What Composter should I buy?

Here's the first contrary answer, compared with what you have so far. If I had $500 to spend in my garden (I have a large yard also, and my garden gets bigger every year) I wouldn't spend it on a device that is a fancy place in which garden and kitchen waste can break down. You can't make very much compost at a time in most of these, so they're not very practical.

They're sold largely to novice gardeners who don't realize how much yard waste they will generate in a given week, and how much compost they need in a garden. Think about it--compost is THE most natural way to produce good quality humus for your future gardens. Everything breaks down somewhere, somehow, and if you consider the forest floor or a river bank or the edge of a eutrophying lake, almost everywhere except frozen in a glacier or buried in a peat bog, stuff decays without benefit of gadgets or devices.

Further, these commercial and expensive garden toys are all plastic or treated lumber, they won't contribute anything useful once they are finished being useful, and they might be hard themselves to recycle. For composting, you can keep it simple and cheap, and spend that money on something useful like organic soil amendments or to purchase a load of good topsoil or perhaps to buy good recycled plastic lumber for raised beds (a much better use of plastic in the garden, than for compost). You want to set up something more elegant perhaps than a heap, but in the end, need a good old-fashioned aerobic system with lots of healthy microbial activity and heat generated by the decaying matter.

Your concern seems to be about containing your compost, and mine is in making the best compost you can in an economical way. Picking up a roll of chicken wire or the sturdier hardware cloth at your local hardware or home improvement store, along with a few metal fence posts, will accomplish both wishes because it is sufficient to create a good enclosure that will breathe. The thing about compost is that you need to have a good mix of green stuff (like grass and weeds) and if available, some manure (if you really want it to cook--you don't have to have it, but it speeds the process), and it needs air and water to keep it going.

If you do it right, it isn't stinky, and if you're looking at a more passive simple system you can have time on your side (I have three compost piles going in my yard--the one I'm piling stuff onto this year, the one I built last year that I now only water and turn over every so often, and the finished one from 2 years ago that I'm digging up and using in the garden this year).

These wires bin simply hold material, and allow air to reach more surface area to help it cook. You need to water your heap or bin every so often to supplement rainfall, and you need to use something like a spade fork to turn it.

Good compost smells nice, it isn't stinky. Stinky is the result usually of anaerobic decomposition, which isn't good for your compost.

I've used chicken wire and fence posts to make a couple of side-by-side compartments, like this one above (lumber is nice to make it sturdy, but is not necessary) and then when it came time to turn the compost, I simply used the fork to toss it all from one compartment of the bin to the other, always leaving one empty when I finish moving it.

The site where I picked up these images is from my home state of Washington. They offer a lot of options, so don't just take my word for the ways I do it. But I use a lot of compost, I toss my garden and kitchen trimmings and the dog droppings in the compost.(Contrary to the old wives tale, there is no harm or hazard to putting cat or dog droppings in your compost.It is best to use a natural cat little like the one from Nature's Miracle, that is ground up corn cobs.

) Here are links to a couple of compost questions I've already answered at Mahalo: http://tinyurl.com/2vavlnq This has to do with pouring milk in the yard, and a discussion of what else can be poured into compost or the garden directly. And a few weeks ago I answered a question about gardening in a dry climate, including information about composting and about creating a keyhole garden, where the compost is contained in the middle. If you're ambitious to spend some money, then creating something like this, where at least some of your compost can go, would be an interesting project.

I'm planning to build one this year, in time for my fall garden, but I won't spend $500. I'll recycle rocks from the creek behind me and the yard, and move in compost and dirt from around the yard. http://tinyurl.com/34bzqzw If you follow the links on that dry climate compost topic, you'll find several links to my favorite gardening guru, a landscape architect in Dallas, Texas, named Howard Garrett, who has run the http://www.dirtdoctor.com site for many years, along with radio programs (you can listen to them over your computer if you're interested).

