Compost Machines
 

So my wife and I are starting a garden and we want to compost for it. We don't have a lot of land so there is no good place for a compost pile. Has anyone used a compost machine? I have seen one that is an indoor (nature mill). Has anyone used this? I have seen a few other types for sale that seem to be rotating drums. Does anyone have any advice on what to get to urban compost?

Re: Compost Machines
 

Hmm. Composting can be tricky with limited space. I haven't used any of the machines but I am not really a big fan of paying quite a bit of money to do something that should basically be free. Just like composting toilets I bet these machines cost too much and don't work as well as they should.

I would recommend red worms in a bin, I remember doing this as a kid and it worked. You should be able to find directions online.

Or you could get an empty food grade barrel and cut the bottom out, drill holes in the side for ventilation and place it out of the way somewhere in your garden area. Tip it over and scoop from the bottom when you want to harvest the compost. Only problem with these is the volume of stuff you can compost is limited. If you get a barrel that matches your garden decor it can be quite inconspicuous though.

Maybe some of the stuff you want to compost can go straight in the garden? I usually use grass clippings as mulch during the growing season and turn them under in the fall or next spring.

Hopefully some of this helps.

Re: Compost Machines
 

Those drums are not worth it. What you need is a compost bin. You can either make one yourself out of wood or purchase them. The ones you purchase are convenient because they come apart sectionally which makes the turning process much easier. You can buy those for about $80. If you do it scientifically you can produce fresh compost every 4 months or so. I wouldn't recommend using garbage from the kitchen. That stuff you can bury in holes and plant around later.

Re: Compost Machines
 

i have a few worm bins. i just use a 5 gallon bucket and throw in -
* food scraps
* dry leaves
* water

+ worms - nightcrawlers & earthworms.

surprisingly, it doesn't smell much. the result is normal worm castings, very high quality soil that can be diluted with sand or something for better drainage.


in order to do hot composting - or maybe call it "pile composting", in case it's a pile and it's not hot - you need at least 4 cubic yards.

i did one this last year and the base measured about 6 feet by 7 feet, 4 feet high.

if you're doing it on the ground, the animals (slugs, worms, bugs) have the access to the bottom of the pile. in my pile this last year, i had a temp probe in the middle. it got up to about 130 F, too hot for earthworms.

but once it gets down to about 80 then they really like it. that happened after about 3 weeks. seems like then is when the worms move in and help out with the composting.

if it was me i wouldn't want to do pile composting in an area less than 4 x 4 feet. it's easy to end up with a smelly mess in a small area, which isn't fun, and i think gardening should be fun, in a dirt-under-the-fingernails kind of way.

i would just go with the worm composting buckets, if i had limited space.

Re: Compost Machines
 

There is nothing easier than composting browns and greens. If you have leaves and if you have grass clippings, you are good to go. Although fall is over, so brown material is now harder to come by. The thing to do is to bag your leaves in the fall for the next summer. Make sure they are bagged dry, so they won't start rotting.

Re: Compost Machines
 

You could have a look at Bokashi:

http://www.bokashi.com.au/How-Bokashi-works.htm

Videos
Some one talking about using one.

How to make you own:

How to make Bokashi: