Who loves their composter?

I need to know who has a composter they love and any tips on composting!
Thanks - Judi

Judi, my composter is a 6' stock tank that the bottom rusted out so DH used his cutting torch and cut the bottom out and buried it. I just throw all the stuff in over the winter and then in the spring DH goes in with a shovel and turns everything over.
Do I love my composter? Well I wouldn't say that! LOL!

Susan105

Its funny you started this tread Judi, My DH and I where just talking about getting one of those drums that you can turn by hand, and have compost in 14 days. It heats up to 160* But my big Q on it is, Does it get hot enough to kill weed seeds.
not happy with what I have been doing, takes to long.

I have a big green rubbermaid composter. I like it. I just throw things in there including all food waste. I have red worms in there. Everything just disappears and I hardly ever take the soil out. Don't know where it's going. ^_^

I have spent many years in Composting and the typical roller composter does not make anything but mushy poop. Composting requires oxygen, soil bacteria, and a place for the moisture to go and all of these are absent in most composters that roll. The ones placed on the ground and have openings for air work very well. The only thing is so does any device to keep it in a pile. I would suppose if you rolled your compost pile every week you would have rapid conversion.

We just have a big pile, that I turn with the tractor as often as I can. I would love the idea of a "contained" area, but our yard is too big to try to keep everything we want to compost in a small area.

In our Eastern Washington yard, we tried some of the circular plastic fence types with the holes, but the world is so dry on that side that the stuff just seems to sit there.

I will tell you that the result of the stuff that I turn with the tractor is well worth the effort! It still will germinate some seeds from the mix... not usually weeds though but ususally some babies of the more agressive self sowing plants in the garden, but the plants that we top dress with it or the seedlings that we plant in it THRIVE!

Tills I was thinking about getting the same kind that you are considering.

I should have mentioned that I have a small city yard so anything too big wouldn't work. Willow, would you mind posting a photo of yours? Where in the world is the composted stuff going?

Every time I fill up my 'yard waste' garbage can I feel badly that I am not using the stuff. And I keep buying compost from the nursery. Kind of silly and I would rather use that money for plants!

I agree with Steve on the roller, I had one and wound up taking it to the dump. It definitely doesn't do what they say.

Rarejem, I grow Sunflowers in our pit! There gets to be too many so we transplant some and leave about a doz or so and they THRIVE too! It looks funny, but who cares it's colorful!
Susan105

Judi,

I have two Earth Machines that I purchased through Metro (here in Multnomah Cty.) They used to have them available only at special fairs in the spring but it looks like they are now available anytime. $35.00. They work well and my garbage can is now too big. I am not conscientious (that was easy to spell in the sixties) about layering or aerating and still get good black delicous soil. The worms look happy too. Here's the link to info.

www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=557

Z

I got an Earthmaker Composter last fall. It still hasn't gotten much of a workout, but it seems to be working just fine with the kitchen scraps and chipped pruning debris. Of all the composters I considered before ordering, this system seemed the most logical. You put stuff in the top, then move the composting material down through compartments until it's ready to shovel out from the bottom. I think for routine garden debris, it will be sufficient, but for the big leaf extravaganza in the fall, it's not likely to be big enough. I get buried in leaves and pine needles after the first big blow in October. Here's a link to the company website. http://www.earthmaker.net/

My old composter was just one of those big square bins. It was a PIA when I needed to turn it's contents. The Earthmaker is much easier, but still a bit of a chore. So far, however, I like it.

Judi, I am glad you started this tread, before I went out and bought that thing. I have learn alot. I just have to fix mine to be more useful. I do not have a tractor (wish I did) to rotate it. I have piles everywhere no way to move it to one location.
I guess I need to see Willows, and have 3 to 4 bins. 1 each for the sections of my yard.

My relationship with my composter is more Platonic.

Want to explain ????

Victor - I could fall in love with anything that takes whatever scraps I give and returns it back to me in a higher form. That includes men.

MichaelZ - Thank you for that information. This is very good news. I am going to get one of those tomorrow. For that price how can you go wrong? Do you put worms in yours? Tilly maybe your county has the same program?

Judi, Here is your request.

And open, not much activity this time of year.

I was talking with a neighbor and she said to stick your kitchen scraps in the freezer in a bowl or bag and dump them in the composter every few days. Apparently the freezing breaks the stuff down and it composts more quickly. It also eliminates the need for a pail in the kitchen. Has anyone tried this?

Willow you eat a lot of bananas! LOL
How do you get the stuff out of the bottom?
Thanks so much for taking the photos - your neighbors must think you're a little strange!

The sides pop-off also. There is no bottom on it. Now why should my neighbors THINK I'm strange, they know I am. My DH eats all those bananas. I have an old corningware coffeepot on my counter that holds about three days worth of stuff.

Lordy! Anyone interested in one of the Earth Machines here in WA should talk one of the Portland members into getting it for them. I thought it looked like a slick thing for our eastern yard, and did a little digging on the web to see if they were available locally. Found a King County resource for them but they wanted $95!

