In a continuing exercise in self-sustaining gardening, I've been striving to improve my composting skills. After all, why buy fertilizer when you can make it for free? I have two open cold composting bins in the rear of my garden for bulky garden and yard waste. But, that's a lengthy process taking well over a year. I also have a composting pod for faster decomposition of kitchen scraps and smaller yard waste. However, collecting kitchen waste and taking it down to the distant garden on a daily basis can be difficult, especially during the harsh winter months when several feet of snow can be on the ground. I started using kitty litter bins on my deck, but they're not really designed for composting, and the lack of mixing and air exposure created a pretty nasty concoction to pour into the bin every month. Plus, kitty litter buckets aren't the most attractive thing to have sitting on your deck.
After some extensive Internet searches, I finally found the Envirocyle Mini-Composter last fall. They were
out of stock at the time, but I contacted the company and got on the waiting list. After about 6 months, they were finally available again and I received one in just a few days after ordering it.
I am very pleased with the size and appearance of the unit. Having only a 20" footprint, it fits quite nicely on the deck, just outside my sliding glass doors, and the tan color compliments the deck. The unit consists of a base, which I set up per the instructions to collect the compost tea that drips from the drum. I've emptied the base several times and am storing the tea in a 5-gallon bucket for use as liquid fertilizer for the deck plants. The drum of the unit rests firmly on several heavy-duty rollers that snap into the base. It is easy to tumble using the hand grips. Air circulation vents are located on either side of the drum. The hinged door, which covers 1/3 of the circumference of the drum makes loading easy, and is latched closed with a simple metal hook. The unit is a little pricey, selling for about $125, but it is well contructed, attractive and easy to use.
This summer, no one mistook the Mini-Composter for a trash or recycling can, which is what normally happened with the kitty litter bins. The composter is large enough to have handled most of my everyday kitchen waste this summer. Decomposition has been pretty fast, but seems to decline as the bin gets over about half full.
To balance the consistent addition of greens from the kitchen, I add newspaper, leaves and shredded paper from the office. However, this has caused some issues because the tumbling action of the drum has caused these materials to mat and form compost "balls." I've had to periodically chop up the contents with a hand rake for proper air exposure. I'm thinking that using sawdust may be better, and I have a contact at the local trade school that will bring me a bag the next time they empty their dust collection system in the shop. I've noticed with our latest frigid cold snap over the past few days that the contents of the drum have frozen, which tells me there isn't enough decomposition happening to keep things warm, so I'm hoping the addition of sawdust will heat things up a bit.
So far I'm very satisfied with the Mini-Composter. The composting action is much quicker and convenient than the bins and the pod in my garden. Though the website claims you can have finished compost in 4-6 weeks, I haven't achieved that probably because I'm consistently adding new waste to the bin. The best scenario would be to have two of them so one could "finish" while the other gets filled. I'll probably be emtying the contents of the composter into my pod in the garden to finish in order to make room for the kitchen scraps this winter.
I'm hoping my skills continue to improve so I can have a consistent and reliable supply of compost all season long. My family has taken to calling me the "compost nazi" for my diligence to compost all things organic. I've even taken to ripping apart used Keurig Cups to compost the spent coffee grounds. The Mini-Composter is another great tool in achieving my goal.