How to Start Composting with a Compact Compost Tumbler
Do you want to compost at home – but you don’t have a lot of space? Below, we show you how to start composting using the Miracle-Gro Tumbling Composter. It’s quick, easy and perfect for beginners…
The Easy Way to Compost Anywhere
This single-chamber model has a slim design, so you can fit it on a small balcony or patio. In fact, it has a small footprint of less than 3 square feet. You can also stick it in a corner out of the way.
Therefore, you can easily compost your kitchen scraps, even if you live in an apartment or a city. No backyard needed, and you don’t need worms either!
Note: All that said, this unit can make a sizable amount of compost, so you can put a lot of food waste in it.
Plus, you can add tea bags, ground up eggshells, paper towels, coffee grinds, shredded newspaper, leaves, grass clippings, wine corks, tooth picks and more. (The container has an 18.5 gallon capacity!)
How Much Does it Cost to Start Composting?
I also like how the Miracle-Gro Tumbler is really affordable. This entire package costs less than $75, and you don’t need to buy any additional supplies or materials.
Compared to using a cheap bucket or making a compost pile, this simplified system takes the effort out of composting. It also looks clean and tidy. Not to mention, it minimizes potential problems (see below).
How Long Does it Take to Start Composting?
Set-up only takes about 30 minutes. Then, you simply rotate or “stir” the compost every few days. The container includes mixing bars and built-in aeration to speed up the composting process.
You can actually turn food waste into healthy garden fertilizer that looks like soil in as little as 4-6 weeks. No special skills are needed. These simple devices do all the work for you, while you gain lots of free fertilizer for your plants. (Year round!)
And with efficient design comes less odors. Plus, you don’t have to worry about pests getting into your compost because the tumbler has a tight seal.
Note: I worried about bugs, critters and awful smells when I started composting at home, but it turns out that none of these ended up being problems. The key is consistent mixing to keep the breakdown process efficient. That’s why rotating composters work so well.
Faster Composting Tips:
1. First, keep the material moist but not soggy. You may need to add water occasionally if you live in a hot, arid environment because you also don’t want your material to dry out.
2. Keeping a good carbon to nitrogen balance will help optimize the break-down of materials. Basically, this means that you want to add brown materials (ie cardboard, newspaper, sawdust) as well as green (food scraps, grass clippings, etc..).
3. Lots of smaller pieces will compost faster than a few larger scraps because they have more surface area. This allows oxygen to break down everything faster.
Specs for the Miracle-Gro Compact Compost Tumbler:
