compost tumbler

I really want to compost and have a new tumbler.My question is what do you begin composting? I intend to use kitchen waste and vegetation but what is the first into the tumbler? I have a paper shredder and have that to contribute.I guess my question is shouldn't there be some big amount before day to day kitchen scraps and bits and pieces?

I had a compost tumbler and couldn't get it to work. I gave it away. I think a pile on the ground works better. Hopefully someone can tell you how to use it. I can't.
Betty

Compost tumblers are great for mixing soil and not composting. You need to have the bacterias from the soil to enter your mix to make it break down. Probably if you add a bunch of dirt you will get action but it is much easier to use the ground and flip it once or twice to make excellent compost. Just refer to any thread here and it will tell you how to do it right.

Amen. I added a bag of compost (maybe half a gallon) and even that didn't help. The temperature won't stay up, and aeration is close to nonexistent. I'll use it for other things, but Sofer convinced me to do it in piles and I'm having MUCH better luck. It needs to be on the ground.

My tumbler said to go 50/50 on the green and brown, and I tried it. It heated for a while and then just stopped. I can get it to start up again, but then it gets too green, and then... it's circular. If you do come up with the right way to do it, PLEASE post your recipe. In the meantime, this is the second load from the tumbler I'm dumping into the pile. I will say it does make a lovely tea.

Hey, you found a use for it, that I never thought of. Compost tea is great stuff. But if one puts one's compost pile on the ground, the worms and bacteria come running. -- or whatever they do to get around. I might add that, in my experience, the bigger the pile, the more heat. ( of course the more green, the greater the heat as well). But even if your compost on the ground barely heats at all, it will eventually make compost, thanks to the worms and bacteria. Not sure the same is true of the barrels because they aren't touching the soil.
I was raised to believe that dirt was dangerous. I now have a great deal of reverence for it.
Betty

Our ancestors, our grandfathers, and mothers all ate lots of dirt when they picked up their food with dirty hands and dirty food. We need this in our diet to make our immune system healthy and growing. Dirt is my friend and a part of my weekly food. We are focused on staying too clean and wash too much. Each bacterial challenge, and "whatever" trains our T cells to attack daily.

tumblers need warning label " does not meet gardeners standards " LOL

When I read your reply Soferdig, it brought back memories of running into my grandfathers garden and sitting in one of the rows eating all the cucmbers and tomatoes dirt and all and loving every morsel of it...Im a pretty healthy person so I think all the little microbes that helped me become immuned really helped...I agree with our society being way too dirt free ....Judy

My neice's both are tired of my stories about eating dirt. I always teased them cause they were raised in the city and my sister kept them out of dirt. Then I took them on a hike to a place on the river where you had to walk through mud and slime just to get to the beach where we swam. You should have seen their smiles when we got into a mud fight! I'll never forget. We walked back through the mud barefooted.

that is a great story Steve :)

Contrary to most of you I have had good luck using my compost tumbler. I really think the construction of the tumbler is the key. Mine has ventilation screens on the ends and in the side. Directions say to turn it 5 times a day, I don't remember to do it that often. I don't fill it more than half full and turns easily. It is beginning to show its age tho, I've had it at least 10 years. I don't try to make compost in it during winter.

I use shreds that my fellow makes from garden waste, manure, leaves if I have them, alfalfa pellets, kitchen waste, once in a while have grass from lawn, (but using a mulching blade on the mower lets most of grass go back into the lawn, other than two or three times scattering some Planters 2 the lawn has received no fertilizer). I do throw a shovel full, or several, of dirt into the mix

It was great this morning to see and smell that the wind yesterday scoured out the smoke from the valley. No rain tho.

Ruth, you got the right kind. I got a smaller one (okay, a cheaper one) that's just a plastic bin on top of a plastic curved jug with rollers. Another lesson in you get what you pay for.

I'll keep trying.

When I got this load of topsoil and started spreading it, I got dirtier than I've been since I was ten years old. It felt SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good! I have a co-worker whose wife won't let their 4 yo out in the yard -- because he might get dirty. So sad. He's already allergic to a bunch of things.

I think cleanliness is good, but it's separated from godliness by a layer of dirt.

