Comments on: DIY Tumbling Compost Bin

By: Chicken Manure Compost Bin | Keeping Chickens

Chicken Manure Compost Bin | Keeping Chickens — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 22:00:49 +0000

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By: Darren

Darren — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:01:47 +0000

@Lucas: Great stuff! It’s a simple and effective bin. If you can find lawn clippings and/or leaves around your neighbourhood, they’ll make a good bulk addition.

By: Lucas

Lucas — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:40:55 +0000

I'm building a small one too (well, building... only drilling holes in a barrel as I don't want the whole construction around it). I mostly want one because I think throwing away so much usable nutritions is a big shame.

I hope I can get the (student-) housemates to help me collect enough green!

By: Darren

Darren — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:06:09 +0000

@GreenerGreener: It’s still a tumbling composter, as it still has exactly the same action and the composting works in the same way. It’s just not mounted on a pole. You can mount one of these barrels on a pole to make a stationary tumbling composter if that’s what you’d like. I’d never spend the $200 on the Tumbleweed you linked to, when you could build something stronger and better out of a recycled barrel for under $30. The support frames on the Tumbleweeds I’ve seen in person are a bit light-weight, and will eventually corrode when left in contact with the ground.

By: GreenerGreener

GreenerGreener — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:55:51 +0000

Great post. Thought it's more of a rolling composter than a tumbling composter. Personally my favorite true tumbling composter is the Tumbleweed Compost Tumbler it's a vertical barrel on a stand so you just rotate the barrel around a rod instead of rolling it around your yard.

It's a great option if you have a smaller yard than yours.

Thanks!

By: Anger « The Wee Homestead

Anger « The Wee Homestead — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 20:24:45 +0000

[...] I still need to get some pavers or something to build my beds with..found a roto tiller I can borrow at least. Huzzah! And I think I will try to do a compost bin made of a trashcan like this: http://green-change.com/2009/05/05/diy-tumbling-compost-bin/ [...]

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 11:01:18 +0000

@Philip: Yeah, the weight can be a problem if you load a lot of dense stuff into the barrel. Because it’s fast, I don’t try to stuff too much into it – I’d rather keep it manageable and just do more batches.

By: Philip

Philip — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 08:54:19 +0000

Dear Darren, I did build the Barrel eventually and have used it since Feb. My Problem was that I composted a lot of horse manure and that made the barrel very heavy. The Framework keeps it stable, but it need two people to safely roll the drum. Still the compost is finished much faster than before so I am happy Philip

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:21:49 +0000

@Kanya: Good luck with it – I’m sure you’ll have success. Just make sure you keep the contents moist, but not soggy.

By: Kanya

Kanya — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:13:55 +0000

Dear Darren,

Thanks for the quick reply. Will do as you suggest. Finger cross hope I will be able to use my own compost without buying them anymore!

By: Darren

Darren — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 21:21:30 +0000

@Kanya: It is easy . I do think you need to drill the holes. You need some airflow to allow the bacteria in the drum to breathe. If you they don’t get air, it’ll go anaerobic and stinky. The holes in the bottom of the drum also help to drain excess water, again to stop it going stinky.

By: Kanya

Kanya — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 12:15:33 +0000

Hello Darren,

You made all this look really easy. I have just recently bought similar drum size and just starting to put some vegies but wondering if I really need to drill some holes around the drum? And is possible not to have it at all? but if I need to do it..what should I do?

thank you, Kanya

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:14:04 +0000

@Mano: That sounds fantastic! Have you seen what Michael Mobbs (http://sustainablehouse.com.au) has been doing with street gardening around Chippendale? It’s very inspiring that there are so many people out there taking back community, and getting to know their neighbours in such a healthy and positive way.

There certainly seems to be a fertile “waste stream” in most cities that can be redirected into more sustainable purposes. Also see my recent post about Novella Carpenter (http://green-change.com/2010/11/10/novella-carpenter-urban-farming/), who has been farming in a run-down part of her city for years. She builds compost and feeds her animals primarily from the waste streams around her.

