As I excitedly ordered my tumbling composter, I failed to read the inevitable fine print. You know…some assembly required. I kept a watchful eye for the UPS driver, ready to pounce on that box. My kitchen scraps were taking on an odoriferous scent and still the composter didn’t come.
I eventually dumped the scraps in a bucket in the garage, and covered them with potting soil. It’s funny but two weeks ago I would have tossed those scraps or ground them up in the garbage disposal. Now the scraps had a real purpose. My garden was counting on me.
UPS At Last
The day my husband, and resident handyman left for a business trip, the box arrived. I came home that afternoon to a damaged box on the porch, with one of the parts sticking out of the side. Oh-oh. I was afraid to open it. The good news: no harm done. The bad news: so many parts. I was facing eight panels, two end pieces, six leg pieces and a bag with 56 washers and screws. I unpacked all the pieces, then left the room.
Lindy didn’t think she could help, either.
My son, in his sweet and gentle way, asked me if I would be moving it as it was blocking his path to the living room. Okay. I can do this. I fumbled around with my husbands various tools, found what I hoped would work and got down to the business of building a composter. It went together beautifully, and was over half done when I called it a day. I finished assembling it with my son’s help on Thursday. At last the fun could begin.
Some assembly required
Ta-da!
I had a bucket of “brown” from the pumpkin patch ready to go and a decent sized bucket of “green” to go with it. Into the bin they went. I closed the door, gave it a spin, and smiled. Who knew rotted apples and dead leaves could bring about such happiness?
Do you compost too?
The Compost Recipe
I’ve seen several variations on the mix, but here are the suggestions from tumblingcomposters.com:
The composting process works best by mixing moist greens (nitrogen rich) with dry browns (carbon rich) in a ratio of approximately 2 parts greens to 1 part browns.
Greens are:
- kitchen scraps
- grass clippings
- garden and house plants
Browns are:
- leaves
- straw or hay
- saw dust
- twigs
Do not compost:
- meats/fats/bones
- dairy products
- trash/plastic
- wood ashes
- invasive plants or weeds
Serves several plants.
Gardening Nirvana 
we just nailed a bunch of pallets together and made three sections – since my husband is not working these days he has time to turn it with a shovel! he moves it from section to section – heaven forbid I dump stuff in the wrong section! HAVE FUN
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Thanks, Bonnie. I wish I had more space to do something like that. Impressive.
Keep those greens sorted. 😉
Thank you for reading and commenting…and composting.
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Can you add paper and cardboard to your tumbling composter? I am no doubt getting mixed up about ratios of green and brown as I was under the illusion that more brown was better, but then it does perhaps depend on the method you are using to make the compost?
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I know our school garden added shredded paper to the worm bin. My guess is it depends on the content of the paper. Newsprint decomposes quickly, and if printed with soy ink, it would be okay. I guess in the end it depends on the content of the paper.
Let me see if I can find another resource for you.
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Here is everything you wanted to know, and then some, about compost. They mention the use of paper and cardboard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost
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Thanks! I had wondered about ink being a problem, though a local council does reckon it is okay.
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I don’t think we’re using toxic ink any more. Everyone has become far more conscientious.
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I have old pallets and it gets turned by hand… compost making is like alchemy and the joy of turning waste into beautiful compost is difficult to beat! Have fun Alys!
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Thanks, PJ.
What a lovely description of composting, too. How I envy you all that space. I’ve almost filled both sides of the barrel and I went ahead and filled a Rubbermaid bin with the rest of the garden debris from harvesting pumpkins. Now I just have to wait.
Nice.
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Good job Alys, what a great accomplishment, was Mike surprised? I’m thinking now that you mention recipe, that I always had wayyyyyy to much grass in ours….but was where the yard clippings ended up. I love that you can turn this in the barrel. PS hey I like your patio tiles.
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