Using a Compost Tumbler for Your Garden

If you want to turn your garbage into a gardener's gold mine and do it in a hurry, try a compost tumbler.

If you have a compost bin, you already know how great it is to add compost to your vegetable garden and flower beds. But making compost takes time, and it's usually in short supply. Using a compost tumbler is a great way to speed up the composting process.

Compost doesn’t just feed your plants, it improves your soil. This is why some gardeners believe it is better than fertilizer. By improving your soil, you keep your plants healthier and they grow stronger and more capable of fighting off diseases and beating droughts. Compost is decomposed organic matter high in nutrients that plants need. Bacteria and other microorganisms in compost help break down organic matter. Their short life cycles become part of the compost. Their offspring continue the process while the parents’ bodies break down and add to the organic matter, which is nature's way of recycling.

Creating compost usually takes a couple of months. You have to get the ratio of browns to greens right, turn the pile frequently to keep it aerated, and add a little water when necessary to make sure it doesn’t dry out. It should be about the same wetness as a wrung-out sponge. The better you tend your compost pile, the quicker your garden waste will become compost, and you’ll be rewarded with fresh, earthy compost. If you neglect the pile, it will still become compost but it'll take a lot longer. As an example, examine the rich soil in a forest. As leaves and tree litter fall to the ground, no one is there to make sure its moisture content is correct. However, when the next season rolls around, many of these leaves have begun decomposing and nourishing the trees, continuing the cycle without any help from man.

Depending on where you live, the gardening season can be very short. If you live in the Northeast, for example, you have about four months to grow the flowers, fruits, and vegetables that you love. Unless you have a huge bin of compost ready to use on the first day of spring, you'll need to make some more during the growing season. A compost tumbler is the perfect solution for making compost fast. You might not have enough compost to fill new beds, but you’ll have plenty to give your plants a nice top dressing.

If you’re a composter with a pest problem, a compost tumbler will keep the critters out of your compost pile. If you have problems with rodents or snakes, a tumbler that is sealed up and only has holes for air is the solution you’ve been looking for. Sealed tumblers are popular. If you’re used to bin composting, you’ll have to do some things a little differently. First you'll have to add all the raw materials at one time. Don't continue adding materials or your compost will never be done. Add what you have and then start turning. Try to turn it every day or, at the least, a few times a week. Unless you already have some compost to toss in, the first few batches will take the longest. If you don’t have any compost ready, you can use a compost activator, which consists of compost with bacteria and microorganisms to help get your pile started.

Since moisture doesn't escape from the tumbler as easily as it does with a regular compost bin, be careful not to over water your compost. It’s likely that some ingredients such as grass clippings and coffee grinds are already moist to begin with.

After about three weeks, the contents of the tumbler should begin to look like compost. The color should be even and you shouldn’t be able to tell what you put in the tumbler. If your waste is still recognizable, let it decompose a while longer until it has a nice earthy smell.

If you're looking for a composting solution that is compact and neat, works quickly, and doesn’t attract the attention of your neighbors, consider a compost tumbler. You could tumble your way to a great garden this season.

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Using Compost Tumblers in Garden
Nutrients in Organic Gardening
Creating a Water-Conserving Garden
Selecting Grow Lights
Organic Pest and Animal Controls

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