By: Mano

Mano — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 09:50:57 +0000

Hi There

Nice blog. re compost we're building a community garden in Bondi Road and using lots of old discards for it, for example, our compost heap is kept in place with old packing pallets, and some of the borders for our raised veg beds are made from old 15l paint tins. Check out some pics of it in progress on

local heroes and my balcony worm farm on Reln worm factory

By: Darren

Darren — Sun, 02 May 2010 11:37:49 +0000

@Bronwyn: It sounds like you’ve hit on a great solution for your situation. Happy composting!

By: Bronwyn

Bronwyn — Sat, 01 May 2010 15:41:14 +0000

Hi Darren,

I've been looking for a more affordable way to compost - my husband is disabled and cannot roll a can around the yard, but I did find a good solution - we had two smaller round trash cans with locking lids (maybe 7-10 gal? Not sure - about the size of a very big watermelon) I drilled small holes in the top and bottom, then to aerate it, I drilled tiny holes in the sides and used wire to secure wire coat hangers inside. It's small enough that we can both push them around the yard, and with two we're never out of space.

I should add, in the desert heat (easily 115-120 in summer!) we get compost in a matter of a few weeks! I love it!

By: Darren

Darren — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:24:56 +0000

@Philip: Let me know if you do! I’d be interested to see photos of what you end up with.

By: Philip

Philip — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:36:38 +0000

Darren, thanks for the feedback! I ordered the drum already and am in the prozess of researching the best/easiest framework. Maybe I’ll blog about it, when it finished…

By: Darren

Darren — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:31:37 +0000

@Philip: Go for it! I’ve seen people drill holes in either end of the barrel and put a pipe through so they can mount it horizontally off the ground between two posts (a bit like a pig on a spit). They then use a jigsaw to cut a square door out of the side of the barrel, and attach it back on with hinges and a catch. Looks good. No, I don’t put worms in the barrel – like you guessed, it gets too hot.

By: Philip

Philip — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:42:06 +0000

Very good Article! I will do the same! I might hoist the drum up on a framework, so that I can tumble the compost easier (with ballbearings). Lets see how much this will increase costs… Do you put any compost worms into the barrel or does it get too hot for compost worms?

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 06:39:40 +0000

Cool thanks Darren, Im looking forward to it

By: Darren

Darren — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:50:37 +0000

@amy: This type of compost bin is best to do in batches, preferably with the material shredded or chopped into fairly small pieces first (like lawn clippings, manure, shredded leaves and prunings, etc). That way it will heat up well and break down quickly. I use a normal cold composting bin for kitchen scraps, since we have a low volume but constant supply of them. That said, running two at once should work fine for what you’re after. I put all my grass clippings in – they’re high in nitrogen, so make sure you balance them with some carbon like dry leaves or sawdust.

By: amy

amy — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:21:58 +0000

Hi Im new to gardening and am focusing on my garden staying organic, I would love to make a compost bin and like your idea, can you just have one barrel or do you need at least two so your not adding new produce to the already composting material? or do you just take whats composted on the bottom and put that on your garden? does it matter if you put heaps of grass clippings in there?

By: Garden ’siteseeing’ in Australia, Alaska, Florida, and New York | csmonitor.com

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:15:04 +0000

[...] speaking of gardening, read about their inexpensive do-it-yourself tumbling compost [...]

By: Darren

Darren — Sat, 30 May 2009 11:09:30 +0000

@Johnnymac66: No, worms are not a key ingredient for composting, although they can be incorporated as an ingredient in some composting approaches. This particular method is hot-composting, where bacteria and microorganisms do the hard work breaking vegetable matter down for you. It’s rapid, but you need to keep the air, water, nitrogen and carbon ratios right for it to work, and the ingredients need to be chopped up small so each particle has large surface area and small volume. Using a worm farm is another effective approach, as is a cold compost pile that will likely involve worms eating some of the organic matter. These tend to take longer, though.