Compost tumbler

[Darth Griffin]

Arizona finally got its summer rain last month, which always causes the ground to explode with grass and weeds. With that happening I quickly got one of those spinning compost barrels, scooped up my virgin compost pile and dumped it in. I suddenly realized that getting it off the ground eliminates problems with weeds and weed killer overspray, but now worms won't be able to get at it. Does it just take longer to break down the materials? Should I just kill the weeds and put it back on the ground? We probably won't see rain again until at least February.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

how about a small pile to attract some worms and then add it to your barrel, they will multiply, you would only need a few.

 

[Darth Griffin]

I just remembered that my mother-in-law is vermicomposting. I'll have to run over and get some worms from her.

 

[MiTmite9]

Arizona finally got its summer rain last month, which always causes the ground to explode with grass and weeds. With that happening I quickly got one of those spinning compost barrels, scooped up my virgin compost pile and dumped it in. I suddenly realized that getting it off the ground eliminates problems with weeds and weed killer overspray, but now worms won't be able to get at it. Does it just take longer to break down the materials? Should I just kill the weeds and put it back on the ground? We probably won't see rain again until at least February.

In my world, a major part of growing your own is so that you can create and nuture healthier plants and harvest healthy food(s). Using weed killer in one's garden is counterproductive. Pesticide/herbicide-free is the way to go.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I would think having opening where spores and flying insects can arrive is easiest. If you are in a pot with a plant you cannot do things as if you were in ground. Same for compost. Worms are the same idea. I got tickled thinking about you driving across town for a worm! Lotsa ways to make compost and the worms are waiting to finish what you give them to eat. We have the bait worms, the evil asian jumpers, and they eat the compost to nothing. I had roses high above clay in a bark and manure mound and they are literally in clay ground and choking now so I have to dig 30 bushes up and reset. Thanks worms!

 

[GFTL]

I've tried composting several ways. Always seems like a lot of work. This year when I harvested my "compost" I stored it in totes with holes in the bottom. When I opened the totes after a couple of months later they looked like worm bins and the compost was really broken down. There were some worms in the compost when I put it in the totes but there were thousands when I reopened them. I have a large compost tumbler but I converted it to a compost sieve and just use compost bins now.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I don't know what 'totes' are, and google is no help, but I use compost bins that are basically open ended cylinders with a lid. Worms find their way in through the bottom, but I found that rats did as well, so I have taken to standing them on a piece of aviary wire. I try to stand them on the next bit of ground I am going to turn over and start using, so all the stuff that seeps out of the bottom softens and fertilises it.

 

[GFTL]

I don't know what 'totes' are, and google is no help, but I use compost bins that are basically open ended cylinders with a lid. Worms find their way in through the bottom, but I found that rats did as well, so I have taken to standing them on a piece of aviary wire. I try to stand them on the next bit of ground I am going to turn over and start using, so all the stuff that seeps out of the bottom softens and fertilises it.

Totes are those rectangular bins with the lids you get at the big box stores. I just drill some 1/2" holes in the bottom for drainage and make sure the material isn't totally dry. Worms and microbes need some moisture.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Totes are those rectangular bins with the lids you get at the big box stores. I just drill some 1/2" holes in the bottom for drainage and make sure the material isn't totally dry. Worms and microbes need some moisture.

The english to english translator says totes are large single thinwalled boxes as big or bigger than a laundry hamper but solid walled with a lid. Popular for storing Christmas decor in the USA.

 

[GFTL]

The english to english translator says totes are large single thinwalled boxes as big or bigger than a laundry hamper but solid walled with a lid. Popular for storing Christmas decor in the USA.

Yeah that's it. Usually black bottom w/ yellow top around $8-$9.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Wish we had them. My bins are around 200 litres, and on the open market cost about £40, but our local authority gave us a deal a while back where we got them for £10, that's about $13 rather than $50+ They figure it is cheaper to sell them cut price than collect it as garbage and process it.

 

[DiggersJo]

I got these on Amazon Oliver, couple of holes in the top and bottom and they work fine, and they come in different sizes . I went for the medium 85l , but have x3 to rotate them.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Can't see anything on UK Amazon, but I did find a cheap compost bin that I realised was sheet plastic on a wire frame when I enlarged the picture. I have a large roll of left over chicken wire and lots of sheet plastic I have saved from packing 'in case'. Reckon I can do something similar, but I'll put the wire on the outside. Free, I like that.

 

[GFTL]

Can't see anything on UK Amazon, but I did find a cheap compost bin that I realised was sheet plastic on a wire frame when I enlarged the picture. I have a large roll of left over chicken wire and lots of sheet plastic I have saved from packing 'in case'. Reckon I can do something similar, but I'll put the wire on the outside. Free, I like that.

I am only using the "totes" to store "finished" compost. That where the worms did a lot more breaking down.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I'm looking to put stuff through the mower, at the moment it is stacked in halved leylandii trunks, two one way two the other, but if I chop it it will leak out the gaps. By chopping it though I will get much more in, and all the broken edges leave access for bacteria and spores, so composting is much quicker. Leylandii is great for this sort of thing, rot won't touch it, has to be good for something