is that they cannot be used continually. At some point you have to stop adding new material, and allow the composter to 'do its work' creating your new garden fertilizer. This time is minimised by using a system such as this, which creates compost so quickly but nevertheless it is likely that you'll have at least a month when you cannot put any kitchen scraps or garden waste into the bin. If you're a small household, you could consider piling up garden waste in an unused corner, and stashing kitchen waste in the deep-freeze until your compost bin is ready for action again. Or you could just buy two garden composters, so you always have one digesting, and one accepting organic waste at any given time.

Beehive Compost Bins

2009-07-17T04:01:00.000-07:00

UK Beehive Composter Sales.

Beehive Compost Bins are the ultimate small garden composter for any gardener wanting a wooden compost bin to become a feature in their backyard. The design is extremely simple. Wooden slatted sides resembling a quaint old fashioned beehive.

When buying one, make sure you choose pressure treated timber to keep your garden composter looking good for longer. The lid should be easy to open. Some are hinged in multiple places to enable easy access for depositing larger garden waste. If the top comes off completely, all the better as you really will be able to use the compost bin easily.

At least one side should also be simple to remove. This means you can turn the compost if required. Also, it will ensure the finished garden compost is simple to remove and distribute on around your garden.

There are varieties of beehive composters which come pre-painted. This will help your garden composter look good for longer. But beware of bright colours, as those shown in any brochure on on a website may be very different to the actual product. Any good retailer should be happy to supply you with a sample or give you the paint colour reference so you can check yourself what it will look like in 'real life'. Red paints tend to be very UV sensitive and prone to fading in strong sunlight.

Perhaps more ideal is to buy a wooden beehive comport bin which is simply pre-treated or stained as that way you can easily stamp your own design ideas on it whenever you like.

Make sure the internal finish for your wooden beehive composter is natural, to ensure no chemicals are leached into your decomposing garden compost. Opt for softwood from sustainably managed woodland and your beehive compost bin will be ecologically sound on all fronts.

The Best Small Composters for Small Gardens

2009-07-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

When gardening in a small backyard it is crucial that all the components be perfect, or as near to perfect as we can manage. With space at a premium we need to choose the best small garden composter suited to our needs. After reviewing both conventional small compost bins and backyard tumblers here are my top three garden compost bins for small gardens:

All of my top three compost bins for small spaces will give you great garden compost. All are ventilated, vermin proof and made of dark plastic. This gives all three the ability to produce fast, hot compost from your garden waste and kitchen scraps. Plus all should prove durable enough to last through the years of composting to come.

Your budget and just how small your small backyard is, will of course determine which is more suited to your needs. But all the top three small garden composters are a good place to start before making your decision.

The Envirocycle Compost Tumbler

This is a great little backyard tumbler. It comes in a choice of colours. In a small space black appears further away so that is the one I would choose. Also being black has the advantage of increasing the heat inside the drum, so helping to make your garden compost faster.

This is an ideal backyard tumbler for small gardens because it sits low to the ground so having much less impact in a small space. Because the design is low to the ground there also is less of an issue if you have a less than perfect place to site the bin. Whilst those on high metal frames will have to be placed somewhere completely level and out of the way to prevent knocks, this one isn't going to go anywhere even if it does get the odd knock from running children or pets.

Being a relatively small drum which spins on its short axis, this is one compost tumbler which remains easy to spin no matter how full it gets. All that spinning means you never need to turn or mix the composting material in any other way.

One of the things I particularly like is that it comes with a decent warranty. Some of the more expensive tumbling compost bins come with far shorter guarantees which makes me worry about there more complicated designs. The Envirocycle compost tumbler has a manufacturer's warranty of 5 years for the drum, 2 years for the base.

Another feature is that the material is 50% post consumer, recycled plastic which means buying the Envirocycle helps the environment that little bit.

Although creating compost in 4 to 6 weeks is extremely quick, I would emphasise that ideally (space permitting) you would need two of these bins to provide a year round home to all your organic waste.

The SoilSaver Compost Bin

This is as basic as manufactured garden compost bins tend to get. This is cheap but it is also durable, simple to install, and square which means it is even more suited to small spaces. Being a static bin, means this composter will not usually produce garden compost quite so quickly as the Envirocycle. But, it is well insulated and black so it will still produce quality compost within a few months.

The only point which needs ot be remembered about the SoilSaver compost bin is that it will only work correctly if sited on level ground. This is because it is square with sliding sides (making removing compost easy) and a locking lid (to keep out vermin). If you do not place this on level ground the corners will be under stress and the lid is unlikely to remain tightly fitted.

This is simple to put together and made from 75% post consumer, recycled plastic. So even though the name isn't as 'green', this is actually the most environmentally friendly garden composter of the three.

This small composter is very cheap but strong and sturdy. So much so that it comes with a 25 year warranty, proving the faith the manufacturers have in their product. Again, space permitting you really would need two of these garden composters to ensure year round collection of your organic waste.

The Earthmaker Garden Composter

This looks like the ideal garden composter for a small garden because you should never need any additional compost bins. This system incorporates three bins into one. You add new organic waste to the top. Then once a month use a tool to slide the chamber base so that decomposing materials fall down into the lower chambers.

Once the system is set up, and you've been using it a while you should have a non-stop supply of finished garden compost in the bottom. At the same time you should also always have a space at the top in which to deposit more garden waste and kitchen scraps.

This is significantly more pricey than the two options above but if space is your paramount problem, it could provide an answer to your composting needs. This is a very efficient, hot, method of producing compost. Once established your waste should become garden compost within a month. The makers suggest you'll be creating 10 gallons of compost every 4 weeks but obviously that depends very much on how much waste you have to put in it.

It is disappointing that there is no information available regarding any extended warranty either on amazon or other (more expensive) stockists. Though as it is made from sturdy plastic, without any complicated metal framework or wheels it at least looks very durable.

This continuous composting system is the one I would choose if I really could not accomodate two composters into my garden. However if your small garden isn't quite that small I suggest the Envirocycle compost tumbler for easy use or the Soilsaver for no-nonsense, long lasting garden composting.

Small Garden Composters for Small Gardens Part 2

2009-07-03T01:49:00.000-07:00

Part 2 Small Garden Compost Bins

Garden composting is a fantastic way to reduce the volume of household waste heading to landfill. Plus, of course we get free garden compost thrown in to the bargain. For those with a small garden it is still possible to find suitable compost bins for sale. Following on from our look at compact backyard compost tumblers, this is a review of the best garden compost bins for small gardens.

Soilsaver Compost Bin

This is the leading compact compost bin and proves a very economical buy. This is made from 75% recycled plastic so is doing its bit to help the environment. With a 25 year warranty you know it will last. In fact the customer reviews all stress how sturdy it is. With no metal fixings there is no problem about rust, and the plastic is UV resistance.

One important consideration is that this compact compost bin MUST be placed on a flat level surface. If not it will be difficult to keep the lid in position and the corners will be strained causing it to degrade over time. All the customers happy about how sturdy and long lasting it is, have placed it correctly on flat level ground.

The one drawback mentioned by customers is that it can be difficult to mix the contents, which is critical if you hope to create garden compost quickly. This is an issue with all static garden composters though, not just this one. You must either be prepared to wait three months for your compost, or be willing mix or take out the contents after a month or so and re-fill the bin. As two sides of this garden compost bin slide up, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Garden Compost Bin

This is styled on the popular beehive compost bin, but made of tough plastic rather than wood which would need to be maintained over time. This means this garden compost bin is a good looking garden composter, which is always a bonus in a small garden where any compost bin will always be on view.

Customer reviews are impressed with how well this creates compost and of course the low price. One possible draw-back is that it is not particularly heavy, so when empty could be moved by strong winds. A few customers have noted that the lid can be blown off. If you experience strong winds it would be worth using some plastic ties to keep the lid in place no matter what the weather.

As this is a compost bin sited directly onto earth it will create compost relatively quickly. All the micro-organisms and worms beneficial for creating garden compost are able to easily enter the bin via your garden soil.

Again for the quickest results you should turn the compost, but with all the ventilation in this bin, it will provide compost even if you don't - it will just take longer.

Earthmaker Garden Composter

This is more expensive than the two previously discussed garden compost bins. But, this is one system worth considering for a small garden.

It is a tiered system, basically incorporating the ideal three bin system into one upright compost bin. So if you really do only have the space for one compost bin this is by far the best option. With any small compost bin, it will hopefully at some point, become full. That leaves the gardener with the problem of what to do with their organic waste while they wait for that full bin to digest its contents and produce some usable garden compost. This composter eliminates that problem completely.

The Earthmaker Aerobic Composter uses three levels. As organic waste breaks down it flows down to the next stage. This means you can always add more waste to the top level. And, once the bin is established you will have an ongoing supply of garden compost to remove from the bottom chamber. As the waste falls through the system it is aerated so the bin will produce sweet smelling compost relatively quickly. The system incorporates an inbuilt tool for you to 'jiggle' the contents which both mixes them and allows the smaller decomposing matter to make its way downwards.

