Homemade Compost Tumbler
Compost is basically a collection of biodegradable materials gathered and stored together with the purpose of being used as fertilizer, once they have broken down. Things like grass clippings, leaves, banana skins and all types of natural materials can be used to make up compost. One of the most important things to note about compost is that it should have the right balance of nitrogen and carbon. The right balance of these two substances allows everything to decompose well.
How it Works
Storing natural elements together in a compost environment causes them to break down much faster than normal. One of the easiest ways to ensure the right carbon/nitrogen balance is by remembering that green things are rich in nitrogen (grass clippings, manure) and brown things are rich in carbon (dead leaves, pine needles). Aim to use a balanced combination of these things with water in order to create your own compost for your homemade compost tumbler.
Creating good compost is not just a matter of gathering biodegradable materials in a heap in your garden. Compost should be kept in the right environment or conditions otherwise it gets ruined. Ideally, compost should be a little damp at all times. If compost is left out in the open, it will be affected by the elements.
Tumbler Benefits
You will find that naturally it will become dried out when the weather is warm or it can become soggy and wet during rainy weather. Compost tumblers therefore serve as a container to protect the compost from the elements and to keep it in a consistently damp environment as well as to mix compost.
In addition to being susceptible to the weather, compost can also be quite smelly. It can very easily become quite disturbing for you if your friends and family members like to use your garden area for recreation and relaxation. Having compost contained in a compost tumbler keeps the garden smelling pleasant and free of foul odors.
As you can see, a compost tumbler is almost a must-have for anyone that plans on keeping compost because it serves a variety of purposes, not to mention it also being a labor-saving device. You will save yourself a lot of time and energy if you mix your compost using a compost tumbler than if you manually mix the compost with a pitchfork, which is the traditional way of mixing compost.
Mixing
Compost needs to be mixed on a regular basis this allows air and the moisture to circulate throughout the compost. The quickest and best way to mix compost is with a compost tumbler. Now you can get a compost tumbler by either making a homemade compost tumbler yourself or by going to the shop and purchasing one. I recommend that you make your own homemade compost tumbler as it is something that is very easy to do.
Even if you are only reasonably good with your hands, you should be able to make the following homemade compost tumbler without any problems at all. The only materials that you will need are a garbage can and a drill.
Purchase a very large, plastic garbage bin. You will need to buy the type that comes with a clamp on lid.
Turn the garbage can on its side and drill holes in it every few inches. Use a drill piece of around ¼ inches. As simple as that, you have your homemade compost tumbler.
Begin to collect your compost inside of the can remembering to keep a balance of nitrogen and carbon producing, biodegradable materials and whenever you need to mix your compost, simply turn the garbage bin a few times and the task is taken care of for you.
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