dimanche 2 juin 2019

Tips For Efficient Envirocycle Compost

By Margaret Olson


Many people like to grow gardens but need to enrich the soil they grow it in. There are also environmental issues about the waste that is in the news daily. Using fertilizer and different soil enrichment techniques can be expensive. By combining the concerns for environmental and cost factors a conclusion can be reached that using some sort of composting system would work well. Using a tumbler similar to the Envirocycle compost tumbler is a great way to address both concerns at the same time.

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.

The material that can be added is organic. The first type is called green waste and is composed of food scraps, grass clippings, and includes tea bags and coffee grounds. The other type is called brown waste. It is composed of newspaper scraps, paper towels, and other wood-based products. It is imperative that you do not use plastic waste of any sort in the mix.

The ratio of the mix needs to be kept right in order for it to work. The formula is one green part to three brown parts of waste. The organic green waste can be broken down quickly and turned into a soup, so the more stable brown waste is needed to help absorb and slow the process to make a nice fertile mix for the garden. Strong odors are an indication that the mix is not balanced.

There should be a hand crank on the device. If there is it will be easier to turn. In either case, you need to turn the handle one full turn every single day until it is ready. You don't need to crank it more than this, but the complete rotation is important to get all the material involved in the process. This usually ends up moving the device less than a full rotation, which is how it is designed. Without this, you'll open the hatch to a mix that is partly composted and part not. This will also cause it to take much longer to do its work.

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.

The process takes 2 to 10 weeks to finish. Remember, once you close the lid and start the process you don't want to open it to add more scraps. You can check on it, but it's best to keep it closed at least two weeks before opening to check it. Use a different bin to store organic material while the first process is ongoing.




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