This is part 4 and the last of our series on becoming green by composting. Part 1 is an overview of composting. Part 2 is on the Envirocycle composter. Part 3 the TumbleWeed composter.

NatureMill image from Naturemill.com

The Nature Mill Plus composter is a sophisticated compost machine that automatically handles the mixing, aerating and even heating of the compost, if isn’t creating enough of its own heat.

The operations are pretty simple, you open lid and put fresh brown and green waste materials in the top. The composter handles everything else, mixing the waste until it degrades and then dropping it to a lower portion of the machine. The compost, once broken down and moved to the lower bin, will cure for a period of time until its ready. Once ready, a light will turn on notifying you that you can remove the compost and use it in the garden.

Pro’s
•    You can continuously add to the compost, no waiting for it to cure before adding more waste
•    Very quick, compost ready every 2 weeks
•    No odors due to the replaceable carbon filter built into the machine
•    You can add protein waste since the unit is self contained
•    You can use indoors
•    Requires the least attention to maintain

Con’s
•    Most expensive of the 3 composters we’re thinking about purchasing
•    It has the least amount of capacity of all 3 of the composters
•    It uses 5kwh electricity per month to run the unit and has the most components making it the least green of the 3 units

Price: $299 + Shipping (unless you have a group of 3 then the price drops to $250)

This is part 3 of our series on becoming green by composting. Part 1 is an overview of composting. Part 2 is on the Envirocycle composter.

Tumbleweed Composter image from growandmake.com

The TumbleWeed Worm bin composter uses worms to break down the waste into compost tea and dry compost know as worm castings (aka worm poop). The composter consists of 2 bins stacked on top of each other. The top bin has many small holes poked into it to allow liquid to run through to the bottom bin. The holes in the top bin are too small for the worms to drop down.

To get started you order worms and prepare bedding in the top bin consisting of slightly moist shredded newspapers and then add in the worms. You add your browns and greens by opening up the top bin burying it in a different section of the bin each time you add it. The worms will then eat the waste and digest it into the worm castings. If you are taking proper care of the worms they will happily multiple leaving you with a continuous source of compost without the need to add any more worms.

Pro’s:
•    Large capacity should easily handle all of the waste of our small family
•    Shouldn’t have odors as the compost is buried in the composter with the worms.
•    Produces a high quality compost
•    Cheapest solution

Con’s:
•    Requires dealing with worms
•    You have to bury the waste each time you want to add it to the bin
•    The compost process will slow down and/or stop in the winter and most likely kill the worms
•    Makes more liquid tea then solid compost
•    Harvesting the compost requires sorting through the solids to get all of the worms out as they will die in the garden
•    We can’t add proteins to the compost
•    Can take 3-6 months to start getting compost

Price: Composter $92.50 + worms $32 + shipping