Susan, bet your pile topped with sunflowers is lovely!

JamesK--we had a worm farm that worked in a similar manner to your Earthmaker, and it did work excellently. Way better than trying to stir stuff in a box!

Well you DH is not short on potassium! I like the fact that there's no bottom on it. So when you're turning the stuff can you tell that there is good compost at the bottom and then you remove a side and take it out? How long does it take to make compost?

Judi, the worms and other hard working critters just showed up. As they say, compost happens. :-) If I were more attentive and used compost additive and layering and aerating I am sure I would have faster results. I am lazy and really prefer to mostly let nature do her thang. I do aerate on occasion and keep it sponge moist in the summer months. True composter folks would probably ex-communicate me. :-) Z

I'm with Z. I like and imitate your style of composting. Anywhere you leave stuff it will rot. You don't need to get hyper about it. My DH took it out once, dumped it in a spot and put a wood pile on top of it. Then he told me what he had done. Later we removed the wood pile and the shrubs I planted there are doing well. I have taken out pails full when I need some for planting amendments. This year, since I'm trying to be good, I will open it up and see whats in there. In the summer the stuff disappears quickly. Last time I looked in there was good compost more than halfway up.

Well I tend to be more on the lazy side so I'll 'let it happen' and see how it goes. Z - why have you been just lurking and we haven't heard from you before? At least I haven't.

Much easier to turn a pile on the ground than to turn a pile in a composter.

Hmmmmm. If it's a pile on the ground do you just make some sort of fence/edge and throw the stuff in? Does it work as fast as a composter?

Much faster I think and much easier. I have mine in a rail area and just stack it. Though I process over 3 to 6 yards a year.

An open pile looks better to me than a big plastic thing. My pile would be pretty small. I've changed my mind and I think I will go for this open method. Do you ever have to cover it if there's too much rain? We have that problem here...

How often do you turn it, Steve?

The caveat I would have on the open pile method would be critters. If you are tossing kitchen veggie waste it could attract raccoons and rats. The can also helps contain the odor. There is a family of raccoons in my neighborhood that is pretty aggressive and fearless. They bloodied up my neigbor's yellow lab. They are protected here and the only solution is calling in the pros or live trapping (with a permit from the county) and taking them out to a rural environment. The Whitehouse had an infestation and as far as I know they have only captured one.

Not to get off topic, but has anyone had experience getting rid of these tanacious critters?

Z

MichaelZ where do you live? I'm in the SE 34th & Hawthorne area. I do not want raccoons!!! I have been through that before. They are certainly pests.

I'm out by Multnomah Village. More wildlife area here but still pretty urban. Photo of the gang in the cedar tree in my front yard attached.

They are a lot cuter that they deserve to be!

OMG MichaelZ--that is a passel of Raccoons! They ARE cute, but they are a pain in the butt! We don't have quite as much of a problem with them at my house now (think maybe the coyotes or the cougar might get them?) even though we are more wooded here than we were in Federal Way. When I lived with my folks in FW, we live trapped and hauled out over 30 of the little buggers, and I still NEVER saw anything like your tree grouping!

I went into work late today and was able to catch the head gardener from the Woodland Park Zoo on NPR today. He like Messenger (harpin) and said that they saw good results with it, but that they stopped using it because they went organic and don't consider it organic. The thing that does pertain to this thread, though, is that they recommend spraying your roses with compost tea to control black spot. And a caller called in to say that she had recognized a difference on her roses by doing so. Not a small feat for those of us on this side of the mountains.

While I had this group trapped in the tree Momma Raccoon was trying to lure me away from her brood by posing on the fence. They probably live across the street where there is a vacant house. About all I can do is try to discourage them from being in my territory. Sort of like trying to discourage gophers I guess. Or bluejays.

Raccoons are not the only critters you want to keep out - rats, mice, opossums, dogs, cats, raccoons - bascially anything hungry - WILL come if you put out any food products uncovered. Judi, I highly recommend that you get something very sturdy if you're going to put in food waste. These guys have teeth and claws and won't hesitate to use them to get in to your stuff. You might be able to get away with making a wire bin if the wire is heavy gauge enough, though.

And raccoons will do a nasty job on the dogs and cats, especially the males. Makes me shudder to think about it.

Wow, MZ. That is a lot of raccoons. I have them here, but they mostly stay outside of the fenced area. My vet told me that you can sort of domesticate the females, but that the mature males travel in pairs and that they are vicious and they are highly septic animals, so any scratch a dog or cat gets is likely to get infected. It's too bad they're so cute . . .

I have a dog and 2 cats and I don't want any other creatures coming to visit so I am back to leaning toward the bin from the county that MichaelZ suggested. If for some reason I can't get one of those I will get the Rubbermaid one.
Thank you everyone for your help - and critter photos! I almost got one of the drums that you turn by hand so I am glad to have all of your opinions!

Compost tea recipes. The discussion today recommended augmented your compost to feed the good funguses as well:

http://www.douggreensgarden.com/recipes-for-compost-tea.html