The Best Small Garden Compost Bin

The square compost bins are ideal for small gardens as they fit against walls. To be honest, there is little to distinguish between many of the market leaders. But, make sure you opt for one suited to your situation. If the bin needs to be sited on level ground to prevent stressing at non-rigid corners that's what you need to do. They will all hold your compost adequately and now all incorporate air vents to ensure the compost degrades aerobically, discouraging smells. For $70 or so you can get yourself a perfectly adequate garden compost bin, ideal for a small garden. All things being equal choose the one with the best warranty as you know that will be the most sturdy and long-lasting.

However, you must consider what you will do with your waste once the bin is full. And of course, whether you have the space to incorporate another bin or perhaps a temporary method of storing organic waste in the meantime.

If space is more of a concern than expense try the Earthmaker Aerobic Composter as it means one garden compost bin is all you will ever need. Or of course, you could try a faster acting backyard tumbler. Don't forget the simple fact that darker compost bins get hotter and so produce garden compost more quickly.

Small Garden Composters for Small Gardens Part 1

2009-07-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

Part 1 Backyard Tumblers

Brilliantly, garden composting is growing ever more popular. More of us than at any time during the last century are recycling garden waste and kitchen scraps into our own garden compost. But, more and more of us live on small plots without lots of outdoor space. Having a small garden or small backyard should not prevent you from using a garden composter though. There are many garden compost bins which are relatively small and not so unattractive to become an eyesore in a small garden.

Although I find owning several compost bins the best way to create as much garden compost as possible, I realise I am very fortunate in having plenty of space to site them. Having less room may mean you can only give up enough space for one garden compost bin. In this case it is imperative that you choose the correct garden composter for your small garden.

Having enough space for only one compost bin means you want that bin to create compost quickly, as once its full you have nowhere to put your organic waste. Therefore, if you really only have enough space for one bin, I would suggest opting for a compact compost tumbler. The following are leading compact compost tumblers ideally suited to use in a small backyard. Here is the lowdown on the three best selling compact compost tumblers on the market.

Back Porch ComposTumbler

With little space to allocate to garden composting, it makes sense to use the fastest method of creating hummus. This undoubtedly is the tumbling compost bin. With internal fins and a handle to rotate the contents, these mix up and aerate compost like no other composting system. Customer reviews of the Back Porch Compost Tumbler cite compost being created in 3 to 8 weeks.

This is a perfect backyard composter for those with a back porch or patio. On 6 inch wheels it is easy to move, which means you can keep it handy by the back door most of the time, but move it out of the way if you're entertaining in the garden. It is a pretty compact composter measuring 37 inches high x 31 inches wide x 26 inches deep. Holding 37 gallons this should be perfectly adequate for a small garden, and not take too long to fill for small families.

Sitting in its metal frame this Back Porch ComposTumbler is really designed to be on a back porch or patio. Really it should be placed on a hard surface to benefit from its full ease of use.

Envirocycle Compost Tumbler

A slightly more modern design of urban compost tumbler is the Envirocycle. Sitting on a flat sturdy base this is a better bet if you do not have a large area of deck or patio. There is a drainage system so you can collect the compost tea created by your organic waste. This is extremely nutrient rich and should be diluted till it resembles the colour of weak tea before using to feed both indoor and outdoor plants.

Customer reviews of the Envirocycle Composter show it is simple to use and can create compost in under six weeks. The rotating drum is easy to turn and can be unclipped from its base. This means you can literally roll the finished compost to wherever you want to use it, though you may need a hand if it is very full as it will become heavy. This is an even more compact design of compost tumbler, measuring only 31 inches high x 25 inches wide x 21 inches deep. And, with the material being composed of 50% post consumer recycled plastic it at least tries to be more environmentally friendly than some.

This comes in a choice of green or black plastic. As black tends to disappear and feel further away, using a black compost bin in a small garden will be far less obtrusive. An additional benefit of this compact urban tumbler is that it is a more economical garden compost bin. Being nearly 40% cheaper than the competition.

Composter: Compact ComposTumbler

This is a rather more expensive compost tumbler. But, the customer reviews confirm that you get an extremely sturdy product for your money. Again this has the drainage system to collect compost tea, and the fins to help aerate the compost.

The metal framed design is ideally suited to those with a deck or patio as it will need to be placed somewhere flat and firm.

As it is raised up higher this compact compost tumbler is easier to fill. Looking at the reviews of this product customers are divided over whether this makes it easier to empty though. But that is always the downside of garden composting - we have to shovel the finished compost onto our garden at some point.

This is a slightly larger garden composter, with dimensions of 43 inches high x 42 inches wide x 33 inches deep and standing 12 inches off the ground. There is no denying this product works and overall owners love it. You will be able to create more hummus more quickly with its larger capacity, yet it is still compact and unobtrusive enough for a small garden. Customers are happy with the quality, but at double the price of the competition this should be expected and demanded.

The Best Backyard Tumbler for a Small Garden?

It all comes down to budget and personal taste. The Compact ComposTumbler is extremely well made and long-lasting. It will easily provide compost quickly enough for the average family but I can't help wondering if you could find a little more space and use two Envirocycle Backyard Composters instead. Two of these is cheaper than the alternative and may be easier to disguise in a small garden as they sit lower to the ground.

Garden Composting - More Bins Please!

2009-06-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

The only trouble with garden composting is that you spend all that time researching the perfect garden composter only to find that that once you start you need another one. It really doesn't matter whether you're buying or making your garden compost bin - you will always eventually want another one to go with it!

Really two bins is the absolute minimum needed by any gardener. Oh, you can make do with one (I have, I just didn't like it), but you will need an 'organic matter storage area'. Lets face it if you're making a huge pile of stuff which will at some point go into a compost bin you may as well turn it into a compost heap of its own or (the easier solution) buy or make another garden compost bin to cut out the middle man.

Ideally we should be adding all our kitchen scraps and garden waste to a compost bin over a matter of a few months. Then when its full up we need to leave it alone for another few months to decompose into that lovely garden compost we're after. This leaves us with theconundrum of what to do with all the new waste we make during these few months:

Storage Ready for Hot Composting

If you store all your organic matter out in the open it will break down a little but not much. Then when your garden composter has been emptied of newly created hummus you can fill it up with your huge pile of barely rotted compost making ingredients. Because you're putting a lot of matter into the bin in one go you will find it gets hot really quickly and will decompose much more quickly than your first 'slow burn' approach to filling the compost bin.

Many people love this 'hot compost' approach to garden composting. It does create rich, well rotted compost very quickly. But add to that the hassle factor of an open pile of debris cluttering up the garden, attracting wildlife and you may find hot compost not worth the effort.

Open Compost Heap

Of course while your snazzy new-fangled garden composter is doing its job of breaking down your organic waste you could opt for the lower tech approach. Simply create an open compost heap and use that whilst your compost bin is out of action.

But, this gives you much slower compost and it means you need to animal proof the heap or build yourself some kind of box.

Get Another Garden Compost Bin

This is the obvious answer. Get another bin to sit next to the first one. Then you should always have one being added to and one rotting down. But, once you go down this route you may find you don't have time to use the compost ready in the first bin, the second one is full and now you need a third to add your waste too. When this blog started I was the proud owner of three compost bins but now I have four, plus a storage area for clippings I don't want to add in one go!

Garden composting seems to take over the whole garden!

You could always opt for a more sensible but initially pricier option. Dual Two Chamber Compost Tumbler. Same idea as two bins but less space! Whoever said garden composting was easy!

Garden Compost Bin Tumblers

2009-06-02T03:04:00.000-07:00

Many advocates of garden composting like to use traditional methods and traditional garden compost bins. This often means making your own bin from scraps of wood or old rain barrels and very often this means they look far from great. Oh but how these gardeners may mock the new 'novel garden composters' which have flooded the market over the last few years.

The thing is, does it matter whether you go down the traditional, rustic, and dare I say ugly route, or is it okay to spend money on a new fashionable system for your garden composting?

At the moment there is a lot of interest in tumbling, revolving, spinning and rolling garden compost bins. They are a relatively new innovation but that shouldn't put you off. They work by making the whole business of turning your compost heap easy. This means all your garden waste and kitchen scraps get jiggled about regularly so speeding up the whole process of decomposition. A traditionalist may be very happy with an uncovered heap, but if space is an issue and you like your compost quicker these urban compost bins are definitely worth considering.

The bulk of these new garden compost bin designs are 'Tumbling Compost Bins'. The container is held on a central pivot which allows the gardener to spin the whole thing, turning the garden compost much more effectively than using a pitch fork or compost aerator!

All the Compost Bin Tumblers will help you make garden compost in around a third of the time needed in a regular compost bin. Just because of all that tumbling mixing everything up. However, just because they're all quick, not all Rotating Compost Bins are the same. Obviously materials, fixings and general quality will affect price. But, perhaps the most important thing to consider is the actual design itself.

Horizontal or Vertical Compost Tumbling?

Some tumbling compost bins stand upright while others are laid out horizontally.

Vertical Tumbling Garden Compost Bins

The upright bins will of course take up less room in your garden. So if you are really short on space a vertical bin is maybe your best option. And, if you make lots of compost and need more than one bin but have little space you might prefer two vertical tumbling bins side by side.

