Thursday, 22 August 2019

Steps For Efficient Envirocycle Compost

By Margaret Olson


Gardeners often have a need for enhancing the soil they grow in. Environmental concerns about waste are high on most peoples' list of issues. Buying fertilizer and other soil enhancements can be expensive. Combining the environmental concern for waste and the need to improve soil quality creates a great opportunity to attack both by using a tumbler such as the Envirocycle compost tumbler. There are many different brands available and you can even make your own. Doing so will help save money and dispose of a large quantity of your household waste.

The device must be stored in a place that is dry. Having added moisture affect the mix is bad and could ruin the mix. It would essentially turn it into a soup rather than a soil additive. Using a garage or shed is best, but a covered porch or secured tarp will do the job as long as you can keep adding water out of the mix.

Add all of the material at once. Instead of adding a little bit of the recyclable material over time, you need to dump it all in the tumbler at once so it will begin the process together. Adding piecemeal will cause problems. Some people will get two tumblers so they can get one working and simply use the other to store the scraps of food and other materials. When the second is full, the first is usually ready to be emptied into the garden.

Two forms of material can be added to the tumbler. The most important piece of information is to avoid adding any plastics to the mix. Other items such as coffee grounds, tea bags, grass clippings, and other food or organic material are referred to as green waste. Wood chips, paper towels, newspapers and the like are considered brown waste.

The waste ratio needs to be maintained for it to work properly. It should be maintained as a single green part to three parts of the brown type of waste. The green waste is more easily broken down and needs the tougher, rougher material to absorb and slow the process so it all mixes together well. If the mix ratio is not correct you will notice some strong, unusual odors emitting from the tumbler.

Use the hand crank to turn the device. It is suggested that you turn the crank one full turn. This will not completely rotate the tumbler but will instead move it far enough to get the mix to shift and help with the processes that are going on. Doing this every day until it is done composting is an important part of the process.

Pungent smells mean there is a problem. If you notice a strong ammonia smell, you need to add quite a bit more brown waste. If you notice a rotten egg smell it means there is too much moisture. Again, adding more brown waste should help with this problem. You will also want to be sure water is not getting into the device by checking the seals and that it can latch properly. Too much moisture can turn it into a bad soup mixture which won't do much for the garden.

It will take between two and ten weeks to create the best compost. Don't forget to keep other scraps out of the mix until you have dumped the first material and are ready to begin again. Keep some of the material back as a starter for the next process.




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