OK Donna you are the best. I am going to get a broken down (big) cement mixer and put a lid on it and have the timer turn it on and off 5 times a day. That is my composter, soil mixer, and cement mixer all in one. Every gardener needs all of these. LOL

Rutholive, thank you for your comments. That was exactly what I wanted to hear!

I let my kids go nahked in our yard. Rarely do they were shoes, and licking rocks is a great activity at our house , they also like riding there bikes in my compost pile. Were weird.

Steve you've got a good thing going there with the timer. Maybe I should try to get smart like you and install some kind of timer. but I kind of like turning it by hand and opening the door to check on how everything is looking inside.

Hey it rained for a couple of hours this afternoon. Was wonderful. First rain in more than three months. Most of course has evaporated by now.

We got over a 1/2 inch of rain in slow drizzle and a couple of down falls. Everything is soaked and happy. Got all of your smoke out of our air. Did your fires slow down. We are going close to freezing tonight. 34F. Yes I am never home long enough to consistantly turn the to be composter. So I will need a timer. Havent found the right mixer yet. The Mountain trader comes out tomorrow. I will keep looking.

wow you are getting cold already. DH told me Utah might get snow on the weeked ? well that job was short.
sue

Our smoke has dissapated for the moment. Almost as cold here 36 this morning and myu gh is not ready for occupancy. Must get out there and finish cleaning. It doesn't get used during summer.

Steve I mentioned on another thread that my pinus densiflora, oculis Draconis , Dragon's Eye Pine, has just died. I realized it wasn't looking too happy the past month but now is definely dead. It was 8 or 9 feet tall, and had been in place for 10 years. I really hate losing it. Actually lost leaders and/or branches on several trees or shrubs this summer. I think due to weird weather all year.

I think that conifers transfer their moisture slowly to the top of the tree and I think the last few years are responsible than this year. Mine hardly piched out last year and now they are but they are more stressed this year. Who knows, sorry about the pinus. I have many ponderosa and some that look healthy suddenly die. No beetle holes and sudden death. I think nature wants room to grow the big ones.

I am ready, (I think), to start composting. I am looking to buy a Tumbler and a Leaf/Twig Shredder. Any ideas on best buys? Thanks for your comments. BTW this is my first post. I have read and learn lots of things on Dave's Garden. I also noticed that these are the nicest people with the best ideas!!
Thanks again. gayle

I have a Mantis compost twin tumbler. I put mostly yard waste in it. You need warm weather to make it work best. I use it as a addition to the compost I buy. You need a lot of green some brown heat and regular rotation. Some water will help also. I also put a lot of alfala meal in the mix as well. I do not get a lot out of mine admit. Maybe 5 cubic ft a season. I buy most of my compost bulk. I get 1 cubic yard for $30.

Soferdig---- It depends on the composter,its size and how it is set up. Where I buy my compost the composter barrel is 50ft long and 10 ft in Dia and is sheathed with 4 inches of insulation. It is located in a large metal inclosed building as well. They put 55 tons of turkey barn droppings in that thing and mixed with corn cobs ground to the size of pea gravel. The drum turns one revolution every 17 minutes 24 hrs a day. In 4 days you have finished compost of a very nice texture emerge at the other end. They sell tons and tons of the stuff. The reason for the ground up corn cobs is water retention after it is plowed under in the fields.

I have a Home Gardener Compost Tumbler, Have had it and used it for 10 years now. I never kept track of how much I made in a season. I don't try to use it in the winter. I also have a BCS shredder that is powered by my more than 10 year old BCS garden tractor. Haven't used the Garden cultivator for several years now. just the shredder. If I can be of more help just ask.

Donna

Welcome, gallopingayle! Don't hesitate to ask anything, and I do mean anything! You'll find a gazillion different opinions here, and some sound advice.

I had very bad luck with the envirocycle tumbler. Due to critters, they had to get rid of airholes, and I don't know how well it worked with the airholes but mine did NOT make compost. I'm thinking the bigger the better if you get a tumbler. I've gone back to the very reliable piles and that's what works best for me. The tumbler sure is a nice idea, though, and some folks have great luck with it.