Does anyone here compost?

YellowUmbrella

We were thinking of getting a tumbling composter to put in our backyard, but when I talked with a compost vendor at the farmer's market, she said that they normally get too hot in Austin in the summer to really do any good. We have a lot of shade and it stays surprisingly cool, so I wonder if it's worth a shot.

ali-1411

We started a compost a few months ago.  I thought you needed it to be hot?  That's confusing.  The heat is what makes the whole thing work. 

YellowUmbrella

ali-1411:

We started a compost a few months ago.  I thought you needed it to be hot?  That's confusing.  The heat is what makes the whole thing work. 

She said that you needed it hot, but extended periods of 100+ was too hot and it would start fermenting (or something like that).

labbielover07

We compost. The heat helps break it down faster to become dirt. We have been composting for a few years and it works just fine in the TX heat. Our backyard isn't shaded either.

HSartteach

We have a tumbler composter.  We stopped composting after a while, but that has nothing to do with anything but us.  I like the tumbler because it's easy to turn the compost.  I remember watching my mom have to go and use the pitchfork to turn it and I want none of that.  the tumbler we have is compact and doesn't take up much space.  We also don't have it in the shade.  Maybe once our garden is finally ready (who knows when that will be), we will pick it up again to make compost.

Any recs for a good sealable bin to hold the waste in the kitchen?

Sinafey

HSartteach:

Any recs for a good sealable bin to hold the waste in the kitchen? 

 

We're just starting to try composting, so I have no personal experience but a friend recommended the little ceramic compost buckets at World Market.  They have a charcoal filter built in to help deal with any odor.

Sorry no clicky: https://www.worldmarket.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3597599 

fjaril

I think the problem with the tumbler and heat is that it's too compact. It gets too hot to use one of those, but if you have a cool area, you'd only be out the cost of the tumbler.

Most people I know that compost do a combo of a tumbler and an area of the yard contained with cinder blocks and the will tumble and add that to the big pile yadda yadda yadda  

 

good luck  

FireChiefsBride

If it is turnable and you turn it on a regular basis, the heat is a positive factor.

We have been composting for about 9 months with a great big, hand crank composter from Costco.