Compost Tumbler From A Garbage Can
4/04/2008
If you're like me and save every leaf that falls in the entire neighborhood, you may be looking for a way to speed up your composting. And the best way to do that is with a compost tumbler.
A compost tumbler is just a compost bin that is designed for easy turning. Remember that turning your compost is the best way to let the pile breathe. Don't forget there's billions of microbes in that pile and they're working hard to give you the best garden in town, so pay them back with some air.
Most compost tumblers are a variation of a big drum on rollers with a crank that you can turn. Put your greens and browns in the drum and give it a turn every once in a while. Much easier than climbing into your compost bin with a pitch fork.
My parents own the Urban Compost Tumbler
And so I decided to build one out of a garbage can. Where's the crank or the easy turning mechanism you may ask? I'm the crank. You may have seen my compost tumbler video where I just roll this thing around my yard. That's all it needs. And a bungy cord keeps the lid in place.
So take a garbage can and drill holes in it. If you're worried about little creatures climbing into your bin, then screen over the holes. It's actually a pretty easy garden project.
I've promised a few people, detailed instructions on how I built this homemade compost tumbler and they're coming in a future post. But in the meantime, I've got to go and roll my garbage can around my yard.
Posted by Anthony 6:57 AM 15 comments
Labels: compost, garden projects
Compost Tumbler
3/28/2008
Who needs an expensive compost tumbler when you can build one yourself? All you need to do is drill some big holes into a garbage can and cover them with some fiberglass screen. The actual tumbling part may be a little "low tech" but it'll get the job done.
Posted by Anthony 7:14 AM 8 comments
Labels: compost, garden projects
Egg Shells
3/27/2008
If you took a look in my Kitchen Compost Crock, no matter what day of the week it was, you'd probably find coffee grinds (with the filters) and egg shells. In fact you could even rename my crock, the coffee grind and egg shell holder and that would be okay with me.
These are the ingredients that get me going in the morning and these are also the ingredients that get my compost pile going.
Now you've probably heard people say that you should never put meat or fats in your compost bin because they'll attract little critters and I agree with that. But I know some people who actually wash their egg shells before adding them to their compost. In my opinion, those people are crazy people.
I just toss mine in there and I'm done. Most of the time, I'll bury the crock contents under some leaves to keep the yard looking neat. But this time I wanted to get a few pictures first.
Posted by Anthony 9:44 PM 12 comments
Labels: compost, compost pictures
Buy Compost New Jersey
3/25/2008
I was looking over the Compost Bin stats the other day and noticed that lots of people who are searching for the keywords "Buy Compost New Jersey" wind up at my site. So it's probably a good idea to help those people out.
I'm really don't buy compost anymore but when I did, I went with MulchExpressUSA. When I first built my raised beds and when I first cut up my grass to make border beds, I needed lots and lots of compost. So I bought it by the truck load. MulchExpressUSA has nice quality bulk compost in Bergen County New Jersey and I never had any complaints.
Now, I make all of my own compost, mostly from leaves and coffee grinds. And if I do need some extra compost, I'll just buy a few bags at a big box store.
I still buy mulch from these guys though and their mulch is great too. In fact they just sent me a letter saying that due to the price increase of gas that they're going to have to raise delivery prices this year. But since I'm a loyal customer (I bought 35 yards of mulch last year) I can lock in an order at the old prices if I do it before the end of April.
And good customer service is always something that gets my attention. So I have no problem recommending them to everyone who's searching for compost or mulch in New Jersey.
Posted by Anthony 6:43 AM 7 comments
How To Start A Compost
3/06/2008
In this video, Bentley “The Compost Guy” Christie is being interviewed by GreenerBusiness about compost. I recently discovered his blog and have been glued to his Bokashi updates. I've been meaning to try Bokashi for a while now but couldn't really find any good instructions until I found The Compost Guy blog.
In the video he discusses starting compost, worm composting and Bokashi. If you're like me and starved for any form of gardening and sick of the cold weather and snow, then it's definitely worth a view.
Posted by Anthony 7:35 AM 1 comments
Compost Heated Shower
3/04/2008
Here's a cool composting project that my wife would never let me try in a million years.