But, that space saving comes at a cost. When you come to spin the bin you are moving a lot of weight on a short axis. This means heavy work to spin the compost.

Horizontal Tumbling Garden Compost Bins

To make lighter work of spinning the compost choose a horizontal bin which revolves on its long axis. This means you need to put in less effort as the bin is tumbling a shorter distance. Being horizontal means these binsgeneral take up less floor area than the vertical ones. You can also find these horizontal bins with two compartments for the garden compost which means you only need one compost bin, but can have one rotting while you are creating the other.

Small, Possibly Perfect Tumbling Garden Compost Bins

A compromise can be had with smaller compost tumblers which a squat and so easy to spin plus they're cheaper than anything else you can find. This means, if you like yours (which you will - after all they're so damn quick to get compost from), you can buy another!

Of course if you're making huge volumes of garden compost, buying any garden compost bin is full of compromises depending on how much money you have to spend.

Homemade Tumbling Garden Compost Bins

As with much in gardening, you can follow the example of many, and make your own tumbling compost bin. This probably won't suit those of you trying to find a pretty solution to your garden composting requirements but it is certainly a cheap and effective one. The most basic variety is by turning a rain barrel into a compost bin and spinning it simply by turning it onto its side and rolling it around. Good if you have the space and strength, but not ideal.

If you are going to make the effort check out youtube for free plans to make a compost tumbler with its own stand, central aeration system and easy to use mechanism which will stand the test of time.

Kitchen Compost Bins and Crocks

2009-05-26T03:37:00.000-07:00

A word of warning. If you are looking for a kitchen compost bin, make sure you don't end up with a kitchen compost crock by mistake! I have noticed, when perusing the Internet that many on-line stores describe their kitchen crocks as kitchen compost bins or kitchen composters.

It would be very easy to get caught out. If all you are after is a container to store your kitchen scraps before they are taken to the garden composter fine, but if you want to create compost in your kitchen you will be very disappointed!

What is a Kitchen Compost Bin?

NB The links below are for US Sales, for UK Bokashi Compost Bucket Sales - Click Here.

A kitchen compost bin or kitchen composter is a container which you use to ferment your kitchen scraps into garden compost indoors. Any good kitchen composter will have a tap to drain off excess liquid (which makes a fantastic plant feed). They will come with some form of activator or starter. Most often rice husks or similar waste vegetable matter impregnated with yeasts to get your kitchen scraps fermenting quickly.

The idea is you fill your kitchen compost bin for a fortnight then leave it sealed for a fortnight so food is fermented and rendered safe to put out into the garden. These are a particularly good way of dealing with food scraps that could attract vermin if put outside in a conventional garden compost bin. So meat and dairy products are composted with one of these Bokashi kitchen compost bins. On a larger scale they are even used in schools and public buildings to reduce food waste being sent to landfill.

What is a Kitchen Compost Crock?

These are merely receptacles for short-term storage of kitchen scraps. Often very decorative they are suitable for storing, in sight on kitchen counters, to provide a central place to drop kitchen scraps which are eventually destined for the garden composter.

Obviously a bucket under the sink would do the job just as well. But having a decorative kitchen compost crock encourages you to remember to keep filling it. Plus it is a new feature in your kitchen which may encourage others to start garden composting too.

Of course any container you like the look of could be used as a counter-top compost crock but make sure it really is suitable. Plastic tends to absorb odours so the best crocks are glass, stoneware, ceramic, bamboo or stainless steel. If your container is not specifically designed to hold compost make sure the lid fits well and that there are no air holes anywhere. This is to prevent unpleasant smells escaping or insects entering the kitchen scraps. Many commercial crocks come with carbon filters which actively absorb odours making them ideal if it is likely to be several days before the crock is emptied.

Generally kitchen compost bins are plastic and destined to be hidden in a cupboard or utility room whereas kitchen compost crocks are a design statement, practical but pretty enough to remain on permanent display.

Siting a Garden Composter

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Perhaps more important than what type of garden composter you chose is where you actually put your garden compost bin. You need it to be somewhere that is beneficial to both the process of making garden compost AND most importantly to you.

What to Put Your Garden Composter On?

The key point is that any compost bin should be placed on the ground ideally on bare soil. Your garden soil holds all the micro organisms that will be needed to turn your garden waste into organic compost. The easiest way to ensure they make their way into your heap of organic matter is by letting it touch the soil. If you can face it, clear the ground of weeds or grass before placing your compost bin. If you don't you may find weeds flourishing inside your bin during the initial stages of filling. Don't worry though they'll soon be smothered by the compost heap so this is not a critical job.

Placing the compost heap on bare soil means that as it cools, and decomposition slows, the worms can find their way in. Never put worms on your compost heap yourself. If the heap is too hot they will perish and then you have taken away a garden friend from your soil, with no benefit to the compost bin at all. Worms will find their own way in when the time is right.

If you do not have any bare ground on which to place your garden composter you can of course put it onto concrete or slabs. This will slow things down a little so either use a compost activator or throw a few spades full of soil into the bin at the start. Again do not add worms to the compost bin. Even sited on concrete those worms will miraculously make their way there when the time is right.

Do not site your garden composter on wooden decking unless you really do not mind it becoming damp, stained and likely to eventually rot.

Where to Place the Garden Compost Bin?

Obviously your garden is unique to you and so I cannot tell you where your garden composter should be located. But, there are a few things to keep in mind.

Will the Garden Composter be an eyesore?
Will the Garden Compost Bin be easy to use - both for filling and emptying?
Will the Compost Bin be attractive to children or pets?
What about fruit flies and gnats?

The initial choice is often to locate a garden compost bin as far away as possible from the house. That way you don't see it (they're often not the prettiest things to look at). But, are you the kind of person who is keen on traipsing through a muddy field with a bowl of kitchen scraps? If you are all well and good. If however you are likely to lapse in your composting duties if the bin seems too far away, put it somewhere closer to the house. A basic wooden fence blocking your compost bin from view can be an ideal place for some pretty climbers so that even the ugliest bin becomes a garden feature.

Whether you chose to compost all your organic household waste or just your vegetable peelings, make sure you get yourself some way of storing that waste indoors. A plastic bucket with a lid, under the sink makes a convenient holding ground for household organic waste which you haven't got the time or inclination to dump in the compost bin just yet. There are even crocks designed specifically to hold kitchen scraps. These make composting kitchen waste a lot more attractive and many come with carbon filters which ensure no nasty smells surround the Kitchen Countertop Composter no matter how rarely you make it down to the end of the garden to empty.

In warm climates fruit flies and gnats can be a nuisance, attracted by the moisture and food in a compost bin. If you always try to cover any new kitchen scraps with garden waste such as grass clippings it will help. But, when you lift the lid of your garden compost bin the chances are you will get a face full of gnats during the summer months. If this is a concern to you make sure your compost bin is away from kitchen windows and doors to discourage any insects you disturb heading for the inside of your home.

Though you need that compost bin to be handy to fill, don't forget about emptying it. If you are likely to want to turn your compost heap make sure there is plenty of room near it, to make the job easy. If all your composted material will be headed for a particular area of the garden, such as the vegetable patch, site your bin there.

Any compost bin which is working well because it is full of variety should not be particularly smelly to you and I. Some animals however have a much more advanced sense of smell, so are likely to be interested in your garden compost bins. I have lived with various dogs and cats, some of whom completely ignore the compost heap and others fixate on that mysterious bin continually. Most garden compost bins you can buy are pet proof. But if you have a particularly robust dog with a compost fixation think about siting it somewhere the dog does not have access to. Open compost bins, such as those homemade from pallets or other wood scraps, should be secured to prevent your pets gaining access. Chicken wire is cheap and easy to fix around the base, while the lid should be too heavy or even better hinged and clasped to prevent any pets getting in.

The main thing is to ensure your compost bin is not a 'hassle'. Make it easy to use and you will use it more. The more you use it, the more goodness will be returned to your garden and the less waste you will send to landfill.

All to often, a poorly situated garden composter can become a neglected, expensive entity, ignored and forgotten. Composting your kitchen scraps and garden waste is a great thing to do, so do not give yourself any excuses not to continue doing it!

Garden Composter - How to Choose?

2009-05-09T09:03:00.000-07:00

There are so many ways of garden composting and so many different sorts of garden compost bin available how do you choose what kind of garden composter to use? Obviously the choice is a very personal one, dictated by budget, style and how quickly you hope to be making garden compost. We'll have a look at those you can buy and those which are free, to help you decide which option to go for.

To get started lets have a look at the most commonly used styles of garden compost bin available to buy:

Enclosed Static Garden Compost Bins

These are compact garden composters which keep vermin and rain out, while keeping warmth in. These tend to be the most cheaply purchased types of garden compost bin, and the most favoured by those new to garden composting. They keep everything neat and tidy.

You can choose between wooden beehive composter or cheaper plastic compost bins. Make sure there are ventilation holes to allow oxygen in to your compost. Ideally go for a model which has an opening at the base to allow for easy removal of the finished product. Garden composters are readily available made from 100% recycled plastic so do not be overly concerned about the environmental impact of buying a plastic model.

