i've been using a plastic 55 gallon drum with holes all around and the top cut out and covered in diamond mesh. 2 small hinges on the door. The pipe sticking out is 2" pvc drilled around like drain pipe stuck into a standard coupler that matches the threads on the food grade drums.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1083812&l=5dd596c029&id=1074682278

i just roll it on the ground now, its easier, and i get my picinin table back.

Get a source of horse manure/bedding fill the tumbler than add your kitchen scraps in the middle.

ron

i've been cranking out the compost in this bad boy since february filled about 4-5 of my raised beds and

Ron, that's got to be one of the best re-uses of a radio wagon flyer I've ever seen!

-Kim

1) It's a great idea. Tumblers work very well at dealing with varmints.
2) Smaller tumblers may have difficulty getting the really high heat (at least my little one does) but I don't put much in it that would require a high heat to kill anything. Mostly kitchen stuff like UCGs, veggie trimmings, fruit stuff etc etc. There are many ideas for setting up small tumblers, from the elaborate to the simple.

Lloyd

in case you were wondering if all this composting is worth it check this out

http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1160894296759#/album.php?aid=88823&id=750297565

just a couple of glamor veggie/ flower shots from this years garden.

I liked the radio flyer for awhile then i started to become difficult to turn. the front wheels were collapsed before i turned it on it's back for composting purposes.

ron

I'm reviving this way old thread because I have the exact same problem and had the exact same thought.

Last year, I built myself this a beautiful two-bin outdoor compost. It's 4'X4'X8', has a removable front to allow for turning and shoveling out finished compost. Lids on the top of both sides allow me to easily throw new stuff in. It's working great, I love it.

Until I got a rat, which is coming for my kitchen scraps. Even burying the kitchen scraps isn't working for me. It's burrowing in and totally giving me the heebie geebies. (It's a standard practice of mine to throw in large pieces, then hack away at my pile with a machete. I REALLY don't want to accidentally go medieval on a rat!).

I tried turning the pile, watering it more, putting out bait. This rat will not leave. So now I am thinking of doing exactly the same thing the original poster mentioned above. I'll keep using the big one for yard waste, then get myself a smaller drum (or two) to throw my kitchen scraps in. Start them with a little finished compost, and when the kitchen scraps are no longer in a tasty stage, either throw that in my big composter or maybe directly in my garden.

I'm wondering if the OP might still be around to let me know how that turned out. Or has anyone else got ideas for this plan?

I'd like to keep the drum small enough so that I could roll it around, maybe even lift it. Not sure how many gallons that would be though. I'd rather not buy one of those expensive tumbler composters if I don't have to.

Thoughts?

Consider trench composting the kitchen scraps - that's where you bury them in a trench and next year you plant over them and bury more in another trench.

Yes, I was doing that before I built my composter. Unfortunately, during the entire spring and summer, all my beds are filled with vegetables and I don't have space open to fill with scraps. For people who can do that, though, that worked out good for me. I was doing it during the fall and winter when my beds were empty.

How about a python? No? Well I thought it was worth mentioning.

I suppose a shotgun is totally out. :-P

Your plan should work. But I would recommend having some browns available rather than finished compost. Leaves, straw, shredded paper, wood chips, sawdust etc. I keep fall leaves in a circular wire fence bin next to the compost and add some after each addition of kitchen scraps.

A python in my compost would have me running screaming from my yard, LOL Good point on the browns too, thank you. I'm now debating between a tumbler or a worm bin. A friend who is a long-time composter is selling me on the idea of a worm bin. Though I like dealing with lots of worms about the same as I'd like dealing with a python, my bigger concern is how much capacity a worm bin can handle. I fill a 10-litre indoor kitchen scrap can once a week. Double that in the summer when I am chopping up melon rinds and such. Of the worm bins I've seen, they don't seem to be set up for that capacity. But maybe I'm not "getting it".

