Find the Perfect Compost Gadget
Have you wanted to start making your own compost but you are overwhelmed with all the options for composting out there? From building your own pile, to a rotating drum, to a high tech robot that makes the compost for you, there are so many different gadgets to choose from. How do you know where to start? Don’t worry, we will find the perfect compost gadget for your garden.
Why Should You Compost?
Composting your kitchen scraps or other organic waste to create nutrient dense soil is one of the best things you can do for your garden. It reduces stinky garbage and converts that unwanted waste into garden gold. Adding compost to your soil not only provides nutrients, it also encourages helpful soil organisms to grow and thrive. They can improve the texture, water retention abilities, and disease resistance of your soil. You can purchase lots of good quality compost, but creating your own can be a cost savings. Plus you can tailor the process to the nutrients that are most beneficial to your garden.
But, there are lots of different ways to get started composting. Good quality compost can be tricky to create if you’re just starting out. You may choose different options depending on what size garden you have. Also, whether you have indoor or outdoor space to compost, and how much time and energy you can put into your composting. Many different companies have developed systems and gadgets to help you get started. So many that you may find it overwhelming to choose. Lets go through the different options one by one to help you find the perfect compost gadget.
Outdoor Static Compost Bin
This is the classic outdoor compost bin. You don’t even technically need an enclosure, but it can help contain the mess. Whether you build it out of scrap lumber or buy a pre-made system, these bins contain your compost pile on at least three sides. As you layer the dry brown and wet green materials, they will compost down. You can set up a system with multiple bins in different stages of composting. Transfer the compost from one bin to another as the scraps decompose to turn your pile.
Many of these systems come apart so you can easily access the pile for turning or harvesting your compost. Most of these systems are relatively cheap and easy to use. If you have plenty of outdoor space, they can be a great option. You can improve the speed of composting by carefully mixing your greens and browns. Make sure to keep your pile wet enough. It also needs to be big enough to get up to a good temperature, and you need to turn it frequently. In the warm season, you can get good compost in 3-4 months if you have the right conditions.
Pros: cheap and simple to construct.
Cons: requires regular monitoring, watering, and turning, can be a lot of work depending on size, pests and odors can be a problem, takes the longest time to decompose.
Outdoor Compost Tumbler
This is another popular options with lots of different varieties on the market. A large cylindrical barrel-shaped bin is mounted on a stand. You put the greens and browns into the bin and turn the bin a few times a week. Some have multiple chambers so you can have compost in various stages. They are also usually designed with holes or vents to allow good airflow. Once the compost is ready, you remove most of it from the bin and restart the process.
These systems are more complex than a static bins. This can make them expensive, difficult to assemble, and more likely to break. You may also have size limitations. You might be able to scale up by purchasing multiple systems. But, because of the easy and frequency of tumbling the bin, you can create high quality compost in only 6-8 weeks. These bins protect the compost from the weather, animal, and insect pests. You can also use them in cold weather environments without dealing with frozen ground.
Pros: easy to load and turn compost, no bending or shoveling, can compost quickly, protection from weather, insects and animal pests.
Cons: relatively small size and hard to scale up, can break or wear out if not designed well, well designed bins can be expensive.
Indoor Compost Maker
This type of compost gadget is a newer addition to the market. These indoor devices may have different processes. Most have some sort of turning paddles to break down your kitchen scraps into usable compost in as little as a month. To speed up decomposition, the system may add heat, special bacterial starters, or other moisture. Some systems create usable compost right out of the bin. Others are like dehydrators that reduce the volume and odor of food scraps, but don’t create finished compost. They may come with odor filters to keep your kitchen smelling fresh. They usually require electricity to run and are limited in capacity.
This option is the most hands-free of all the systems out there. The device does most or all of the work. If you’re looking for a way to get your family on board, this can be a quick and easy way to get started. It can also handle meat, dairy, and other types of food waste that cause problems in outdoor compost bins. Just scrape your food waste into the bin and let the system take over. You may need to top up a water resevoir depending on the volume and moisture content of your kitchen waste. In only a few weeks, you can be planting in your homemade compost.
Pros: does most of the work for you, fastest route to finished compost.
Cons: small scale, most expensive option, uses electricity, indoor only so odor problems more noticable, may require ongoing costs for replacement filters and compost starter.
Compost Worm Bin
Worm bins come in many shapes and sizes from a set of plastic totes with air holes drilled in them to a veritable worm apartment complex with 4-5 stories. In addition to containers, you also need significant quantities of worm bedding like shredded paper or cardboard. Plus you also need a starter supply of compost worms, although you can start small as they will reproduce to fill your compost bin. Most worm bins also have a drainage system so you can remove the “worm tea” to dilute and use as a liquid fertilizer for your plants. You need to keep your worms in a dark quiet area with consistent humidity and temperature for best results.
Compost worms are one of the larger soil organisms that decompose food scraps. They can expand their population to meet their living conditions. A large worm bin can handle significant quantities of waste and quickly turn it into worm castings. Because the castings and worm tea are very concentrated, you should use them more like a chemical fertilizer than pure compost. There are also a number of food items that worms don’t eat or can create problems in the bin by rotting or molding before the worms get to them. A well run worm bin should be almost odor free.
Pros: quick decomposition, able to expand capacity, creates high quality liquid and solid fertilizer.
Cons: need lots of worm bedding and starter colony of worms, need to monitor for temperature, moisture, and crowding, need to drain off worm tea regularly, worms can die or try to escape if conditions are poor.
How to Choose the Best for You?
So, now you need to find the perfect compost gadget for your garden. To make the best choice, start off with your basic conditions. Do you have the space, time, and ability to compost outdoors, or are you limited to indoor space? Are you looking to make a large quantity of compost for your garden, or mostly to eliminate food waste and stinky garbage? What about your budget? Are you working on a shoestring? Or are you willing to trade money for time to get a system that does most of the work for you? You can use the answers to these questions and the pros and cons listed above to help you find the perfect compost gadget. Good luck!
Want to know more about worm bins? Check out my blog post How to Compost with Worms for more details on the ins and outs of using worms to improve your garden.
Need a place to store all your garden records and composting ideas? The Ultimate Garden Workbook is just the place to jot down everything you need to help your garden thrive.