The drawback with enclosed bins is that it can be difficult to turn the compost, unless you have a very strong friend to help take the bin off the compost itself. On the plus side, because they keep the garden waste warm and moist composting is relatively quick and you should have created some rich compost even without turning. Generally these sealed garden compost bins should provide you with good quality compost within six months.

Using these in particularly cold regions or where the amount of garden waste and kitchen scraps is very small, could mean the compost takes up to two years to be created. But, that is the worst case scenario and not a common one. In the United Kingdom (not known for pleasant summers) a sealed budget plastic compost bin always provided good hummus in under six months.

Rolling Garden Compost Bins

These are a quite new and stylish innovation in the normally staid world of garden composting. The rolling bins can be rolled to wherever your garden waste is, filled, then rolled off to wherever you like. Giving them a quick roll every few days will mix up the garden waste and kitchen scraps, allowing oxygen in and speeding up decomposition.

These keep vermin and rain out, and heat in just like the static bins. But they make aerating the pile very simple. The downside is they do get pretty heavy when full. They are useful if you have lots of flat space as you can roll the bin around your garden from project to project for filling.

Compost Tumblers or Rotating Compost Bins

These plastic garden compost bins come in a variety of styles. All of them allow the entire bin to be turned on its axis to mix up and aerate the contents. So efficient are these, that they make it possible to create useful garden compost much more quickly than normal. Some gardeners claim they can create compost within weeks using these bins. They will easily halve the length of time it takes your compost to be created.

Some models come with a collection system to provide you easily with compost tea, which is a great concentrated plant food. Several have two chambers which is a great option (funds permitting) as it means you can always have one compost pile ready to use, while another is being created.

If considering a Compost Tumbler make sure to try and avoid those which rotate on their short axis (ie those which stand upright). Although these are often the cheaper options, and great to begin with, they quickly become very heavy to actually rotate. Much easier to use are those that are horizontal, rotating on the long axis means it takes much less effort to get them spinning.

Although more expensive than static compost bins these are growing in popularity because they produce the finished compost so quickly.

The only real drawback with these bins is that they tend to be a little larger and more costly than static bins. But, their speed and efficiency more than makes up for that.

Worm Composters

Vermiculture or worm composting is also increasing in popularity. Worms create compost very quickly and are happy to consume a wide range of kitchen scraps to do so. Such a small, contained system is ideal for those with limited space.

But, worms need management. This is not a system you can forget about. Temperature in particular can be an issue, so considering where you can site a worm farm out of cold drafts, and hot sunlight is important. Worm Farm Garden Compost Bins are easiest kept indoors where temperature fluctuations are less likely.

Correctly managed worms will break down your kitchen scraps very quickly and once again you can easily collect the compost tea they produce. So as well as quick compost, you get instant liquid plant feed too.

These are a good way to recycle kitchen scraps but you will still need a garden composter if you create much garden waste. However, this keeps all vermin attracting food waste indoors so means you can opt for a more open (and cheaper) garden compost bin.

Open Garden Composters

In the interest of fairness I include these open garden composters. They are a valid option. We have used open systems to create marvelous (if slow) garden compost. However, I cannot recommend paying for one. They are not that expensive but I am sure you could use scraps of wood or wire fencing to create the same thing. For double the money you can get a large plastic compost bin and create your garden compost in a fraction of the time.

They are useful if money is no option. These are a good way of keeping different composting materials tidy and ready to put in a hot garden composter.

How to Choose a Garden Composter

Really budget is key in which garden compost bin you choose. There are differences in size but most varieties of garden composter can be incorporated in even the smallest garden. For me, a compost tumbler is probably the winner just because it works so quickly, but I have to say the humble static plastic garden compost bin is always a favourite. They are cheap enough to buy a few over the years so you can have different states of compost avaiable. They are usually pretty fast acting and they last forever.

Sometimes I think basic is best, so I am a fan of the basic plastic garden compost bin, but that's just my point of view. One note - consider the colour. Many of the garden compost bins come in a bewildering range of shades of green. Not all will disappear into your garden view. Black, on the other hand always disappears into the background. Now you have some information on what your options are if looking to buy a garden composter.

Beehive Compost Bin - What to Look For

2009-05-07T03:12:00.000-07:00

UK Beehive Composter Sales.

I know I have already mentioned my secret yearning for a wooden beehive compost bin. But, through researching more about garden composters I have come across a few points I thought it prudent to share. Not all beehive compost bins are the same. When buying such a wooden garden composter make sure you know exactly what you will be getting. This is particularly important when purchasing online. The Internet does have some great deals for buying beehive compost bins, but since you cannot see the finished article make sure the seller provides complete specification to your satisfaction.

The quality of the wood used, and the finish applied to it will have a huge impact on how long your beehive garden composter lasts, and how much you enjoy having it in the garden!

Buying a Beehive Compost Bin - What to Look

The wooden panels should be at least 1" thick and pressure treated.
The top should be simple to open to make adding garden waste and kitchen scraps quick and easy.
The front or one side should be simple to remove to allow access to the finished garden compost. Alternatively you should be look for a stack-able system which is simple to dismantle once your garden compost is ready.
Ideally the top should be completely removable to allow easy access for turning your garden compost.
Ideally the wooden garden composter will be bolted or screwed together. Nails mean you have less scope for simple repairs in the longer term.
The internal finish should be natural.
If choosing a coloured wooden beehive compost bin beware colours online can look very different to the finished product. If tinted wood stains are being used you should be able to find out exactly what brand and colour so you can see it for yourself at the DIY store. Alternatively request a sample. In any event wood stain colours will fade over time, so you will need to re-apply in the future and can change the colour easily. If purchasing a garden composter which is painted remember this too will fade. For example reds turn pink with exposure to sunlight. Neutral shades are best, you can change the colour easily at home and test it first to ensure that colour is right for your garden.
As ever, hardwood is better, but much more costly, than softwood. Do not be deterred by softwood though, it will last, as long as you maintain it with fresh preservative every few years.
Make sure your wooden beehive compost bin comes from sustainable managed woodland please!
Make sure you have somewhere on bare earth to site your beehive composter when it arrives.

Finally, please enjoy your new wooden beehive compost bin. I am very jealous!

Compost Tea - Use Your Garden Composter to Make Organic Liquid Feed

2009-04-16T03:41:00.001-07:00

Of course you could make things a whole lot more simple by using an Envirocycle Compost Tumbler with built in Compost Tea maker included!

As you may have guessed, here at garden composter we are HUGE fans of garden compost. But we don't just use ours as a mulch or hummus rich soil improver. We create our own organic liquid feed too. Learning how to make compost tea is a really good way to get the most from your garden composter.

We never use ordinary commercial fertilizers because they are so harmful to the environment. I much prefer to use green or eco plant feeds. They work well, especially for plants which have had some kind of set back such as disease or a change in the weather. Organic fertilizers are definitely my choice. It means, we know we're not polluting the water table or indeed, our own land. Using organic feed means we keep all the insect life happy too. And, yes some of that insect life is a nuisance but if you get rid of it all you end up with even more problems.

We need to keep the predator insects alive by not using artificial fertilizers. There are fewer predator insects in the garden so they take longer to recover if their numbers are reduced. The insect pests, however abound in much bigger numbers and so recover from any reduction much more quickly. If there are no predator insects around when the pests recover they can wreak havoc unchecked! So please, look after the helpful insects in your garden.

Lots of commercial liquid feeds contain way too many nitrates though. They promote overly sappy growth. Which, while it looks nice initially, it really doesn't do your plants much good in the long run. A balanced slow release fertilizer is usually what's called for in the garden.

Since you're being a good garden composter, creating lots of lovely compost why not use some to make your own environmentally friendly slow release fertilizer?

Make Compost Tea from Your Garden Compost Bin

Making liquid feed is simple. Take an old bucket with a well-fitting lid and fill it about a third full with well rotted garden compost. Then top it up with water.

Put the lid on, but not too tightly. You want to keep nosy pets out but also let out any gases which are created.

Leave the liquid feed bucket for two to three weeks. The compost will ferment in the water producing bubbles of gas. The goodness of the compost will be leached into the bucket of water which should end up looking pretty brown and unappetizing.

When you want to use the organic liquid feed simply dilute it till its the colour of weak tea. I reckon dilute it about 1:10 parts water initially.

Use the feed in place of a commercial liquid feed on any plants you think will benefit. It's good for those really hard working plants such as the heavy cropping tomatoes in the summer. This liquid fertilizer should contain the complete range of nutrients needed by most plants, since its been made from a well varied compost heap.

As you're feeding the plants with liquid you're making it easier for the roots to collect all those nutrients. Plants can only really absorb nutrients when in soluble form.

As you take your homemade organic liquid feed out of the bucket, just top it up with more water. Eventually the compost will run out of goodness to impart to the water but it takes a while. Just dilute the mixture with less and less water as the solution weakens. If you always aim for a weak tea coloured solution to give your plants you'll be using the right amount. Once the solution is not giving you much more goodness, throw the compost on the garden and make some more! I usually keep one bucket on the go for months on end so it does last a while.

