DIY Compost Machine

[k15n1]

Seen the Nature Mill compost machine? I want that capability, but I'm not going to pay 400 $ for it.

I live in MN, where it gets cold. I don't like taking the compost out in the winter, and it just makes a big frozen pile that turns into a big smelly pile in the summer. So, I'd like to build a compost machine that fits under the counter. We have a U-shaped kitche, and the corner cabinets are pretty much not used, so I have a fair amount of space.

I've done compost inside before, but it was brought to an end by fruit flies. I've read that compost machines work at a high enough temperature that they prevent the flies from hatching. What should I use for a heating unit? A crockpot is too small, but I was thinking of taking the coils out and using an external thermostat. My father suggested a waterbed heater around a metal 5-gal bucket. Any other suggestions?

 

[Joel_BC]

Interesting. Can you provide a link to a web page that shows something like what you're thinking about?

 

[moolie]

I googled it and found this: http://www.naturemill.com/

Interesting idea, we have a rolling composter that we received as a gift, but lots of people here have made them out of barrels or garbage cans that rotate around a bar stuck through the middle. Ours works pretty well, we just have way too much compostable stuff for it so it only gets the kitchen waste and enough leaves/brown matter for it to work. We have a regular pile at the back of the garden.

 

[Joel_BC]

I googled it and found this: http://www.naturemill.com/

Thanks, moolie.

I went to that site. What a hoot! The home page has a picture of a sophisticated looking suburban couple getting much joy out of the guy scraping what looks like half a dinner-plate's-worth of food into their composter!! Either food doesn't mean much to those folks, or someone was a phenomenally bad cook that evening.

Anyhow, the cutaway illustration and other info convey how the machine is made and works. Probably a good little machine... but probably overpriced. A dedicated tinkerer could no doubt come up with something similar enough to do the job for less than a third the price.

Here at out place, though, we just take compost out to our piles every few days, even during col, snowy periods. The piles thaw out in spring, and I can always seem to get things heating up and moving toward finished compost again because I can add a lot of grass clippings, and get air into the piles during the process of adding the clippings.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Many years ago....I think, in Organic Gardening (80s) I read someone's article about chickens being nice feathured composters.
I went a few years without chickens and everytime I had table scraps or peelings, I'd throw it out in the compost pile, which some of it would be eaten by animals, but I'd complain that this food could be turning into meat and eggs for me. And now it is.
I guess what I'm saying is the same 400 for your machine could buy the material for a very small coop. I guarantee the poop will turn into useful soil far faster than the scraps would on their own, although some cackling will be heard at times.
I don't blame you for not wanting to spend the 400. I wouldn't either. And I understand if chicken poop isn't your first choice, but a lot of people interested in compost and gardens are also interested in fresh meat and eggs, so I thought I'd mention it. Sorry I can't give you the exact year and month of the article...I'm speaking of a time, before I was married and used to sneek peeks at my mom's 2 favorite mags....Organic Gardening and MotherEarth.

 

[cheepo]

ok...don't mean to sound creepy...
but what about a worm bin

heres an easy how do..

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcv69QL_Ers

no smell..is actually easy to have inside, fantastic compost, , in just a few months...and treats for the chickens...aparently they really multiply, and for me this is much more of an option that raising meal worms...
I am just starting to get going with my bins..but think its a good way to compost what the chickens wont eat...for now, i have mine in the garage,
also...and even cheeper version is a 3 gallon bucken with drill holes, to small for a worm to get through, placed in a 5 gallon pale to collect water but this way one would have to sort for compost, so for me the stacking bins is best...

 

[txcanoegirl]

Cheepo, you beat me to it with the worm bin composting. I've also seen them on youtube made out of kitty litter buckets stacked together. I hear there is no odor, plus you have worm tea and compost.

 

[Daffodils At The Sea]

I love to compost, I really believe in it, and we also have a composting toilet, so I have worked on lots of ways to keep them as efficient as they can be, but there is just no stopping gnats and flies that can get into both piles, especially inside where it's warm all winter. We add herbs to both of them, but then the fragrance becomes like men's aftershave. I had no idea how much lavender was in men's aftershave!

I don't care how tight the lid is on that expensive gizmo, you have to open it to add more, and the bugs will get in or out. Gnats can pretty much get under anything, even a tight seal. Even our composting toilet has its own room connected to an exterior wall, with separate venting. And even then, we put a sub-container in it and take the contents out to compost outside where it doesn't make a mess or get out of control. Composting works best when you make a pile, then stop adding, let it finish...starting a new pile that runs simultaneously. Any gizmo that says keep adding to it will always have contents that aren't quite composted.

But if your outside pile is smelly in the summer, it just means it's too wet and doesn't have enough browns in it to absorb the moisture and add oxygen. If you have rains that are making it too wet, cover the pile with a tarp. Turning it more often, making sure there's a 50/50 browns and greens with kitchen scraps should keep it smelling like the floor of the forest, and the center should be too hot to touch. But if it dries out it will stop working, so there is that balance. But it is so worth it to have the end result. I've saved sick plants and made compost tea with it and started seeds that have flourished.

At least if you have a frozen pile the animals won't steal your scraps.

 

[elijahboy]

a yard sale diaper genie...figure out how to warm it up

 

[~gd]

I love to compost, I really believe in it, and we also have a composting toilet, so I have worked on lots of ways to keep them as efficient as they can be, but there is just no stopping gnats and flies that can get into both piles, especially inside where it's warm all winter. We add herbs to both of them, but then the fragrance becomes like men's aftershave. I had no idea how much lavender was in men's aftershave!

I don't care how tight the lid is on that expensive gizmo, you have to open it to add more, and the bugs will get in or out. Gnats can pretty much get under anything, even a tight seal. Even our composting toilet has its own room connected to an exterior wall, with separate venting. And even then, we put a sub-container in it and take the contents out to compost outside where it doesn't make a mess or get out of control. Composting works best when you make a pile, then stop adding, let it finish...starting a new pile that runs simultaneously. Any gizmo that says keep adding to it will always have contents that aren't quite composted.

But if your outside pile is smelly in the summer, it just means it's too wet and doesn't have enough browns in it to absorb the moisture and add oxygen. If you have rains that are making it too wet, cover the pile with a tarp. Turning it more often, making sure there's a 50/50 browns and greens with kitchen scraps should keep it smelling like the floor of the forest, and the center should be too hot to touch. But if it dries out it will stop working, so there is that balance. But it is so worth it to have the end result. I've saved sick plants and made compost tea with it and started seeds that have flourished.

At least if you have a frozen pile the animals won't steal your scraps.

Still no fence posts.:/ Your pile and forget it methods are outdated {is that rude?) Aerobic [need oxygen] bacteria produce heat, carbon dioxide, and ammonia [stinks]. Other bacteria use the carbon dioxide to convert ammonia into nitrites which is converted by oxygen to Nitrates. On the other hand Anaerobic [hate oxygen] bacteria can be used to produce e fuels [biogas} from the same materials. Which use is greener? Darn if I know, all the materials are recycled either way but compost can be done low tech. Biogas tends to be high tech.
To see high tech composting check with a city, many of them pick up all the leaves that residents sweep to the curb and haul it to a central facility where it is composted and the compost is sold. Compost there is made fast and cheap using machines to produce the conditions that allow the bacteria to do their job quickly. The leaves fall in the fall but the peak period for selling compost is the spring. Those big piles dont freeze in the winter air and water and heat are piped to where they are needed. ~gd