If you have time to follow only one of the links in my answer, choose the Dirt Doctor site first. It is vast, and he has people write in from all over the U.S.And around the world. For suggestions about some of those good soil amendments I mentioned, you'll find a lot at the DirtDoctor site, and they have connected up with the folks at Green Living to sell organic products online.

http://www.green-living.com/index.aspx Good luck with your garden--learn to tell the beneficial insects apart from the harmful ones, don't put anything in your garden that you wouldn't want to put on your plate, then you'll have a wonderful healthy experience as you use that compost.

This is actually a question I'd be posting here at some point. My yard doesn't have a place for a pile, so I want to get a composter. Did some looking, and found a couple sites with some great reviews and ratings of composters (and under $500 too!).

composterreviews.com/ Rates them on overall, value for price, build quality and how easy they are to use. consumersearch.com/compost-bins This one has the best by ratings for best tumbling, budget, kitchen and stationary. Also lists where to buy them, online and possibly offline.

Happy gardening!

I have no experience with factory-built composters, but I consulted several "how to choose a composter" and consumer review websites. (Unfortunately, the consumer reviews are too scarce to be statistically meaningful. ) I also searched the lowest prices.

The best tumbler composter I think there is is huge, pest-resistant , easy-to-use and tough: SUN-MAR Garden Composter 400 100 gallons / 13.6 cubic feet OVERVIEW: "SUN-MAR’s NEW Garden Composters incorporate our patented double drum Autoflow design. With Autoflow, material goes in the top and compost exits out the end as the drum rotates. As the drum rotates, compost moves along the outer drum and then back through the inner drum before dropping from the output port."

FEATURES: "compost discharges automatically no waiting for compost batches to finish pest resistant easy loading and turning of the composter" INSTRUCTIONS "material is added to the 400 by sliding the input door open. To mix and aerate the compost, the 400 drum is rotated by turning a shaft on which a small gear bears directly against the gear teeth on the drum. Compost is removed by opening the output port, rotating the drum and allowing compost to fall from the inner drum into a bushel basket or other container."

gardencomposter.com/ Currently available at $380.99 USD at Smart Living Direct. List price: $449.00 Our price: You save: $68.01 (15%) http://www.smartlivingdirect.com/sun-mar-400-garden-composter.html For minimal effort, the best tray composter I found is easy-to-use, huge, tough and innovative: 15 cubic feet or 113 gallons! "The Aerobin is a technological breakthrough in home and garden waste management.It uses a patented lung ® or aeration core inside a sealed bin to promote aerobic break down of organic matter, which experts say is the preferable method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The thermal insulation in the Aerobin conserves heat, leading to rapid breakdown of the biomass and works efficiently year round, even in cooler regions. There is no need to turn the biomass and it is pet and rodent resistant.It has little odor and can kill noxious weeds and seeds. The Aerobin is so easy to use - just open, drop and close.

After a short time, fertile compost is produced, which is easily accessed via the lower side door. Compost releases nutrients from organic matter to feed your plants and improve your soil and you can achieve this with hardly any effort and no mess. You can regularly put a mixture of wet materials such as food scraps, coffee grounds and lawn clippings together with dry materials such as leaves, twigs and newspaper into the bin and because it breaks down material so fast, the bin should always have plenty of room.

With the revolutionary Aerobin you can contribute positively to the environment with aerated composting of house and garden waste, rather than dumping your food scraps and garden waste in the garbage bin and adding to environmental problems." Exaco Trading Aerobin 400 Insulated Composter and Self Aeration System Price: $349.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details http://www.amazon.com/Exaco-Trading-Aerobin-400-Insulated/dp/B0036S643A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1273458348&sr=1-1 http://www.aerobin400.com.

I always thought the only people who bothered to buy a bin were people without space to build their own. You have space to build your own. You can use recycled pallets or timber from yard clean ups to build a 3/4 boxed area.