So, that's how you use your garden composter to make organic liquid feed. Frugal, simple and most importantly very effective. Of course you could take the even easier option and buy an urban compost tumbler which incorporates a reservoir and spigot for collecting the liquid compost tea which naturally drains from your garden compost.

Garden Composter - How Long to Make Compost?

2009-04-14T01:23:00.000-07:00

So you're a garden composter. You've learnt how to make compost. You've made, bought, borrowed or stolen a compost bin. You're adding garden waste and recycling kitchen scraps. Now the awkward bit - the wait... How long will it take to make the compost?

If you have a reasonably large compost bin (say 1 metre cubed), the chances are you could go on filling it indefinitely. As you add to the top, the garden and kitchen waste underneath will slowly be decomposing, composting and creating humus. As it does this the organic matter shrinks. That leaves you more room on the top, to add more garden and kitchen waste. The dilemma is, if you never run out of space for the garden waste, chances are you will just go on and on, adding more and never seeing the benefit of the rich garden compost you have made!

For those of you with smaller compost bins such as the beehive compost bin, or a kitchen composter, no such worries. You will run out of space relatively quickly and so automatically stop adding more garden waste and naturally wait patiently for your new garden compost to be created. In your case you will have discovered pretty quickly that you need at least two compost bins!

Time Limit for Creating the Compost Heap

Unless you have a compost bin you easily fill quickly, you'll need to set yourself a time limit for creating the compost heap. And, you will need to stick to it! The very best way to do this, is to keep a record of when you started your compost pile. Then, according to available space and time you expect to take to fill it, assign yourself a date when you will stop putting garden waste on that heap.

We have various compost heaps of different sizes from 1/2m cubed to 1m cubed. For the smaller compost piles I give myself 3 months in which to create the pile. For the larger, we give them 6 months of 'creation'. Once that date is reached we cap off the compost heap and start creating another.

'Capping Off' a Compost Heap

For those using sealed compost bins, this step is not required. But if you're making compost out in the open, for example in a wooden bay with no lid, you need to protect the compost heap from the elements a little.

Firstly, if its been dry throw on a bucket or two of water to moisten the whole heap.

Then add a layer of thick insulating organic matter. such as grass clippings or manure. This will keep the heap warm, and seal in smells so no vermin (or pets) are attracted to the compost.

If you experience heavy rain, cover with old carpet, plastic sheeting or an old tarpaulin to deflect the heaviest rainwater.

Note down the date of 'compost heap completion'.

Wait!

When will the Compost be Ready?

Okay, so how long you wait for the compost to be ready depends primarily on the following:

Climate - in warmer weather decomposition is faster.

Moisture - you need to ensure the compost heap is moist (not saturated) throughout the time you're waiting for it to develop into full blown garden compost.

Content Size - lots of thick woody things will take longer to decompose than lots of small sappy things.

Content Type - most garden and kitchen waste will break down pretty fast (within three months so long as it isn't too cold, the particles are well mixed and of relatively small size). But certain foodstuffs such as bones and egg-shells are pretty dense. These will take 6 months or more to break down. Manure from people (humanure) or animals from non organic farms may contain veterinary chemical residues. These will be gone in three months. But if you farm organically and sell your produce, you may need to adhere to Soil Association guidelines requiring you not to use such composts (including non-organic pig or poultry manure) for up to six months.

Yes, But How Long do I Need to Wait for My Compost?

As a rule of thumb. If it doesn't get too cold, and you've been a good garden composter, building a varied compost heap it should be crumbly hummus in three months. You may still see the odd egg-shell or bleached bone (in which case throw them on the next compost heap, and bash them up a bit before adding to heaps in the future), but overall your garden compost will be complete.

If you add manure from any omnivores or carnivores and you are unsure the heap has been working efficiently give the pile six months before using.

How to Tell the Compost Heap is Working Efficiently.

I recommend regularly having a cheeky look under the cover of your compost heap to see how its getting on. If it seems very dry you can add some water. If the compost seems very wet you can leave the cover off and let it dry out!

Your compost should get hot within the first month of you 'capping off' the compost heap. At times the compost can actually be dangerously hot so be careful. If you see steam, don't touch it! I have been caught out by decomposing grass clippings, which break down so quickly and give off such huge amounts of heat and steam, to burn the hands when checking the compost heap.

This heat is the thing that quickly kills off any nasty pathogens in the compost heap. Those pathogens will most likely come from food and manure. They're nothing to worry about so long as you remember strict hygiene rules when dealing with compost (you're not going to eat it, now are you?).

Cold Compost Tip: If your compost doesn't get hot, decomposition will still occur, but may take a little longer. This is particularly common in cool climates where the compost struggles to become a quick hot heap.

Once the compost has heated, it will cool again. At this point - when you see no more steam, you can turn the compost.

Turning a Compost Heap

Now, some people swear that you have to turn compost and others (like myself) swear you don't! Personally, if the compost is heating up nicely and decomposing I really don't see the point. But, a compost heap which isn't turned may run the (not too serious) risk of having non-decomposed matter around its edges. But, because we've 'capped off' the compost heap with garden waste which breaks down easily we shouldn't have that problem!

I never turn my compost heaps. Occasionally I do find the odd woody bit of matter around the edges of the heap that hasn't completely broken down. I don't see it as a major problem. I just throw any such bits and bobs onto the next heap.

But, if you really want to turn your compost heap. Here is how its done:

Pull everything out of your compost bin or compost making area.

Put everything back in your compost bin, or compost heap area.

Not complicated at all. But, you do need to make sure the stuff originally from around the edges of the heap, goes into the middle of your new one. And, conversely all the stuff originally from the middle of the heap, goes around the edges of the new one. Once the compost heap has been turned, you should find it will heat up again which will speed up decomposition.

Unless you have a compost heap which is free-standing and cold with no organic matter you can insulate it or cap it off with, I find turning the heap unnecessary.

Don't turn your compost heap unless you need to, and are going to do it thoroughly. Otherwise it will be a waste of time for a huge amount of effort.

When is My Compost Ready?

I hope this post helps. A well made compost heap should be ready in three to six months. But, any garden composter will vary due to site and contents. How long compost takes to be ready is highly variable. If you use plastic or wooden sealed compost bins you can be pretty sure the compost will be ready in three months, as they ensure the compost stays moist and warm.

Our compost heaps are built in open boxes made of pallets, so are halfway between a free-standing compost heap and compost made in a compost bin. In the summer our compost heaps take less than three months to break down, but in the winter it is four or five.

And when yours is ready grow some lovely potatoes like the ones above!

Garden Composter - Free Compost Accelerator

2009-04-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

Here at garden composter we enjoy watching the miracle of recycling garden waste and kitchen scraps into good garden compost. At the moment we have an automatic addition of compost accelerator or compost activator each week.

We add poultry manure to the compost heap every week when we clean out the chicken coop. Plus, we have a dry compost toilet which is manually emptied onto the compost heaps every few days. That means we get lots of nitrogen and bacteria that like to break down organic matter added regularly, throughout our compost piles.

I am aware that a composting loo is not the ideal solution for many gardeners hoping to activate their compost piles quickly. To be honest, I would not have gone down the compost toilet route until relatively recently. Using a dry composting toilet is no hardship and not the smelly nasty thing people often assume it to be. For us, though, it was an ideal solution on moving to a ruined farmhouse with no plumbing! Once we had fitted our plumbing and a conventional bathroom we had already got used to using the compost toilet and all the benefits of using human manure as a compost accelerator.

So, even though we do not have to use a compost loo, we still do. That means I get all the benefits of a compost accelerator without having to buy one in. You can, simply buy a powdered poultry manure, blood or bone-meal compost accelerator to ensure your compost bins work quickly and efficiently. That's what we did for several years.

Then, we discovered the beauty of urine as a compost activator. The brilliant thing about wee, widdle, pee or urine is that it is so safe to use. There are no nasty pathogens lurking in urine like there are in solid wastes. Plus, urine is actually the main supplier of nitrogen in manure of all kinds. So putting urine straight onto a compost heap is a great way of activating it.

If you have a man about the house make sure he urinates on the compost heap regularly. At least once a week, but once a day is better still. That ensures your compost heap always has a fresh supply of nitrogen to get things heating up quickly.

If you try adding lots of dry straw to a compost heap you will see how slowly it breaks down. But, if its straw from a stable which livestock have been urinating on, it will break down really fast. All compost makers want their finished garden compost to be made as quickly as possible.

There are no excuses if you use a closed compost bin either. You will just need to wee in a bottle first, rather than just urinating straight on the compost heap! Adding some natural urine compost accelerator is a cheap and easy way to ensure your garden composter works rapidly, no matter how course the other ingredients in the compost pile are.

No Garden? - Become a Bokashi Kitchen Composter

2009-04-11T08:52:00.000-07:00

NB The links below are for US Sales, for UK Bokashi Compost Bucket Sales - Click Here.

