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Need an easy use composter

I would like advice on composterI.I would like easy access to compost without going in headfirst!.are tumbling composterI easiest to operate.

Help please.

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Posts

  • Forester2Forester2 Posts: 1,477

    The common 'darlek' works for me - one at home and two on the allotment.  Just fill with mixed grass, weeds, straw, kitchen waste, leaves etc, leave for a year and hey presto.    

  • Thanks for the info.

  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    I spoke to one of my fellow Master Composters recently about tumbling comosters, there are several things to be aware of; you have to fill it all at once, leave it for a few days to build up some heat and then turn it frequently. If it does not have a gearing system, apparently it is quite hard to turn and there is a danger of turning the whole thing over.

    Another fellow M.C. has a husband who is an engineer and she is going to get him to design one that is easy to use.image

    My 3 Dalek bins are very easy to turn, using a compost stirrer (amazon £10ish) and then remove the compost from the small apron door at the base.

    Remember to have a 50/50 mix of greens and browns (paper/cardboard etc)

  • Grateful on the info. on the tumbler type which I was considering changing to and won't bother now. Must try harder when stirring in my dalek composter.

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340

    A lot of local councils offer very cheap compost bins - I got 2 huge bins with lids and a lower access which were far cheaper than i could find on the net a few yrs ago. Very sturdy and still doing well. Worth having a look at your local council website


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    Bobby, it does not need to be stirred like a C...m s pud (we aren't allowed to use the C word in October image) just shimmied around a bit to get air in there. Compost needs Nitrogen and Carbon, (greens and browns) but it also needs AIR! The good news is that it is FREEimage. It only needs a little energy from you to turn the compost a bit to enable it to be aerobic, not anearobic (slimy and smelly).

  • Thank you all fellow composterI.

    most interesting Sat eve I have had for a while.

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,139

    We always have interesting evenings on here image


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • artjakartjak Posts: 4,167

    Emptied a Dalek that I finished filling in April today and even though it is a small bin and all the contents had settled with the composting process, I could not believe how many buckets it filled. It has all gone on the front area outside the fence which is very different to the heavy clay inside the garden. The soil out there can be almost powdery in places, so the compost mulch will help to give structure to the soil.image

  • PalaisglidePalaisglide Posts: 3,414

    I always ask "who said gardening is easy" any gardening including composting, you get out what you put in and with composting turning it out every couple of weeks stirring it and tossing it back will give you compost in three months during the heat of summer six months in winter. A chap near me has some old dust bins he throws everything until full then just leaves it a year later he gets some compost and some stuff to start it off again, if he mixed it now and then it would all compost. We all have our own ways none of them classed as easy depending on expectations.

    Frank.

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