What's that honey? You ran out of hot water in the shower? Okay, let me go throw some coffee grinds on the compost pile and that'll get it cooking again.
Ideas like this are still way too raw to actually benefit anyone. But hopefully some enterprising inventor will stumble across this and come up with a way to build a compost bin that can be used to heat water and make it look nice enough that home owners associations won't come knocking on your door once you start using it.
Just think about all of the problems that a home composting system that could also heat hot water would solve.
- Less waste - Most of your garbage would be composted
- Free compost - No more buying fertilizer and the garden will look great
- Free hot water
- Free heat
Posted by Anthony 12:43 AM 4 comments
Labels: compost, environment
Compostable Plates
2/28/2008
The other day I was wandering around Costco during my lunch break, enjoying a nice buffet of free samples, when I saw something that almost made me drop my Swedish meatball.
These Chinet Plates are marked "Biodegradable in Home Composting". How cool is that?
Paper plates have always been compostable but the good news is the fact that Chinet has decided that composting is now a selling point. Why in a few years, compost may even become fashionable. Who knew that us gardeners were ahead of our time?
Posted by Anthony 6:32 AM 7 comments
Labels: compost
Composting Paper
2/12/2008
Whenever the authorities come knocking on my door, I quickly grab my secret documents and start shredding them. Oh wait, that's not me, I think that was in a movie that I saw recently. That's right, I'm just the guy that shreds paper for the compost bin.
When my compost pile is low on browns, which it usually is during the summer months, I grab some newspapers or junk mail and shred away.
Did you know that most newspapers use an ink made from soy? It's totally safe for the compost bin so why not shred up Beetle Baily and see how quickly he decomposes. Compost microbes love the funnies. In fact on a quiet night, I sometimes sneak up on my compost bin and I can hear laughter. Oh wait, that might have been something I saw in the movie too.
Posted by Anthony 6:03 AM 7 comments
Labels: compost
The Other Compost Bin
12/11/2007
Now this compost bin may look like almost identical to the other one but it's contents are very different. The big bin is 100% leaves. No grass, no coffee grinds, no plants, no boat, no life, no motorcar. Now this smaller compost bin is a completely different animal. It starts with a generous base layer of leaves, then the core is almost completely vegetable garden waste, and I top it off with more leaves. Sort of a end of the season garden sandwich. And that's a great way to make compost.
That core has already gotten this bin to start cooking. I know this because if you stick your hand inside it, you can feel the heat. Yes, it may sound odd but it's one of my hobbies to check the temperature of my compost bin. I've accepted it, let's move on.
Underneath all of those leaves are a bunch of pumpkins, some giant eggplant that I didn't notice until they were too big (and seedy) to eat and tons of peppers that were rendered tasteless by the first frost this year. Vegetables are great for compost and so are the plants that grew them. My tomato plants were strong, healthy and completely disease free thanks to my constant attention and new pruning/staking techniques. No Blossom End Rot, no Black Spot, nothing. So these healthy plants that were still loaded with green tomatoes will help out and decompose to make some more healthy plants next year. 
And a new comer to my compost bins this year is banana leaves. I'm a big fan of my Hardy Banana plants (Musa Basjoo). My three plants all had pups this summer and now I'm overwintering eight of them in my garage. And all those extra leaves make for great compost.
Posted by Anthony 12:05 PM 5 comments
Labels: compost, compost pictures
How To Start A Compost?
10/31/2007
No, I didn't make a typo in the title of this post and I didn't leave any words out either. It's the odd name of an article about composting on the new MSN Green website. 
Now don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to see more and more green/environmental sites that talk about compost but this article just feels a little bit off. Like maybe it was run through a translator program or something. How to start a compost? Listen to this part too ...
Once again there's an confusing choice of words (composts), but I really don't agree with the constant attention part either. As I've written many times here on this blog, compost will happen all by itself without any help from you. Make a pile of leaves and grass and next year the bottom of that pile will be compost.
Composts need constant attention. Your pile should be wet, warm and mixed regularly. (This is why some bins come with a handle!) Like we said, the perfect recipe is hard to get right off the bat, but once you master it, you’ll never look back.
