Compost Tumblers

Compost Tumblers.

Deep dark, rich compost in just a few weeks! Wow, what an appealing message for any gardener. Whether you grow flowers, vegetables, herbs or houseplants, compost is "black gold" in the garden. As a kid we never had enough of it, and we couldn't make it fast enough. I remember when my grandmother started to see the first ads for the new compost tumblers, these ads would say; you could make a steady supply every couple of weeks. She wanted one but they were very expensive, so my grandfather built her one from a 55 gallon steel drum with a hole cut in the side of it with a latch. So you could put the material you're goanna compost in it. He built a frame and attached four shopping cart casters, so the casters would point up and steel drum would sit on them. We won't mention where he got the shopping cart.

Now, in all fairness this was a homemade compost tumbler and quite truthfully my grandfather and I weren't quite sure on how to build it. We tried using it for a couple of years and in my opinion it didn't make compost any faster than a well-managed compost bin or open pile. However that was just my opinion. I'm sure the new commercial models work much better than my grandfather and I built so many years ago.

'I've had the opportunity to speak to many people over the years about compost tumblers. Some people find tumbling the compost inside a barrel easier than using a pitchfork or shovel to turn their compost pile. Others like the convenience and ease of emptying the tumbler into a wheelbarrow rather than loading a wheelbarrow with a pitchfork from a compost pile or bin.

Linkes:

How To - Backyard Compost Tumbler

How To Steel drum composting tumbler