I know I am very lucky. We have loads of outside space so can set up huge compost heaps without it affecting how much space we have to garden or entertain. But lots of folks have smaller outside spaces to work with. And, much as they may like to be a garden composter, they struggle to find the room. I know actually using the garden is likely to take priority over recycling garden waste. So what do you do? You don't have to decide between composting waste and having room for the kids to play!

There are several options. Firstly go for a small purpose build garden composter like the beehive compost bins I'm such a fan of (purely for aesthetic reasons I admit). But, if even that size compost bin is not practical have you thought about inside compost solutions?

There are lots of worm-composting systems which it is reported can be used indoors. Now I have a bit of a thing about worms. And, as much as I see them as beneficial in the garden I have no desire to get up close and personal with a bucket load of the critters in my kitchen. Maybe you are less squeamish than I, in which case vermiculture, or worm composting is a serious possibility.

If however, you don't want to invite any more life forms into your kitchen perhaps you should take a look into the kitchen composter. I was amazed by these products. Having never been in the market for a kitchen composter I didn't really know a lot about them. But, more recently as my love of compost generally, and a desire to find out more widely about the subject has led me to research composting solutions more widely, I have to say I'm completely converted.

The kitchen composter doesn't have to sit indoors but its so small that is where it is ideally suited to be. The only issue I have with the whole process is that it really isn't a kitchen composter at all. It is in fact a kitchen waste fermentation system, which I think sounds much more exciting and techie! I know most people would be horrified about having kitchen waste fermenting indoors for weeks on end but every review of these has confirmed you don't get any odours from the kitchen composters. But then they are sealed to keep out air and ensure anaerobic fermentation.

What is a Bokashi Kitchen Composter?

A Bokashi Kitchen Composter is a bucket with a really well fitting lid. At the bottom of the bucket is a drainage tap so you can drain off any excess moisture which is created during fermentation.

Commercial products are pretty cheap but you could make yourself one by looking out for cheap, quality buckets with lids and adding one of those cheap plastic water barrel taps.

Bokashi is Japanese for 'fermented organic matter'. That's what you end up with in your kitchen composter bucket.

Using a Bokashi Kitchen Composter

Using the Bokashi composter system is really straightforward. The whole idea of this kitchen composting system is that, you introduce helpful microbes, yeasts and so on to the kitchen waste. The simplest method is to buy Bokashi starter which will be sawdust, wheat or rice hulls innoculated with all the good yeasts and bacteria you want to work on your kitchen waste.

First you put a layer of the bokashi starter in the kitchen composter bucket. Now add a layer of kitchen waste and sprinkle over some more of the starter. You continue using the kitchen composter in this way till full. Ideally you would save all the kitchen scraps through the day and only put them into the pail once a day. That way you don't keep opening the lid too often, which would expose the fermenting waste to the air. Also it means you layer the food waste and bokashi starter correctly.

Once the kitchen composter is full you seal and leave it alone for a fortnight. At the end of that time the kitchen waste will be fermented and pickled. It's quite odd because it doesn't look like compost at all. The physical appearance of the waste will be little changed, just a little pickled looking! But the waste is fermenting, and breaking down and will be full of the organisms to continue this process rapidly.

Once the kitchen composter has sat, sealed and full for a fortnight its time to empty the contents. Simply dig them into your garden soil (or indeed garden pots). Don't worry you won't need to dig huge holes every fortnight. Simply sprinkle the contents of the bokashi bin in a thin layer and cover with soil. After a month the area is ready for planting. The fermented kitchen waste will be broken down and the soil much enriched.

What is the Tap For?

As your kitchen waste ferments it is likely to produce liquid (think making sauerkraut, lots of cabbage becomes not so much cabbage and lots of cabbage juice). And, if you're adding tea bags and coffee grounds, or other wet food items to the bin, you'll end up with even more bokashi juice.

The tap, is so you can drain off the bakashi juice and either use it as a liquid plant feed, or tip it down the drain where its acidity will help it clean the pipes. If you have a septic system, the bokashi juice is said to be even more beneficial because you're sending all the good bacteria that like to break up waste, into your septic tank.

What Kitchen Waste to Put in the Kitchen Composter?

This is the most exciting bit. Lots of garden composters advocate only putting certain types of kitchen waste on a standard garden compost pile. The thinking is that if you put certain items (such as cooked food or meat) on the compost heap you will attract vermin. Now, this isn't the post to argue this particular point. Though I do feel very strongly that all organic kitchen waste should go on the compost heap and that the heap should just be made vermin proof. Otherwise I feel we're wasting the opportunity and goodness of recycling all our kitchen waste.

I digress (I feel an altogether different blog post coming!). The point is, because the bokashi kitchen composter is a sealed unit, and that you introduce all the good micro-organisms in to make sure the waste is broken down quickly, you can put any organic waste in.

That's great news. If you are using a Kitchen Composting System like Bokashi, you can put raw, cooked and processed foods of any kind in. Dairy, fish, meat, coffee grounds, tea bags, paper and tissues all go into your kitchen composter bucket. That makes a real difference to the amount of waste you'll send to landfill.

Where to Bury the Bokashi Bucket Compost?

This is the biggest issue with bokashi new users. No one really wants to be digging holes every fortnight. If you have a well stocked vegetable garden or flower borders one method is to simply uncover shallow trenches between your plants and tip the contents of the bokashi bucket there and top with soil. The plants will all send their roots towards all this new goodness.

The second, lazier option is to hide a bottomless bucket in the garden. Simply empty the bokashi bucket into the bottomless bucket and sprinkle over some soil. One month later remove the bottomless bucket to uncover a bucket shaped pile of broken down humus. This sounds like a real winner to me!

Would I Become a Bokashi Kitchen Composter?

Definitely, if I had less space and if I didn't already put ALL my kitchen waste (even the fish, meat, bones and dairy) on my outdoors compost bins. If we had problems with vermin I would consider the bokashi system, regardless of our space as a way of recycling the kitchen waste safely. But in that case I would just bung the contents of the bokashi bucket onto my compost heaps rather than bury them.

But would I buy a Bokashi Kitchen Composter? Honest answer is I'm not sure. They're not all that expensive but I think I might get creative with a cheaper plastic bucket instead. Even the bokashi starter can be made yourself, though I'm really not sure that would be worth the hassle.

But, for those with no garden, or a lack of space for a vermin-proof compost heap I defintiely think the bokashi kitchen composter route is a fabulous option.

Garden Composter - How to Make Compost with your Garden Compost Bin

2009-04-07T01:32:00.000-07:00

How to make compost is the big question! As already discussed at Garden Composter nature is making compost all the time. Nature is making it out of everything which was once alive. Moulds, bacteria, small organisms, insects, rain and sun are all acting on this organic matter to break it down. The constituent parts are then available for new living things to use, absorb, live or feed on. We need to make sure we use our garden composter to its full potential. Whatever kind garden compost bin you use, you need to know how to make garden compost with it.

When making garden compost at home, we want to do exactly the same, only much more quickly.

What to Put in the Garden Compost Bin?

The first key point to consider is perhaps what to compost? Now of course anything once alive can be composted. But lets be practical here, no deceased pets please! But the golden rule when considering what to put in the garden compost bin, should be 'was it once alive?'. If the answer is yes, it should seriously be considered for addition to your bin. We will look more closely at the different sorts of things you can compost in future posts. But at least think about composting kitchen waste, paper and cardboard, recycling garden waste and composting manure.

Variety - Layer the Contents of the Garden Compost Bin

The second key point about making good, rich hummus from your garden compost bin is that the contents should be varied. You really need to think about layering the compost bin. No, one thing should take up too much volume in a single lump. That way, lies fermentation, stagnation and failure. The biggest culprit is often lawn clippings. Grass is useful to give regular bursts of green, fresh mass to the heap. But in too large quantities it does have the rather nasty habit of condensing into a slimy mess, at best silage, at worst stinky stuff that stops the whole composting process working.

Always, always, always layer your additions to the garden compost bin. For the really keen garden composter with lots of space and time this may mean making lots of piles of different 'ingredients' and alternating their addition to the heap. For example collecting all the grass clippings into one pile, and sprinkling a little into the compost bin, after each batch of kitchen waste would be the ideal scenario. Alongside could be a pile of manure to sprinkle on top of that, followed by shredded cardboard and shredded hedge trimmings.

But lets be practical, most of us have neither the space or inclination to devote to our compost bins . All we need to do is avoid huge quantities of one thing. If you really cannot avoid putting an awful lot of grass on the heap in one go what about forking small pockets into the heap and putting the grass in those. Or add the grass clippings to the compost bin, but then fork it all up to dig in the grass and mix the whole heap as you go. Or you could save some kitchen scraps over a few days and add those as you add the grass. Best of all, maybe do your pruning the same day you mow and you can mix shredded woody matter with the grass! Or clear the leaves and add those too.

You see what I'm getting at, the garden composter needs variety. Whether you manage lots of piles of different compost building materials or just have a root around in the garden compost bin, when you add stuff depends on you. But the more you can make sure the compost bin is varied throughout the better, and quicker, your compost will be. Adding your ingredients to the bin in layers is the accepted 'best practice' for making compost.