Now if you want it to happen quicker than it naturally does, then that's when your pile will need some attention. Your constant attention can be saved for your newborn baby or for your stock portfolio. Your compost bin will be just fine if you only check on it every couple of days.
Overall, MSN Green is worth checking out. But in the future, I'd like them to fix their translator or whatever caused the confusing jargon and perhaps they could make composting sound a little easier if they want people to actually try it.
Posted by Anthony 9:32 PM 15 comments
Labels: compost, environment
How To Compost
10/25/2007
While I was stumbling around the internet the other day, I discovered a new site called MonkeySee. It's a YouTube-like video site but they seem to focus on How-To videos. So, in order to test it out, I did the same thing that I do at all the new websites that I visit, I type "compost" in the search box.
And unlike the time that I was looking for compost at Disney.com, MonkeySee actually had some search results. I was pleasantly surprised to find Ed Bruske's Video Series on Composting. You really don't see a lot of videos about compost or even gardening on YouTube either.
Ed made 15 short videos about everything you'll need to know about compost. He's no Paul James, but he definitely knows what he's talking about. I've embedded a sneak peak below.
Posted by Anthony 6:06 PM 9 comments
Blog Action Day - What About Compost?
10/15/2007
Have you ever noticed that the canned answer for anyone who wants to start living green is to replace all of your light bulbs?
"Oh, you want to help the environment, you better get all new light bulbs."
"Light bulbs are the way to go."
"Yes, I changed my light bulbs for children."
"Did you watch that Al Gore concert?"
"Yeah, he said I need new light bulbs or the Earth will explode."
It’s not like old light bulbs were nuclear powered or anything but it’s still great first step that’s easy for people to accomplish no matter where they live. Whether it’s out in the country on a farm or in a small studio apt in the city people have light bulbs.
But what can you do after that?
"I hear that the meat industry is a big producer of carbon dioxide, how about going vegetarian."
"Hmmm, I think I’ll stick with my light bulbs."
"How about driving an electric car?"
"Gosh, that Previa is pretty ugly, how about putting new light bulbs in my SUV."
I’m really glad that more and more people want to add some green habits to their lives but it saddens me that composting isn’t considered more often. It’s not hard to do, in fact if you have a yard with trees and grass you’re ready to start composting.
Just pile up your lawn clippings in a corner somewhere. Then during the fall, instead of raking up leaves to be left at the curb, add them to your pile. There you go, you’re composting. If you don’t like the looks of this mound, then you can buy a fancy compost bin or even make one yourself. A simple piece of wire fencing in the shape of a circle is perfect for composting leaves and grass. Okay, you’re done. Who says that it’s too hard to go green?
I’m not proposing that we replace our coffee tables with vermicomposting bins and raise worms in our living rooms. No, that’s even too much for someone who runs a blog about compost, yuck! Just save some leaves and grass and you’re off to a great start.
If you don’t have the time or energy to mix the pile every month or so, it’ll still turn to compost all by itself. Compost doesn’t need your help. Who do you think mixes the leaves in a forest? Just wait about a year or two and you’ll get your compost without doing anything. And if you keep the ratio of leaves to grass at about 30:1 and water it every once in a while and it’ll compost even quicker.
So how will this help? Compost is a natural fertilizer that can be added to plants or spread out over your lawn. Those chemical fertilizers that everyone uses wind up washing down the storms drains and then they cause algae blooms in our lakes and ponds. Plus think about all the energy it takes to produce those chemical fertilizers. If you stop buying it, they’ll stop making it.
By composting you’re also reducing the amount of garbage you produce and keeping this yard waste out of the landfill . If your town or city doesn’t have a composting program then all of your leaves are just going to the dump. They won’t decompose there.
Compost can also help your soil retain more moisture so you can cut down on watering. And last time I checked, saving water was a good thing too.
But the best part about compost is that it’s free.
With all of these benefits, it’s a wonder why everyone doesn’t start composting. Great for the soil, conserves water, stops fertilizer run off. And it isn’t hard to do. Just pile up your leaves and grass clipping in a corner or your yard and wait. Now who can’t do that? Why it’s as easy as changing a light bulb.
This post is my contribution to Blog Action Day.
