composters
There are very many different ways and systems for creating great compost which one is best for you will depend on your compost needs in terms of quantity, quality and what you want to use your end product for. If you wish to have perfect fine graded sieved compost like garden centre speciality compost you will need to have maximum control over the grades and sizes of particles you add and the ratios of woody materials to green. If you want perfect compost you should aim to have evenly graded helpings of raw materials so moisture, oxygen, and microbes can surround each particle quicker for a quick efficient composting process.
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The correct particle ratios of 3 parts yellow woody materials (carbon) to 1 part green (nitrogen) will also aid a good quick turnaround off compost within 4 months. Tumblers or systems where you are prepared to physically turn the compost are suited here. If you are prepared to have patience and multiple heaps for multiple stages of decomposition this will be a slower but more bulk reward system the more you experiment the more you will become and expert of creating your own organic compost.
compost Bins
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Closed bins are a typical garden compost bin they are ideal for small gardens and most of them have a process of collecting compost from the bottom end. The main benefits of these are they do not take too much effort or space. The normally dark colours of these bins allow them to heat up helping the organic matter to break down quickly. The lack of aeration however means this can be a slow process with lumps forming as some parts of the bin become condensed. All in all not a terrible system as even if perfect compost is not achieved a dumping heap can be created somewhere unsightly where any lumps can slowly break down while you start a new compost batch.
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ROLLING BINS
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A great way to making aerating and mixing easy, helps to eliminate the need for unsightly compost piles but can get hard to empty when too full and difficult to empty out without making a mess of the garden but not a bad composting solution.
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TUMBLERS
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Tumblers are hands down one of the best composting solutions for the urban garden composter. The aeration is quick and easy and you can get results very quickly. The only downside is if you wish to continually add composting materials you may need two bins as when you create good usable compost there will be raw materials constantly being added.
The best solution is to have three tumblers where you have fresh, semi composted and then nearly composted in fact for all types of composting a three stage system is the best. hEAPS & PILES
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Compost heaps and piles are a more traditional, typical even historic method of creating compost. They are not an attractive way of creating perfect compost and often become compact and dry in the centre. They are however more ecologically harmonious with the garden. Heaps which are allowed to decay over time allow for wildlife to nest and shelter over winter time. This may seem irrelevant to compost production but allowing for a few fallow heaps of decomposing material reduces the need for shredding and grading raw materials. This is better for the environment and allows invertebrates higher up the food chain to participate in the organic break down.
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Like in nature the best results happen over time, if you are patient and prepared to wait for your compost have 5 piles one for each year. Every year turn one pile into the others patch and buy year 5 every garden should have a cubic metre of fresh, local, organic compost and thousands of young toads, hedgehogs, frogs, snakes, lizards, newts to keep down the pests.
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sheet composting
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Sheet composting may sound like a spacious pursuit and in practice it is but fundamentally it replicates what happens in nature and has many benefits. All the usual ingredients of compost are mixed together and spread as a loose layer over areas of garden or growing beds. This replicates woodland where leaf litter produces a bio rich layer. The layer is constantly moist and well oxygenated meaning with no extra effort the composting process continues naturally. The extra benefit of this is the mulching nature of the compost suppresses weed but the system does not look attractive creating and inconsistent layer of composting mulch.
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PIT COMPOSTING
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Pit composting relies on a very simple concept of allowing nature to take its course. A shallow depression is dug into the ground into a bowl shape so compost materials can be gradually heaped in. The benefit of this system is natural organisms and processes are allowed to accept the rich waste rapidly and these heaps usually heat up quickly. The down side is after the initial fast decomposition it is slow in producing consistent good quality compost. Worms and fungi take their time to break the matter down with uneven decomposition common. It is hard to harvest new humus compost as this lies underneath new raw materials
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