Size of Compost Ingredients in the Garden Composter

Remember size matters! The smaller all the 'bits' in your garden compost bin are, the more overall surface area there will be. That means more surface area for the tools of decomposition; all those microbes and insects, to work on.

So whenever practical, shred, tear or chop anything you add to the compost heap. That way you let the whole thing work more quickly. This is particularly important for those ingredients that are slow to break down. Egg-shells for example are notoriously slow to decompose, but are full of minerals and texture useful for the compost. Make sure you roughly crush the shells before putting them on the heap. That way there is lots more surface area to get acted upon and you are a lot less likely to see egg-shells in the finished hummus!

It is good not to get too picky though. A few woodier, lumpier bits and bobs keep air flowing through the heap and stop it all compacting. So as ever, keep the compost varied!

Climate - Where is your Garden Composter?

The climate will have an important effect on your garden compost bins speed and efficiency at breaking down all that lovely rich garden compost. So it is important to think about insulating the heap from weather extremes. I don't mean you'll need insulation foam but you do need to be practical. If you are using a contained garden compost bin you have much less to worry about than those with open compost heaps.

If its bitterly cold and windy maybe a more solid structure would work better than say a wire cage surround. Bricks have good insulation value, with all their air holes and may be more suited to keeping in the heat than flimsy wood. If its hot and dry where you are, consider putting a tarpaulin over the heap to stop it drying out through evaporation. If it is continually raining a tarp could stop it getting soaked through! In more average weather an old carpet will let some moisture in, but also allow more to roll off the compost heap and stop moisture loss through evaporation.

You want the compost heap to be damp but fresh, not a stagnant smelly place. You want air to get in so mixing up all the ingredients so different densities and sizes of matter are spread throughout is the best method.

To keep the air circulating, stand the garden composter on open ground whenever possible. This speeds up the whole process as all the organisms vital to the success of your garden compost bin can be found in soil. Stand you bin on soil and those organisms can easily reach the compost. And, be sure to arrange some large matter at the bottom. A pile of twigs or a few bricks will allow air to get underneath the whole thing.

The main things to think about then when planning your garden composter are:

What to put in the compost bin
Varying the contents or layering the compost
Surface area of compost ingredients
Allowing air to circulate both in and around the compost bin
Allowing moisture in moderation into the compost bin.

I hope this has given you some tips for how to make compost with your garden composter, the main thing is not to get too bogged down in technicalities - nature does okay and so will you!

Small Garden Composters Start with a Beehive Compost Bin

2009-04-04T02:12:00.000-07:00

UK Beehive Composter Sales.

For a review of the best small composters and backyard tumblers for ideal for small gardens click to view newer articles.

Sadly, there are few stockists of wooden beehive compost bins in the US. The ones I have found have been far from well-made. But if you like beehive style looks, but don't mind long-lasting plastic Amazon have the Bosmere Garden Composter which may be of interest.

If you are a new to garden composting and have little space for a Garden Composter you may be concerned with how the garden compost bin will impact on the garden. I would recommend new home composters with small gardens to start with a beehive compost bin if possible. It is true that in many gardens the home made compost pile is often a rather untidy affair, and the bought garden compost bin is often not a beautiful option either, all brown or green plastic. In many situations this is fine, and indeed appropriate. But in smaller gardens particularly, where things cannot be hidden and every garden fixture and fitting has an impact on the whole, it is nice to achieve the garden recycling dream of home composting without detracting from the beauty of the garden. A wooden beehive compost bin will provide you with an effective garden composter while improving the beauty of your outside space.

It makes sense, in a small garden to have a relatively small garden compost bin. But it must still be practical. The compost bin must be large enough for you to take at least three to six months to fill. Then you leave for three to six months to decompose. During that time you need another compost bin to fill. If you only have one compost bin, you will need to take out the decomposed contents from the bottom of the bin regularly, while still continually adding to the top of the bin. This is possible but far from ideal. Two garden compost bins, or a dual chamber compost bin, is best. But I admit once you get the home composting bug, you well want more. Indeed we have four at present but in the future, who knows!

My first foray into the world of home composting was with a municipally sponsored, 200 litre capacity, plastic compost bin. I have to say it worked really well. The plastic stops the compost drying out and keeps things warm. The garden compost we got from our plastic bin was fine and crumbly and really gave me the garden composting bug. But that big plastic compost bin didn't look that great in the small urban garden we then had.

Local councils often sponsor compost bins and water barrels. Check with yours. That was how we got our first water barrel and plastic compost bin. It made both very cheap indeed.

The ugliness of those plastic compost bins is a turn-off for some though. Indeed I have friends with small gardens who just would not have one in the garden to spoil the view. Even though they like to be 'green' and 'eco' in other ways they couldn't bring themselves to recycle kitchen waste and recycle garden waste via such an eyesore! Daft I suppose, but true and far from rare thoughts, I imagine. Lets face it, as much as many of us like to lessen our impact on the earth we still have certain wants and needs. And, if yours is keeping the garden pretty and/or plastic free, the plastic compost bin and water barrel combo is not for you!

This is why I am such a fan of the wooden beehive composter. They are beautiful. Indeed I would love one, even though it would be totally impractical as we compost vast quantities of organic matter. They are just so attractive!

I think being able to buy a beautiful product is a great thing. If you aren't one of life's natural garden composters, happy with bins made of pallets, plastic and chicken wire, a touch of glamour may well motivate you. I can't see any reason why you wouldn't want to visit and regularly top up such a pretty garden compost bin! Surprisingly they aren't as expensive as I assumed they'd be either, and really do make a feature out of whatever spot in the garden they appear in.

I would always advise having as large a compost bin as possible and indeed composting as much garden, kitchen and animal waste as practical. I am the proud owner of a dry compost loo, so I know whereof I speak. But, for small gardens and just those new to home composting, I think getting a pretty compost bin is a great idea.

So many people think making garden compost is dirty, or difficult, or hard work, that for them, building an array of compost boxes is never going to be even a thought. But for anyone who starts home composting even just a few kitchen scraps and lawn clippings in a relatively small prebuilt compost bin, it is still a reduction in commercial composts sold, peat bog destroyed and landfill filled.

Thus, even though I will never have one, I thoroughly see the point of the beautiful, rustic wooden beehive compost bins and still lust after them in my girlier gardening moments. But for me the whole point of garden composting is to make as much hummus as possible so they would never be practical here.

I think they would make a great pressie for someone (with a pretty garden) who is yet to be converted to the merits of composting garden waste or kitchen scraps too. For those people will see 'what is compost?' quickly and through the rose tinted spectacles of someone with a particularly beautiful compost bin!

Sealed garden compost bins are great for composting without worrying about vermin or indeed children getting their hands on the kitchen waste. In wet climates your sealed bins mean you don't get the whole heap too wet (which would stop the microbes being able to function). They also prevent all the goodness leaching away. Sealed compost bins are equally fab in hot climates where the heap could dry out (microbes do need moist conditions just not saturated ones).

If I was just starting out garden composting or a looking for a small garden composter, I would definitely look into the wooden beehive compost bin option. Whether to improve the look of a small garden or because you are only composting kitchen waste on a small scale, they work well and look great.

Garden Composter - Do you Need a Compost Accelerator?

2009-04-01T01:02:00.000-07:00

Compost Activator

So you're a happy with your garden composter. You've got your garden compost bin slowly filling with garden waste and kitchen scraps. But you keep hearing mention of using a Compost Activator, accelerator or starter. Do you need one? What is it? Should you buy it? Is the compost bin doomed to failure if you don't have one?

What do Compost Accelerators do?

Compost accelerators (compost activators) speed up the first stage of garden composting. A mixture of bacteria, fungus and nitrogen give you compost bin a little spurt of activity to get your garden composter going. Maybe you use a compost accelerator already without even thinking about it. You might not use much but I bet you do use some. Sometimes called compost activators or compost starters too, these materials are designed to introduce helpful micro-organisms and nitrogen to your garden compost. The organisms are the things that get the whole miraculous process of decompostion going. So without them, yes the garden compost bin would fail to give you lots of lovely hummus. Nitrogen is needed by the organisms which process the compost.

But those microbes are all around us. The chances are some will have made their way into your compost bin already. But will the naturally occurring compost activators be enough to get the bin going? That depends! Sorry, but it does. If you have lots of dry, stable matter in your garden composter (like straw or cardboard), it is unlikely to degrade quickly without the addition of some quicker acting ingredient.

Do I Need a Compost Activator?

Whether there are enough of these microbes to get your garden compost bin acting quickly is for you to decide. The easiest way is to see how long it takes for your garden compost to become a pile of hummus. Once you stop adding new matter to the compost bin, you can gauge how well it is working. The compost pile should sink considerably as bulk is reduced and the composition will become less obvious as the whole pile turns into brown hummus. You should see a noticeable change after three months. But, after six months the garden compost should really be ready to use. It should be rich, crumbly and smelling faintly of damp woodland!

One thing to remember is that Compost Activators are not expensive and most are organic so maybe its worth trying one if you are undecided!