In the meantime, the rat is still in there as I saw more disturbance in my compost pile this morning. The bait I put out is getting eaten, so now I have nightmares that he might die in my compost bin, his body filled with poison that will contaminate all that compost I worked so hard for. Or worse, that the poison won't kill him but tweak him out, and one of these days, I'll open the lid to my bin and the red-eyed beast will fling himself at me in a stoned-out fury. (I watch too much TV). It's pouring and will be raining all week, so I can't get one of those Rat Zappers folks on this forum seem to love. I'm just going to have to wait him out and hope I find him lying dead in the yard somewhere. If not, when the weather clears, I may go on Craigslist and find someone willing to come turn my pile for me, since both me and my (city raised) husband have the willies over the idea of sticking a pitchfork in and coming up rat.

I got a mouse that way once, it is a bit gruesome.

I wouldn't worry about the compost getting contaminated, as long as you're not planning to eat it. The amount of toxic stuff there is insignificant in terms of putting the compost on your garden. Zombie rat though....be very afraid. :-D

Hi loribee,

I'm in a situation similar to yours because I live in a densely populated urban area and, although I haven't had any rats in my compost pile yet, it's bound to happen if I'm not careful.

I use a separate 40 litre plastic barrel for my food scraps (that's about 10 gallons) and it works out just fine for me. What I do is that I fill it up to three-quarters with fluffy browns of the tough-ish sort (shredded leaves, wood shavings, or equivalent). Then I add my kitchen scraps as they come and I give it a shake every time. I do take the time to cut them up a bit -- nothing too fancy, I just don't thrown whole fruit or veggies in there. I find the size and weight convenient as well, it's only when the barrel is very full after 6-8 weeks that I have trouble shaking it up or kicking it around. When it gets too full I wait for a few days until the last scraps decompose (and until my kitchen pail is overflowing!) and dump the lot on the outdoor compost pile, and then I start over.

I drilled a few tiny holes in the bottom for draining, but I don't get any leachate. The trick is not to add any extra water, except in the very beginning when you moisten the browns. The kitchen scraps will provide all the moisture it needs. Also, if your browns are nice and fluffy when you start out, you don't need a gazillion holes on the sides for aeration -- I have just a dozen holes or so, but I do open the barrel once or twice a day to throw stuff inside and shake it, and it smells quite nice.

Of course being in Athens I have the weather on my side. The temperature hardly ever falls below freezing and my barrel is standing in the sun, so it stays warm even in the winter. What little I know about California tells me that it shouldn't be too different over there, so maybe this system can work for you too.

My two drachmas :)

PS: Watch out for zombie rats!

Thank you Theodora! That is certainly the most economical option (though I'm not sure how much a python costs, LOL). I think I may try your method before spending money on a tumbler, and I appreciate your describing how you work it. That makes sense.

Thanks Toxcrusadr! I have a Rat Zapper coming, my husband has said if I trap one in it, he will toss the rat out for me (I can only handle so much varmit). Good to know I don't have to lose the pile I started.

A python needs a steady supply of rats. You've been warned ;-)

my husband has said if I trap one in it, he will toss the rat out for me

No ... COMPOST IT! Bury it in the pile, leave it for a few months and it vanishes like the bunny, the pigeons and that annoying neighbor :)

Thanks Theodora for a great idea. Nice to hear from beautiful sunny Greece! We will all be over for souvlaki and dolmas later. :-D

Hey loribee2, I was wondering if you tried the mini-compost tumbler. Mine let me down for the first time. It's been abnormally cold for the past several weeks (as in, temperatures around and below 5°C, which for us is simply terrifying) and nothing is decomposing in there except maybe the banana peels. So now I have 35 litres of chilled garbage that won't rot, and I'm hoping the weather changes soon, because I'm going to need to be able to empty my kitchen pail!

My only consolation in all this is that all the neighbourhood's stray cats moved in near the outdoor compost pile (probably to enjoy the heat) so I'm not too worried about rats.