Posted by Anthony 7:35 AM 13 comments
Labels: Blog Action Day, compost
Compost Awareness Week 2008
9/26/2007
My name is Anthony and I have a Google News Alert set up for the word "Compost". They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step. But I don't have a composting problem, I can quit at any time.
And besides if Google wasn't sending me the latest news that mentioned the word "Compost" I wouldn't know that they announced the dates for Compost Awareness Week 2008. This spring it's being held from May 4th to May 10th in the UK and in the United States it's usually the same week. But what is Compost Awareness Week you ask?
Chief executive Jane Gilbert [of The Composting Association, coolest title ever by the way] said that the week of events offered the opportunity for the composting and biodegradable resource management industries to raise awareness about the importance of composting and its role in making the UK more environmentally friendly.
Compost Awareness Week seems to be more popular in the UK because you don't hear much about in here in New Jersey even with a Google News Alert. But that may be about to change.
I am definitely seeing more and more news about compost lately. With Al Gore doing his Global Warming thing and the whole Living Green lifestyle becoming more popular, I'd say that in general, compost awareness has risen quite a bit in the last year.
I don't think Greens and Browns will become the new Black this year but I'm pretty sure that the idea of taking your yard and kitchen waste and turning it into something useful while reducing space needed in landfills is an idea that's going to be introduced to a lot of new people.
And with my trusty Google News Alert by my side, I'll keep you posted on all things compost.
Posted by Anthony 6:52 AM 12 comments
Labels: compost
Compost
9/21/2007
Just a quick quote today. Well I think it's a quote anyway. I heard Paul James the Gardener Guy say something along these lines once. Definitely paraphrasing here,
One shovel full of compost has more beneficial microbes in it, than there are people on the planet.
Just something to consider the next time you're using some of the blue stuff on your plants. How can NPK compare to a billions and billions of little guys doing their thing? And why is it blue anyway? Makes you wonder...
There's already lots of leaves in my yard and the weather report looks good so this should be a great composting weekend.
Posted by Anthony 7:09 AM 1 comments
Labels: compost
Compost Season
9/18/2007
Well another gardening season has come and gone. Sure there’s still some tomato plants that are still doing well and I’ve got tons of peppers that I need to pick but for the most part, that fat lady has started singing. Lately, I don’t even visit the garden everyday. And when I get home from work it’s dark out, so getting outside with the camera just hasn’t been happening.
But while most of you are getting ready to snuggle up next to your fireplaces with a cup of hot chocolate and your favorite 2008 gardening catalog, I’m getting ready for my busy season. There’s lots to do in the fall if you’re a composter. You see, there’s treasure falling right out of the trees and it's just waiting to be raked up and composted. After a whole summer of rotten apples, half eaten pumpkins, plant waste, grass clippings and kitchen scraps, my compost bins are in serious need of some browns. And the best source of browns that I know is leaves. 
And not only do I scoop up all of my leaves but I’ve also been known to go out after dark and borrow my neighbor’s leaves as well. Yes, being a composter has forced me into a life of crime. I’m a leaf thief.
Here in Northern New Jersey, we don’t have to bag our leaves. We just rake them into piles and leave them out on the curb. Then the leaf collectors from the town will come by with a big vacuum truck right out of a Dr. Seuss story and suck up all of the leaves.
But this makes swiping leaves a little more interesting. My primary method is to use a rake and a garbage can. I run out to the piles and hit them hard and fast trying to get as many leaves in the can as possible before high tailing it back to my yard. I envy all of you leaf thieves that can drive around in your fancy SUVs and grab nice neat bags and then make your get away while listening to your favorite CDs. Sure you must score loads of leaves in very little time but where’s the fun in that? I bet you don't even hum the theme to Mission Impossible while you're out there. Ummm... not that I do that or anything.
So while you’re sitting there nice and comfy with your garden catalog trying to figure out which tomato seeds you’d like to try next year, take some comfort in knowing that I’m outside stealing your leaves. Don’t worry, they’ll be put to good use.
