We made dirt. We bought a tumbling composter last year and we've been throwing crap in it ever since. Today was the first time I've taken anything out of it. Normally, I wouldn't find dirt all that exciting, but it's cool to know that the nice nutrient rich food I just gave my garden would have otherwise become garbage.
It was interesting to see what stuff did and didn't break down. In addition to the normal organic scraps, we tossed some other things in there. A couple experiments were a wine cork and a wooden french fry fork (from Belgium). Both still looked brand new. I had also tossed some compostable cutlery, and it all decomposed. We tossed some shredded paper in there early on, and it composted pretty well except that it formed into small clay-like balls that I needed to break up by hand. I also found several mango pits. They didn't break down completely on their own, but I could easily crumble them with my hands. Same with corn cobs. Peach pits didn't break down much at all. Neither did some small branches that we put in.
Now our composter is just about empty and I'm ready to get back to tossing our would-be garbage in there.
Tumbling composter..Do you have a picture?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteIt's probably hard to tell the size from that picture, but I bet it's around 3' tall. We had to get the tall one (9.5 cubic feet) because they were all out of the smaller ones at the time.
I Like this... did you have to prepare it? special 'starting dirt' and worms etc? Is it expensive?
ReplyDeleteHave you put cooked food in it? I've heard that cooked food doesn't break down properly...
It was pricey for what it is. I think over $200. It's possible to build one yourself too. The barrels can be had pretty cheaply and then you need to build a frame. And you could build a small one easily too I bet out of a bucket.
ReplyDeleteAs far as preparation, I tossed some dirt in the bottom. I don't know if that helped or not.
We've probably put a limited amount of cooked veggies in there. We don't actually have many leftover cooked veggies. They would need to be veggies without butter or other fatty type stuff. And meat is a no-go.