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WHY COMPOST
Composting At Home - Composting is nature's way of recycling. Living plants, and annual plants that die at the end of the season, are consumed by
mammals, birds, rodents, worms, insects, and microscopic organisms. The result of this natural cycle is compost, a combination of digested and
undigested food that is left on the forest floor to create rich, soft, sweet-smelling soil.
Backyard composting is the intentional and managed decomposition of organic materials for the production of compost. It's free, easy to make, and
environmentally responsible. Compost is the single best additive for good, even great, garden soil.
How Does Composting Help the Environment? - Composting can significantly reduce the amount of solid waste that would otherwise find ¡ts way into the
trash collection and dumping cycle. Yard trimmings and kitchen scraps make up 20-30% of all household wastes. In the past 15 years, composting has
reduced landfill waste by 9 million tons, and it continues to decrease yearly.
Using compost to feed your lawn and garden will reduce your dependency on chemical fertilizers. You'll save money and reduce, if not eliminate, the
potential of chemical pollution to your backyard. Using compost, instead of chemical fertilizers, will ensure that your lawn and garden thrive in soil that is
alive and healthy.
THE TUMBLING COMPOSTER
The Tumbling Composter is a speed composter with rods or fins that mix and break up clumps to speed up decomposition. Speed composters can
reach a temperature of more than 140°. This type of composting requires mixing a correct ratio of "brown" (carbon) and "green" (nitrogen) materials.
See KEY COMPONENTS FOR GREAT COMPOST. Add water when necessary and turn the tumbler every 1-2 days to keep oxygen, nutrients, micro-
organisms, and moisture evenly distributed throughout the developing batch. Within weeks, your Tumbling Composter will transform your scraps into
valuable organic material.
There are two ways you can compost with a tumbler:
1. Recommended: You can batch compost, where you load up the bin until it's full, and then let the whole thing break down until it is completely
finished. If you run two tumblers at once, you can start adding to the second tumbler as you wait for the first tumbler to finish up. You'll have much
better success if you refrain from adding raw materials to your batch of working compost, and simply start a new batch with new raw materials.
2. You can continuously compost, where you keep adding more and more material so that the new material is mixed in with the material that's breaking
down. If you want to use continuous composting with a tumbler, you can stop adding when it approaches fullness, and let the last part of the contents
break down, and then start over.
KEY COMPONENTS FOR GREAT COMPOST
Biological Process - What happens in a compost pile? If you are just trying composting for the first time, you may be surprised by the size and
complexity of the community of small organisms that take up residence in your compost pile. These organisms, which include many insects, bugs,
slugs, bacteria, and fungi, form what is called a "food web." Adding a small amount of garden soil to your compost will serve as a starter/activator. The
micro-organisms in the soil will accelerate the formation of the "community" and speed up decomposition.
All members of the compost food web are very beneficial to your compost and should be left alone to do their work. If you remove any of the member
organisms through the use of insecticides, you will interfere with their natural cycle, as well as contaminate your compost with insecticide residues.
Ingredients - There are four basic ingredients for composting: nitrogen, carbon, water and air. The water and air are easy. The food is a little more
complex. Food consists of two classes of materials, simply referred to as "greens" and "browns". "Green" and "brown" doesn't refer to the color of the
materials, it's just shorthand for saying nitrogen-rich or carbon-rich. "Green" is high in nitrogen and "brown" is high in carbon. The "green" materials
provide protein for the micro bugs, while the "brown" materials provide energy. Anything growing in your yard is potential food for these microbes.
Simply layer and mix these materials into the Tumbling Composter. Add water and tumble to add air. Then leave it to the microorganisms, which will
break down the material over time.
Nitrogen / Carbon Ratio - The ideal mix is 79% "brown" and 25% "green" material by volume. A good mix of "browns" and "greens" helps the pile
maintain the right amount of moisture and air, thus speeding up decomposition. Too much nitrogen makes for a heawy, smelly, slowly decomposing
mass. If in doubt, add more carbon!
Nitrogen - "Green" materials such as lawn clippings, green leaves, manures, and landscape trimmings are ideal sources of nitrogen for
composting. Food scraps such as vegetable and fruit trimmings and peels can also provide nitrogen. For kitchen wastes, keep a large plastic
container with a lid and a handle under the sink. Chop up any large chunks before you toss them in. When the container is full, empty it into the
composter.
Carbon - "Brown" yard and garden material such as dry leaves, twigs, or hay provide carbon balance and give compost its light, fluffy body. The
best source of carbon material is dry leaves. Harvesting, shredding, and storing dry leaves for next year's compost pile is the best thing you can do
to create great compost. If your mix is too wet or contains too much nitrogen, add dry leaves.
See BASIC NITROGEN / CARBON CHART for more detailed information.
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