Posted by Anthony 8:44 PM 15 comments
Labels: compost
What's Decomposing - Lots of Stuff
8/13/2007
What's in my compost pile today? Well it's the middle of August, so that means that apples are dropping like raindrops onto my lawn. Unfortunately they are pest infested apples so there's no eating but as I've mentioned before, they're great in the compost pile. I like to flip them into the compost bin with my hockey stick and make a game out of it. By the end of the summer, I make Wayne Gretzky seem like an underachiever.
August also means that I've got plenty of other greens like grass clippings. I have a mulching mower but every once in a while I'll pull out the mulcher thingy that keeps the grass from going into the bag and I actually let the clippings go in bag. Why do I do this? Because in the fall I have nothing but leaves so I like to stockpile my greens while I have them. And I usually have enough apples and grass to get my pile cooking a little bit before the winter temperatures roll in.
And the vegetable garden is mostly jungle-like this time of year, so I like to trim some stuff back to keep the paths between my raised beds walkable. I also pull some plants out completely to make room for fall plantings. And they all go into the compost bin.
So even when I'm not composting exotic ingredients like beer, 75 pound pumpkins or champagne, there's still a lot of activity in my compost bin.
Posted by Anthony 5:37 PM 5 comments
Labels: compost, compost pictures
Compost Tumbler Tumbling
6/15/2007
Google has just announced a cool new sandbox type of place where Blogger.com bloggers can try out new features before they're ready for primetime. It's called Blogger In Draft and it's sort of a beta, laboratory type of environment. And the first new feature that they're testing out is video upload. I don't know about you but when I think of uploading video the first thing that comes to my mind is compost.
What better way to test out this new video feature than to post a short video of my parent's Compost Tumbler. With regular images it's hard to capture the true beauty of making compost. Now with this new Blogger In Draft feature I can post a tumbling tumbler video all from within Blogger. No more uploading to YouTube or Google Video and then adding the codes to the blog posts. Everything's all in one place now.
Yes my Mom and Dad are turning into quite the green parents. In fact my father is planning on installing a 40 foot, 2KW wind turbine at his house in CT this summer. And raising the tower will definitely make for an excellent video too.
I'll be sure to provide windmill updates this summer but this video is of an Urban Compost Tumbler
Posted by Anthony 9:06 AM 6 comments
Labels: compost, compost pictures, video
What's Decomposing - Snow
3/22/2007
It's depressing that spring is here but my yard is still full of snow. It was 60 degrees today and now it's raining tonight so I'm hoping the snow will be gone by the weekend.
It's good to keep the stuff in your compost bin moist but I don't think big wads of snow make for great microbial activity. Today I stuck my hand deep down into the compost pile and there wasn't any heat what so ever and that's just depressing.
Posted by Anthony 10:58 PM 2 comments
Labels: compost, compost pictures, weather
Kitchen Compost Crock
3/04/2007
I keep garbage on my counter and I'm proud of it. Used coffee grinds, tea bags, vegetable peels, left overs and even some of my junk mail. No, I'm not a disgusting slob, I'm a kitchen composter.
During the winter, it's not always fun to take food scraps out to the compost bin. My bins are at the far end of my property so I can't just poke my head outside and toss stuff in. It's definitely a shoes and coat required affair. That's why I bought a Compost Crock.
It's nice to have a container right there on your counter to toss garbage into. Mostly I use it for coffee grinds and egg shells but other stuff would be fine too. The crock kind of looks like a cookie jar so I don't mind having it on the counter. And there's a carbon filter in the lid so it doesn't smell before I eventually take it out to the compost heap.
I used to use a tupperware container and just keep it in the freezer so it wouldn't smell but I have this one from Gardeners.com now. (aff) Kitchen Compost Crock, Brilliant White
Posted by Anthony 7:01 PM 11 comments
Labels: compost, kitchen compost
What's Decomposing - Pumpkins
1/21/2007
The 75 pound pumpkin that I grew this year is decomposing nicely in the compost bin. When I first tossed it into the bin, I debated whether or not I should smash it up into little pieces. I decided not to and just placed my pumpkins in the compost bin like eggs in a nest.
After about 2 months, they have all turned to mush. Hopefully the birds and squirrels will dig out all the seeds so that I don't have volunteer pumpkins where ever I use the compost.
Posted by Anthony 3:51 PM 4 comments
Labels: compost, compost pictures, pumpkin
