Basics and Benefits of Composting: How and Why to Make Compost by David Brian

“Basics and Benefits of Composting: How and Why to Make Compost” by David Brian

About “Basics and Benefits of Composting” by David Brian

Composting is good for your garden, for your vegetables, your fruits, the environment, your nutrition, your health, and, and…
David Brian gives a concise overview of composting and its advantages, showing you all the benefits. He helps you to start easily with the basics and as a bonus also introduces you to his small friends, the red worms, which he calls the “true workhorses in the garden”.

Book Excerpt “Basics and Benefits of Composting” by David Brian

Garden Composter – How to Choose?

How do you choose which type of garden composter to use? There are so many ways of doing garden composting and so many different types of garden compost bins. The choice is obviously a very personal one, dictated by budget, style, and how quickly you hope to make garden compost. To help you decide which option to go for, we’ll look at those you can buy and those that are free. To get started lets you take a look at the most commonly used garden compost bin styles available for purchase.

Enclosed Compost Bins for Static Garden

These are compact garden composters that keep out vermin and rain whilst keeping warm. Those tend to be the cheapest types of garden compost bin bought, and the most favored by those new to garden composting. They keep it tidy and safe. You can choose from the wooden composter beehive or the cheaper plastic compost bins. Make sure your compost has ventilation holes to allow oxygen in. Ideally, go for a model which has an opening at the base to allow the finished product to be easily removed. Garden composters are readily available made of 100 per cent recycled plastic so don’t worry too much about the environmental impact of buying a plastic model.

The downside with included bins is that turning the compost can be difficult unless you have a very strong friend to help separate the bin from the compost itself. On the plus side it’s relatively fast because they keep the garden waste warm and moist composting and you should have created some rich compost even without turning. These sealed garden compost bins should generally give you compost of good quality within six months. Using these in particularly cold regions or where there is a very small amount of garden waste and kitchen scraps could mean that the compost will take up to two years to create. Still, this is the worst-case scenario and not a common scenario. A sealed budget plastic compost bin in the UK (not known for fun summers) often produced healthy hummus in under six months.

Moving Compost Bins in Garden

These are a brand new and trendy concept in the typically staid garden composting environment. You can roll the rolling bins to wherever your garden waste is, fill them, then roll them off to wherever you want. Giving them a quick roll every couple of days mixes garden waste and kitchen scraps, allowing for oxygen in and accelerating the decomposition. These keep out vermin and rain, and heat in the same way as the static bins. But they do make the pile very simple to aerate. The downside is that when they’re full they get pretty heavy. They are useful if you have plenty of flat space, as you can roll the bin around your garden from project to filling project.

Compost Tumblers or Compost Rotating Bins

These plastic garden compost bins come in a host of different styles. All allow the whole bin to be turned onto its axis to mix and aerate the contents. So efficient are these, that they make it much faster than normal to create useful garden compost. Some gardeners say they can use these bins to produce compost within weeks. They’ll easily halve the amount of time it takes to create your compost.

Some models come with a collection system to give you compost tea, which is great concentrated plant food, easily. Several have two chambers that are a great option (funds allowing) because it means that you can always have one compost pile ready to use while another is being created. Be sure to try to avoid those that rotate on their short axis (i.e. those that stand upright) while contemplating a Compost Tumbler. While these are often the cheaper options, and great to start with, they quickly become very heavy to rotate. The ones that are horizontal are much easier to use, rotating on the long axis means it takes far less effort to get them to spin.

These are growing in popularity although more expensive than static compost bins because they produce the finished compost so quickly. With these bins, the only real drawback is that they appear to be a little bigger and more expensive than static bins. But, more than does their speed and efficiency make up for that.

Worm Makers

Also in popularity vermiculture or worm composting is increasing. Don’t miss my site RedWormFarms.com on this topic! Worms very quickly create compost and are happy to consume a wide variety of kitchen scraps to do so. A compact, controlled device like that is suitable for those with limited space. Still, worms need administration. That is not a device that you can overlook. The temperature in particular can be a problem, so it is important to consider where to site a worm farm out of cold drafts and hot sunlight. Worm Farm Garden Compost Bins are easiest to keep indoors, where fluctuations in temperature are less likely. Properly managed worms will break down your kitchen scraps very quickly and you can easily collect the compost tea they produce once again. So you also get instant liquid plant feed, as well as fast compost.

These are a decent way to recycle kitchen scraps but if you produce a lot of garden waste you’ll always need a garden composter. This, however, keeps all the vermin indoors collecting food waste so you can opt for a more accessible (and cheaper) garden compost tank.

Composters open to the Garden

For the sake of fairness I provide these composters with open garden. They’re a valid choice. We used open systems to produce wonderful (if slow) compost to the garden. I can’t recommend paying for one however. They aren’t that expensive but I’m sure you could use wood scraps or wire fencing to do the same. You can get a large plastic compost bin for double the money, and in a fraction of the time create your garden compost. If money is not an option, then they are useful. These are a good way to keep various composting materials tidy and ready to put in a composter for hot greenhouse.

How to Select a Garden Composter

Really budget is key in which you choose garden compost bin. There are variations in size but even the smallest garden will contain most varieties of garden composter. A compost tumbler is probably the winner for me just because it works so fast but I have to say that the humble plastic garden compost bin is always a favorite. Over the years they are inexpensive enough to buy a few, and you can have various composting states available. They usually act fairly quickly and last forever.

I think basic is better sometimes, so I’m a fan of the simple plastic garden compost bin, but that’s just my point of view. One notice-think about the color. Many of the compost bins in the garden come in a confounding variety of shades of green. Not all will disappear into the view of your backyard. Black, on the other hand it still vanishes into the background. Now you have some details on what your choices are if you are looking to buy a composter for a greenhouse.

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