You save money and reuse! The reason we compost is to help our gardens and the environment right...and there you go suggesting a plastic bin that might set you back $500? You have the space to create your own compost area.

The pile sits on the ground and gets worms and bugs from nature to break down the refuse. No spinning, no real aeration because as you use it you are tumbling it at the same time. You don't need a worm farm and you don't need to spend any money.

You can create a split bin for two types of compost - heavy compost for spreading over the top and around plants and light compost for digging in new plants. You can leave them open to the air and let nature do the work. There are plenty of ways of building one, very quick and simple is to use pallets!

Tie them together with wire, start piling in the refuse and when you need some just dig out the front of the pile and use it! The top of the pile falls back down and it gets mixed and away you go again.... If you have pests that might get in just put a cover over the top by using some old iron roofing....and tie it down on the sides...easy to lift back, use and put down again... Plenty of videos and sites where you can make your own. Be a real greeny and don't spend the money, reuse building supplies and do it yourself!

youtube.com/watch?v=gWEvqfERPMo youtube.com/watch?v=YUrtw6cNMuc youtube.com/watch?v=9mygmCLd71U.

I suggest you by Envirocycle Composter at amazon. Com for just $157.40. According to a review by 'Cem Soykan" "Cem" of Delaware, USA, he/she posted that "My wife said "Wow, not as ugly as I was expecting" -quote- "Envirocycle Composter Price: $157.40 Product Features Color: Green * Compact, durable and user-friendly * Aeration occurs through small openings in the drum * Lockable lid prevents access to the compost by small animals * The drum is indented for easy gripping and rolling * The base is able to collect up to 5 gallons of liquid fertilizer or compost tea By Cem Soykan "Cem" (Delaware, USA) - See all my reviews I did a fair amount of website research and looking over product reviews, and one website claimed that the Enviro-Cycle was by far getting the most favorable reviews.

I bought from Amazon, and I love this product, but I have only had it for about 2 weeks. It says that it can only handle being 3/4 full, but I am near capacity already, and it is still spinning without difficulty (a little heavy, but works well)......" -end of quote.

Well, I think you should check out composter reviews. I'm sure you'll be able to find a composter that's just right for you.

The best composter based on reviews is the Sun-Mar 200. This one can be purchased at peoplepoweredmachines. Com and costs $310 plus $65 for shipping.

---quote-- SUN-MAR Garden Composter 200 - The 200 is the smallest of the three composters excellent for composting kitchen scraps and a few cut up garden trimmings. Operation of the 200 * In the 200, material is added by sliding the input door open. To mix and aerate the compost, the drum is rotated using four finger friendly slots running along the outside of the drum.

* Compost is removed by opening the output port, rotating the drum and allowing compost to fall from the inner drum into a bushel basket or other container. The diagram shows how material moves into and along the outer drum. A scoop on the inner drum (not shown) collects material and pushes it along the inner drum, exiting through the output port.

---end of quote.

I have been composting for many years. While the idea of a self contained neat little plastic tumbler sounds great, the practicality of one of these types of bins just doesn't make sense, the energy and money put into using a bin made from petroleum products such as plastic just could not be justified by the amount of compost they can produce. Making compost does not need to be a complicated procedure.

A pile with something such as chicken wire around it or wooden pallets is the best option, I use chicken wire so I can have a large pile. The bulk of the compost actually will be coming from yard debris, grass clippings and raked up leaves, and scraps from the kitchen. I urge you to make two bins, one for use in spring and one for use in fall, having bins at different stages of break down will ensure an ample supply of fresh compost throughout the gardening seasons.

Keep it simple, I just throw the debris in the bin throughout the year If the pile looks dry water it, pile composters work much quicker than sealed composters as bugs and fungus that are needed for breaking down debris can get into a pile much easier than a plastic container. As long as you don't compost meat you will not have a problem with animals. So the most "green" solution anyway is usually don't buy anything especially plastic if you can do it naturally.

I suggest you to buy "Envirocycle Composter"..

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.