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Envirocycle Composter: Product Review

Photo found on Flickr.com courtesy of Madness Rivera. Pugs not intended for use in composter – just garden materials. Thank you.

There are so many outstanding benefits associated with the Envirocycle Composter. This compost bin is basically a spinning drum that rotates on a base with eight rollers. Therefore, to turn your compost, all you have to do is just spin the thing around. It stays in place, is not bulky, and is super easy to use. It also produces compost quickly – as you can have compost ready to go in four to six weeks!

Another really outstanding feature of this compost bin is how it can create compost tea with ease. Compost tea is liquid produced by compost, and it’s chock full of nutrients. Because of this, compost tea becomes a fantastic way to spice up the look and feel of everything in your lawn and garden – be it plants, flowers, or even vegetables! The base of the tumbler can collect up to 5 gallons of compost tea! If for some reason you just really aren’t interested in compost tea, don’t worry – you can plug it to where the liquid/nutrients just seep into the ground.

So the composter is great for compost to tea and spins with ease to tumble the compost around – are there any other benefits? Sure. Take the spinning, for example. Since the compost bin spins on the rollers and the bin can roll, if you want to transport the bin to another area of the lawn to use, just pop it off the rollers and roll it over there with ease! This is a function many other compost bins do not have- as if you are to need the compost, you have to shovel it into a wheelbarrow, then transport it across the lawn. By simply rolling this bin from spot to spot, you are easily eliminating about 15-20 minutes of work from your schedule – that’s more time to relax, do some additional gardening, catch the pre-game show before the Stars beat the Red Wings – you name it!

As far as dimensions go, this composter has a height of 29 3/4 inches, a length of 26 1/2 inches, and a depth of 21 inches. It holds approximately 53 gallons (7 cubic feet) of compost – that’s a lot for you to use for your lawn, garden, or both!

This composter is highly recommended for all, and will help you whip out some great compost in no time. We highly recommend it! If this was a system requiring grades, an “A” would be earned, without a doubt. To recap, here’s some of the outstanding features and benefits of this composter:

Produces compost in 4-6 weeks

Easy to transport

Produces up to 5 gallons of compost tea

Easy to use

Spinning composter

Not overly large or bulky

Large opening to allow for getting compost in/out with ease

Fits perfectly in your lawn or garden without being obstructive or intrusive

We have also found this great product video on the web about this composter! Here you can see it firsthand!

Worm Castings: How Worm Poop Can Make Your Soil Richer

Photo courtesy of www.ecoyardfarming.com at Flickr.com.

Healthy soil is full of worm castings. That’s the polite euphemism for worm poop – it sounds better than worm droppings or worm crap. No matter what you call this fertilizer, worm castings are a great natural way to boost the nutrient capacity of soil. Unlike cow patties or other excrement, worm castings are odor free. They’ve been reprocessed by a worms stomach multiple times, which means they’ve reached a stable, neutral state. Worms have done all the hard work of breaking down nutrients into their base components – these are simple building blocks that plants can work with easily.

Worm castings also contain several million helpful bacterium per gram. These helpful bacteria come from inside the stomach of worms. Just like the human body uses symbiotic organisms to digest food, worms also rely on the help of microscopic helpers. These bacteria remain active in vermicastings, and they will help make nutrients available to plants. Many soil bacteria help plants by converting nitrogen compounds into natural fertilizer underground. The enzymes produced by these bacteria also help break up soil debris, such as dead roots, wood chips, and clumps of earth that roots would otherwise have to waste time growing around. Worm castings have 10 to 20 times the microbial activity of topsoil where worms aren’t present.

Also, healthy soil bacteria allow plants to get more nutrients from the soil. When a plant drops a leaf onto the ground, it can take a long time for the nutrients in that leaf to break down into the soil. Soil bacteria accelerate this natural process by increasing the speed of nutrient cycling. Instead of waiting several years for the carbon, potassium, and nitrogen, plants are able to use and re-use the nutrients at a faster rate. This allows plants to grow at a much faster rate than they would otherwise.

As plants grow, they go through cycles of respiration and chemical synthesis. Each step of this process requires energy as the plants produce chemicals that they need, and that energy is not available for other life processes. A tree or flower that has to work hard to extract nutrients from the soil is more vulnerable to insect damage or disease. Active soil bacteria help make plants healthier by closing the loop and assisting in the synthesis of many amino acids, micro nutrients, and chemical precursors. They work like a surgical nurse in the hospital, passing tools along as they’re needed.

Worm castings are also great for soil structure because they retain moisture very well. Worm castings can hold 9 times their weight in moisture. This water capacity is similar to peat moss, mulch, and coconut fiber. That’s important because dry soil can harm plants by sucking the moisture out of their roots. If your soil is too dry, try mixing in some vermi compost. Since worm castings retain moisture, they can help your plants survive even in drought like conditions. When used as a soil amendment, worm castings reduce the danger of cracked foundations, erosion, and subsidence.

Photo courtesy of Zombizi at Flickr.com.

Compost Maker: Are compost activators necessary?

What is a compost activator? It is often also referred to as compost starter, composter maker or compost accelerator, and is an organic substance that will basically speed up the compost time of your materials in the bin. It aids in the breakdown process simply by speeding it up by using a combination of pH balances, energy sources, and microorganisms.

Compost Accelerator is not entirely necessary to your compost pile. This is because the natural breakdown of materials will occur just as it would in nature. Additionally, sometimes some freshly made compost or nutrient rich soil mixed in with your organic material can help start the process as well. However, the fact remains that compost starter really lives up to its name – it “jump starts” your compost heap and gets everything working in such a way that you will be on the highway to an excellent compost pile in no time.

So if you like to get a quick start on things, consider adding some compost maker into the mix.