Challenges of Suburban Composting 2

My 48 gallon tumbling composter is almost too heavy for me to rotate and needs to be emptied. Ed has no patience for this thing so I happily do it myself. It's not the most pleasant task, but I love seeing the beautiful soil we created so don't mind doing it at all.


I keep old plastic sheets, such as shower liners and the heavy plastic from unpacking a new bed and such. These are perfect for all kinds of things in the garden. It's important to make sure they're completely dry before you fold them up or you'll create mildew which I don't want to get into, but don't do it. Eeek. Enough said.


I spread the plastic out under the composter. (After doing this I realized I should pull the plastic further underneath the composter.)


It's like putting on a bib. Then I rotate the composter, dumping out the contents and hope it all lands on the plastic, though some always escapes. Easy enough to sweep up.


This isn't a clear picture, but there's a metal rod that runs horizontally through the center of the composter. I initially thought it's purpose purpose was to aid in aerating, but now realize that's how it's able to be rotated since that's what connects it to the stand. I'd prefer it wasn't in there because it gets in the way when you're scooping it out.


As you can see, there are still some fresh pieces in there, a whole tomato just added, a few ribbons (a study of mine to see how long it'll take them to decompose). All of these will be tossed back in the composter, along with a small amount of the compost left remaining to get things started for the next batch.

I do this project in phases, early in the day before it gets too hot. As I write this everything is still sitting as indicated in the picture above.

The next step is to drag this 50 pound heap to another pile I have on the east side of the garage. It's a big step and will require another cup of coffee and a piece of toast first. 


As I nibble my toast I read the only review on the Miracle-Gro website, giving the product a 1 out of 5.





We're suburban homesteaders in Chicago southwest suburbs. Our passion is growing as much of our own food as possible. We have our own brand of canned pizza sauce with tomatoes straight from our own organic garden.

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