What Kind of Compost Accelerator?

Compost accelerator's can be bought easily. Usually they are pellets of animal manure, fish, blood or Bone Meal. Manure is probably the greatest activator for your garden compost bin. Pellets are more managable and indeed less smelly for small scale garden composting. You can even find pellets made from organic manures which is great for the organic gardeners out there. They are safe to handle, but they are compressed manure so I would still thoroughly recommend a good scrub of the hands after using them!

Personally I like the Liquid Compost Starter because they are tidier and more convenient to use.

In fact, that brings me on to something lots of people are concerned with. Basically a compost heap is a pile of old rotting stuff that you normally wouldn't want to touch with a barge pole! So is garden compost safe? Well, of course during the process of decomposition the heap may contain all sorts of nasty organisms. Indeed if you add manure to the heap there may be pathogens, veterinarian chemical residues and harmful bacteria or parasites in the heap. But as the heap decays so too, do all these problems.

The key to garden compost safety is not to handle it until it has decayed. If you do want to turn the compost, which in cooler climates can speed up the process, make sure you clean yourself up afterwards. Don't use a shovel on the heap you are then going to use in the chicken shed without cleaning it thoroughly. Or, you could transfer organisms from the garden compost bin to the chicken house.

The garden composter is not a dangerous thing but it makes sense to keep it contained where children and animals cannot get at it. Once the compost has broken down into hummus it is no more dangerous than garden soil. Just as garden soil contains lots of bacteria (most benign), so too will the hummus. Nothing to worry about though, just wash your hands after handling compost. Just the same as you would after doing a spot of weeding or anything else. Lets face it, you shouldn't be planning on eating the compost so its perfectly safe!

If you have room for a pile of animal manure this could be the very best compost accelerator. Manure is hot, it breaks down quickly and contains lots and lots of goodness. So adding a shovel of poultry manure every week to a garden composter will make the whole thing work hotter and quicker. You could think about composting pet bedding (from gerbils to goats) too as this tends to be covered in animal urine and faeces so provides a little bit of manure along with some bulk. Just make sure the bedding material is of an organic nature. And, I don't mean 'knit your own yogurt' organic, I mean made of things that were once alive, natural and not synthetic!

To compost pet waste is a good compost accelerator or activator. And, again it will save on landfill. But onmivores and carnivores do produce waste with possible risks to our health. So any such pet waste should be buried deep in the compost heap. In fact human manure is excellent as a compost activator but must be handled with care in a similar way. All manures may contain pathogens to some degree. They need to be buried deep in the compost heap and there should be care taken that excess rainwater run-off doesn't flow anywhere sensitive such as towards animal housing or highly used areas of the garden.

A more simple way to activate the compost heap, used by many is simply to get a friendly male to pee on it for you! Urine activates the heap but is a much safer product than faeces. We all know you can survive drinking urine, if you have too (I really would rather not). The same cannot be said for faeces which are full of things it is best to avoid!

All compost accelerators are high nitrogen additions to the heap. The nitrogen helps everything break down as it fuels the micro-organisms in the heap. Blood, fish and bone meal are all great nitrogen rich fertilisers which could be added to the heap as comost accelerators. If you were really desperate you could add a non-organic fertiliser but the introduction of artificial chemicals to the heap is not something I would recommend.

A sprinkling of soil or manure every so often, will introduce the microbes the heap needs. That's why I thought you probably already introduce them without even thinking about it. We're forever putting bits of soil in the garden composter, attached to the roots of plants we've dug up!

Garden Composter - What is Garden Compost?

2009-03-30T01:07:00.000-07:00

Well I suppose it would make sense to start at the beginning. The beginning for Garden Composter is the simple question of What is Garden Compost? A simple question with at least two answers, one also simple and the other never ending!

What is Garden Compost?
Put simply, compost is decomposed organic matter. So those leaves breaking down on the forest floor are compost, as too are the bodies at the cemetery. All organic matter lives, then dies and breaks down into different qualities of compost. That breakdown of organic matter is carried out by animals, plants, moulds, microbes, air and water, basically 'nature' or 'mother earth' depending on how whimsical you feel.

That was the easy answer, but the long answer is dependent on what kind of gardener you are. Do you make your own garden compost, and if so how? Or do you just buy it in bags from the store? Every gardener who is a fan of garden composting has a slightly different method. They will use slightly different ingredients in their garden composters. So everyone's garden compost is a bit different!

Garden soil tends to be a combination of crushed rock and mineral mixed up with hummus (the end result of your garden compost bin). Compost is the bulk within the soil but not necessarily the nutrient provider. Hummus improves the soil structure, allowing it to hold moisture and air.

The more hummus the soil has the better the structure. The soil will not be compacted, as some clay soils are apt to do. Hummus opens them out leaving air pockets which are so vital for the micro-organisms and insect life so vital to the health and vitality of the soil and eventually your plants.

Hummus is spongy and great at holding water so is vital for those with sandy soils. But, any soil will be improved by the addition of more hummus. Home compost is free and easy to create. There is no reason not to compost waste from the home and garden. Much easier to trapse to the bottom of the garden with garden waste or kitchen scraps to compost, than sort them out and place in bins for a destiny in municipal landfill.

Brilliantly, many local authorities across Europe and the US are recycling organic waste on a commercial scale. But if you have space for even the smallest beehive compost bin it makes sense to keep your garden waste for yourself and make your own garden compost. Your compost will be a very locally sourced product and free to boot!

Compost or hummus provides the soil with slow release nutrients. The variety of nutrients will depend entirely on what the compost originally was. For example composting a nitrogen rich poultry manure, will give a nitrogen rich compost.

The very best garden composts are made from a wide variety of ingredients so the resulting hummus is full of the widest variety of nutrients. The hummus which is the end product of the garden composter should be spongy in texture and full of all the trace elements needed in the garden.

So when you are making compost at home the very best approach is to put as many different things in your garden compost bin, as possible. That way you will get the widest variety of goodness to put on your garden.

It is worth telling friends and neighbours if you are starting garden composting. That way you can get more 'food' for the compost bin from them. Composting is the ultimate in garden recycling. And, the more you can recycle to the composter the better the compost will be.

The biggest problem most people face is not being able to fill the garden compost bin fast enough. The whole point of garden compositng, is to improve on what nature does all day every day. The earth tends to compost slowly. Moulds, bacteria, insects, scavengers all slowly turning what was once alive, into hummus to feed the next generation. If you leave a pile of dead leaves in the corner of your garden, eventually nature will break them down. But since they're dry and exposed to the elements, along with being one solitary type of matter, the process will be very slow. Indeed you may find they've all blown away before you get a decent leaf mulch!

Garden composting means helping nature out. Gathering all the dead matter you want to recycle into garden compost, and then protecting it from the elements will speed up the process no end. Also using as wide variety of ingredients for your compost bins will introduce lots of different organisms that work together to make your compost useful in no time.

When carried out successfully garden compost is a beautiful, nutty product that improves the fertility and productivity of your garden. To the successful gardener, composting is a way to save money, work with the environment, recycle and reduce waste. Perhaps most importantly it is a way of ensuring the garden remains productive over the long term. If we are forever harvesting crops we literally reduce the soil bulk and soil vitality of our garden. You can see this in practice as over the years the actual level of soil on a vegetable plot will sink. Maybe more importantly crop yields and performance will falter unless something is done.

Although garden compost is not particularly rich (say in comparison with an organic fertilizer) in nutrients immediately available to plants, it is a feeder as well as bulker for the soil. The nutrients locked up in the compost will be 'slow release' nutrients which means putting composted matter on the garden, means feeding in the long term. This will promote tough plants which are fully developed and strong, not the sappy growth susceptible to disease which quick release fertilizers can give.

The soil life; microbes, bacteria, worms and so on will pull down the compost into the soil where it can do even more good. Best of all you don't have to dig it in!

See I said the answer to 'What is Compost?' was a long one! for some people compost is a sad pile of leaves and grass clippings, fermenting in the corner of the garden. But, for the successful gardener, compost is a useful, spongy hummus and a great way to recycle all manner of garden and kitchen waste. Make sure the latter is the answer to 'What is Compost?' for you by looking after your garden composter!

Garden Composter

2009-03-28T00:02:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Garden Composter. This will be a site devoted to all that is great about garden composting. We shall look at different types of garden compost bin, ways to make a compost heap, how to compost and what to put in your compost bin.

We will be taking in some manure on the way too. Hey why not? Why use manure in the garden compost bin, how to ensure manure is organic (and do we need to worry) and where to get manure.

There are countless different styles of commercial garden composter available, so we'll have a look at some of those too. Along the way we'll stop by and have a look at some simple compost bin plans if you would rather make your own!

We can look at kitchen composters, wormeries, bokashi, the list goes on and on...

Home composting is the future for sustainable gardening. Reducing our reliance on outside resources while reducing our volume of waste sent to landfill. Usind a garden composter will save you money while improving your garden and potted plants.

Welcome to the future - it's green and it's compost! So get to your garden compost bins please!

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2009-03-12T05:01:00.000-07:00

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