It definitely makes the chore of churning the bin much easier. You must be logged in to post a comment. Already a member? Login here. Search for:. Derek Smith March 17th at pm Log in to Reply. The Cultural Puzzle and Food ». Meta Log in. Recent Comments John Walton: this is something to debate about????? Susan Vinskofski: Sometimes Wegman's, but I think the co Sandi Savitski Weinerth: where do you get your coconut oil? Eden Strang: Great article!
Or it can be as simple as bubble wrap to go over the top of your compost. People who like to produce compost super-fast turn their heaps every several days. That provides air to the mico-organisms which speeds up the composting process.
The Berkeley method, for example, takes only 18 days. I usually prefer to turn mine twice. I do it both to introduce oxygen and to get the outside of the compost heap into the middle.
That usually heats up the heap again, and leads to more even compost. An alternative to turning your compost regularly is to aerate it. When choosing an aerator, consider how large your compost heap or bin is. Some aerators are not long enough to reach deep into a sizable compost pile.
Handcrank compost aerator : A hand-crank compost aerator looks a bit like a corkscrew. You push the aerator into the compost and then turn it from the top. The bottom of the aerator turns just like a corkscrew, moving the compost and creating air spaces.
You push the stirrer into the compost. As you pull it back out, the wings open up, pulling the material up. Raking stick : My raking stick came with my HotBin. It consists of a handle, a straight metal section and a hook at the end. An alternative to using aerators is to create a compost heap with natural air pockets built in. There are a number of ways to do this. For example, you can add materials such as semi-decomposed wood chips, place sticks at the bottom or incorporate drilled polythene pipes into the compost heap.
Soil moisture meter : These do what they say on the tin, rapidly detecting the moisture level of your compost heap. That in turn, of course, helps speed the process up. However, the Monty compost monitoring tools ends to provide exactly that information via an app on your phone.
Most of the time I simply use a wheelbarrow or a garden refuse sack for collecting material in the garden, and a compost caddy in the house. Compost caddy : An essential tool for collecting your compost. Often very cost-effective, they come in a huge range of sizes and designs.
If smells are a concern, choose a design with a carbon filter to absorb smells. Compostable kitchen bin liners : Compostable kitchen liners are designed to keep your compost caddy clean inside. They may compost in council composting systems, but they have failed in both my Bokashi bin and in my hot compost bin at temperatures of 60 Celsius and above.
They have left, in their wake, a sticky mess. You can make your own kitchen bin liner from a newspaper. Leaf vacuum and mulcher : If you have a lot of leaves around, one tool you might want to consider is a leaf blower, vacuum and mulcher. Another effective tool manufactured from the Lotech Products is compost crank compost aerator which works well for compost tank that has high walls. It is a highly effective tool that penetrates any material easily and can be suitable to use in any type of compost bins.
Body Material — It is an American product and the machinery are made from recycled parts. The most important feature in this tool is 45 inches tall with an effective depth of 29 inches and weight of 2 pounds that makes it easily work through vines and other troublesome ingredients. Working Mechanism — All you need is to simply grasp the free spinning handles and then crank clockwise into the pile. Lift it upwards without turning and repeat the same action layer by layer for proper aeration and to enhance decomposition.
Here the corkscrew pulls compost up from the bottom to get thoroughly mix and aerate the compost. When once the material is loosening with repeated actions then you can go deeper into the pile. You can reach every corner of the bin with this tall compost aerating tool.
The extra wide high leverage handle and weight centering middle step plate of this Yard Butler Twist Tiller will make it as an effective aerator tool that works best for both your lawn and compost.
This is widely used for mixing compost, adding soil amendments and digging holes for planting. Body Material — It weighs 4. Working Mechanism — Simply drive the six claw spikes of this tool deep into the compost and twist it by using the force of your body to rotate the sharp angled claw tines. Pull it to mix the compost heap. Repeat it till the contents in your compost pile are mixed thoroughly.
A compost aerator is a garden tool that specializes in aerating and turning the contents of a bin or compost pile. By using this aerator, you can speed up the whole process of distributing oxygen, moisture and bacteria in the compost pile without getting your hands dirty.
Basically, there are two major types of compost aerator designs — plunger and corkscrews. Both these aerators are easily inserted deep into the compost heap and disrupt it.
The pulling action will move the contents and circulates air in the compost. The material used in preparing the tool will decide the longevity of the tool. Most aerator tools are made of stainless steel or aluminium in which they have protective coating to handle the constant use without bending or rusting anti-rust finish. This will make the material firm whether you are twisting, plunging or pulling.
One should check the design and length height whether it reach their general comfort for aerating process before buying this compost aerator tool or else it results in uneven decomposition. Check the warranty given by the tool manufacturer before buying this gardening tool.
Warranty will allow you to test the strength and functionality of any tool. Sort out the best which suits your requirements. Checking ergonomic factors has been quite common in these days before buying any product. Some gardeners suffer from arthritis, sore muscles and other ailments in which they need tools that are designed to keep the hands and muscles comfortable with proper grip on handles without applying too much strain on your body parts throughout the process.
Before buying any product, you should decide how much to spend on that product. It may depend on the need and features as per your requirement. It is also advisable to go through customer reviews to know the pros and cons of that tool. It creates an aerobic environment by adding vital oxygen and moisture to the mix.
The pointed ends of the aerator will stab the compost pile to create large pockets of air deep inside the compost. This pulling and pushing action will spread the moisture, air and heat up the pile for proper decomposition.
Always remember that aerating your compost regularly will provide the regular influx of oxygen to the pile and thereby speed up the process of getting compost in 5 — 8 weeks instead of 4 — 8 months. So, without enough supply of oxygen, the decomposition process will get slow down and thus results in some problems like strong odor smells like ammonia , compost attracting unwanted critters like mice, insects, flies, rats.
Have a look at the few reasons that explain why you should use a compost aerator. Do you know that the center of a healthy compost pile should be at degrees Fahrenheit?
Circulation of fresh air and periodic influx of oxygen will fluff the whole pile to some degree which are essential for proper decomposition process. Also, the organic materials produce nitrogen in the compost bin helps to produce heat and make it stay in an aerobic state.
Whenever the material starts to decompose then the pile will begin to shrink and compress in its size, which in turn cause the pile to cool down sooner without decomposing the rest of the compost. So, to prevent this problem, you have to use a compost aerator to expose more particles and to fluffs up the mixture to speed up the decomposition process allows the pile to reheat itself with proper spread of air, heat and moisture.
The compost pile becomes stale if left without aerating for a longer period of time. The odor is an indication that the pile has too much moisture or nitrogen. So, if you aerate the compost frequent turning of the mix will help to reduce the odor. Most of the gardeners think that why should purchase a compost aerator tool when we have tools like a shovel or forks or spades. Here are a few reasons that explain you why the aerator works best than others.
The products mentioned in this article will work best in aerating the compost but one will differ somewhat best when compared with others. So, have a look on expert advice which will help you in choosing the correct product for your compost aeration.
By using a compost aerator, the food or garden scraps will take a few weeks rather than months of time to turn into soil with its technique of even distribution of bacteria, moisture and air.
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