I finally ordered a Compost Tumbler for Kitchen Scraps. I’ve been reading reviews and watching loads and loads of Youtube clips on different Compost Systems. Yesterday I was finally able to decide and order one.
I was looking for:
- Fast (=warm) compost
- Two chamber or two compost bins system
- No need for “after composting” process separately
- Easy to handle and not to heavy to turn
- Easy to fill and empty (if to complicated we probably will not use it always..)
- No smell = good enough ventilation
- Durable and not to ugly
Things I want to be able to put in my compost:
- Kitchen Scraps, mainly vegetables and egg shells but sometimes fish and meat
- Root Weeds that I don’t put in my existing Garden Compost (meaning that the compost system needs to get arm enough to burn it..)
I ordered a Joraform 270 Compost Tumbler. It’s a Two Chamber Compost and an All Year around Compost so it’s supposed to work continuously and also during winter and cold weather. It looks like this (picture from the supplier joraform.com):
Update, 18th of February
My Joraform Compost Tumbler was delivered this week, and I finally unboxed it and got it started.
It was not that hard to put it together, but you kind of need to be two persons to complete the last steps of the instruction.
It is very solid and feels like high quality. It spins easily.
It is very solid and feels like high quality. It spins easily.
Thick isolation. I hope this will keep the compost going even though we get very cold winters.
Ventilation holes are not adjustable.
The temperature outside is still way to cold to get the Compost started outdoors. I’ve decided to try to start it indoors in the basement. That might be a really stupid decision, might start to stink.. but hey.. let’s try. If it starts to smell really bad I’ll just move it outdoors and wait until spring to start it.
I did not have that much Kitchen Scraps when I decided to start the compost. I added the stuff I had, and mixed in some shredded newspapers and carton pieces.
I also decided to place a bottle of hot water in the tumbler to try to get the temperature up a bit. It might speed up the process.
Update, 22nd of February
Compost Tumbler Update! I think that the temperature has start to increase slightly from day 6. The room where the compost is standing right now is about 15 degrees Celsius, and the temperature inside the Compost tumbler has been steady for the first days, but seems to be increasing now (Celsius/Fahrenheit):
Day 1: 15C/59F
Day 3: 15C/59F
Day 4: 15C/59F
Day 5: 15C/59F
Day 6: 18C/64F
Day 7: 19C/66F
Update, 26th of February
It’s now 11 days since the Compost was first started, and the temperature inside the Compost Tumbler is now 38 degrees Celsius (about 82,5 degrees Fahrenheit). It has started to smell a little bit, and we decided to move it outdoors today. It’s still cold (close to freezing point) outdoors so let’s hope it’s not cooling down. It’s pretty well isolated, so it might work out. I added a bottle of hot water to help keeping the heat going.
