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Nature Mill Composter?

14 years ago

I wonder if anyone has any experience with a Nature Mill Composter. DH wants one badly...they apparently are electric, self-contained, no-odor, no-fruitfly compost makers that sit in the kitchen.

I'm curious about experience with the composter, but especially any ideas about how/where to install them. The website has a photo showing one sitting on the floor and another showing the unit under a kitchen counter.

The website is www.naturemill.com.

Thanks!

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Comments (5)

andreadeg
14 years ago
I had nothing but a bad experience with the Nature Mill Composter. for Christmas last year my DH gave this to me and I was soo excited! The first problem we had that it was really difficult to get the right mix of brown and green materials. Just a degree either way and the compost either ends up smelling like amonia, or, won't decompose.

2nd problem, once we did get the right amount of ingredients they would often get stuck in the "mixer" and we sould have to manually dislodge.

3rd problem- the decomposted matter would not drop into the lower bin...it just sits in the top portion.

Even under the best of circumstances i would not use this composter in my kitchen; odors do escape.

I wish I had better news for you!
earthpal
14 years ago
Hmm.. I am looking to get one of these once we are finished next year. From the reviews I have been reading on other sites, most people really like the new XE model. IIRC, it can go either inside your kitchen/pantry area or outside in a sheltered area.

I encourage the OP to do a google search on this product as well to read more reviews on this product.
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$400 for something that you can do for free is foolish. PT Barnum was right. Stamp it with the trendy label and charge a fortune for it and you clean the pockets of the less knowledgable. If you're in an apartment or condo, I understand wanting to find a better way to deal with recyclable waste. Vermicomposting does that at very little cost. Mabye $50 for some bins and worms. There is a whole forum here on Garden Web devoted to Vermicomposting. One devoted to regular composting as well. I suggest you browse both of them to become better informed about the practice before wasting your money. If vermicomposting has too much of an "ick" factor for you, then you're probably not suited to compost to begin with and should donate your waste to a local neighbor who has a traditional bin. Here is a link that might be useful: Vermicomposting
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14 years ago
Vermicomposting is a heck of a lot cheaper and you get almost instant fertilizer from it. Those worm castings are GREAT for houseplants. There's a whole forum devoted to Composting and another to Vermicomposting on GardenWeb. Check them out before you commit to such an outrageous sum for something that can be so simple and cost free as composting. All anyone really needs is a dedicated spot in the yard for a traditional compost heap!
seaduck
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks everyone for your thoughts on this. Looks like I'll need to do more research -- esp after Andrea's tale of woe! But like earth gal, I'm getting the sense that maybe the new models are much improved.

I haven't been much into composting...DH likes the idea, and this seems like a good time to think about how we would handle it in the kitchen. I worry about odors, and especially fruit flies, cuz we already are prone to those. As for the vermi thing...I dunno. Maybe I need to do more research. But I like the simple/easy in-kitchen aspect of this product.

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