We got dirt

There has been a while since I wrote on this blog but I want to share with you all that I now have Compost soil.

I empty one of the chambers and dumped it into my wheelbarrow. It was more fun then I ever imagine, maybe it was because I have been waiting for this moment a long time, that my plants needed the compost to grow or that sometimes its just fun to play with dirt.

This compost dirt is something I never seen before. It is nothing like regular dirt, the color is way more light and the texture is more compact. I did  find some bones from the turkey on thanksgiving which i thought was kind of funny. I posted a picture to try to explain the difference, the dark color dirt is regular pot soil and the lighter one is compost dirt direct from my Joraform JK 270.

I'm gonna mix the compost dirt with my trees and bushes. Hopefully I can sprinkle some of it on to my lawn since it needs some. This has actually made me want to do more stuff with my garden. I'm now thinking about getting rid of my roses and planting new bushes. I'm waiting for the new chamber to be done, it's gonna go way faster this time since I got the neighbors to dumb their trash into my tumbler, I'm a lucky guy that gets to take care of my neighbors kitchen waste :)

New year, New chamber.

So I finally filled my first chamber with kitchen waste. Well I actually filled it up last time i wrote but I wanted to have some extra compost to put in the new chamber so I didn't start the second one until I had enough waste to fill put into the first chamber and really fill it to the top.

I started up by taking some of the compost from the first chamber to the second and then I filled up the created space with new kitchen waste. Once I was done with that I kept on dumping the rest of my kitchen waste in the second chamber and mixed it with the compost I already put in there.

This is exciting times for me since it's taken a while to fill up that chamber. I guess I have to thank my neighbors for the extra kitchen waste. I went through thinking maybe if I bought this tumbler on my own I would have gotten the smaller JK 125 but then i read that the JK 270 is a little bit better since its bigger and the heat creates and keeps inside longer. It would be cool to test the smaller one, if get my neighbor to get one, I'm gonna write about it and compare a little bit.

Almost there

Okay so now it's almost time for me to start filling up the second chamber of my Joraform composter. It feels like i can empty the first chamber already since it's already compost in there but I guess I'll wait until the second chamber is full. We got some help filling it up from friends at that is one tip I can give people that is interested in buying a Joraform. Buy one that is bigger than your needs and take your neighbors waste or let them dump it in the composter. Not only will it help the environment, you will help your neighbors. If I didn't get mine for free I would consider buying it together with some neighbors.

I wanted to share some pictures of the compost mixture that I created. it's super exiting that you can see the layer of compost mixture stuck to the side of
the insulation. I'm going to try to keep it like that when i empty it later. The picture to the right is actually from the lid that open and closes. i think it's pretty cool.

One thing that I notice can make a big difference is if the air holes are clogged or not. the compost tumbler needs air to work good, therefore I always try to clean out the air holes. This is easier said then done once you get more compost in your chambers. the first picture is from the clogged hole and the other when i cleaned it, see the difference. it's obvious how much more air that flows in.

When you fill it up, make sure to put your kitchen waste into it then add wood pellets and turn, then open the lid again and clean the air holes.
I notice that it helps, maybe I'm just overdoing it ;).

Ohh by the way, I went to the store to by a thermostat and forgot it.
Will i ever get to know how hot it is inside my compost tumbler?    

Holiday, a good time for the compost tumbler!

Okay, so i manage to go deal with the holiday and another one is coming up. I'm a little bumbed that holiday always is about spending money on decorations and presents even if I decorated the house and it looks really good.

One good thing with the holiday except for the company of your family is the food, Boy have our compost got some nice food these last couple of days! I recently gave it half a turkey, bread, chicken, bacon and some noodles. I'm stunned that i cant really see where all the food went. When I look in the compost tumbler the only thing i can see is compost mixture and some egg shell that doesn't break down. Also i realized that it takes some time to compost onions, in the future I'm gonna cut them into pieces before i put them into the compost tumbler.

Our dog hates the compost tumbler, I don't really know if he understand what it is but one thing he knows, it takes hes food away. Delicious turkey, bacon. poor dog.

I still haven't got a thermometer, on the manual they say that you don't need it because you will see stem rise up. I do see the steam rise from my compost tumbler but I just want to know how hot it is. I thought that i could keep a record on this blog. I'll try to get on for the next post.   

  

Wood pellets or Sawdust?

I’ve been looking thru internet, reading blogs about what to use with your kitchen waste in your tumbler, it feels like people haven’t really heard about putting wood pellets into their tumblers. I haven’t tried to use saw dust in my tumbler since Niklas told me that pellets are better, but I would like to try it just so that I can contribute to the discussion about wood pellets vs. sawdust. It would be interesting to hear from someone who tried both of the different supplements and what they think about it.

So far I’m still in the process of filling my compost and I wonder if I might have a little too big tumbler for my needs. It’s not really a big problem but I’m excited to see how my compost dirt is going to look like. I must say, I haven’t really paid any attention to it the last week since I’ve been working with other stuff but when I did look at it today it was going good, the temperature are high and the process is working good. I wish I can get some time off so that I can go to the store and buy myself something to measure the heat in my compost tumbler. Next time I write, maybe I can say how hot it is inside my tumbler.    

Week Four, It's getting hot!

As mentioned in a previous entry, I had issues with having fruit flies in my JK 270. A couple of days ago, I realized that they had returned. Niklas told me that the waste begins breaking down into compost on the outer parts of the mixture before it does in the center, which is why it is designed to rotate. Because I wanted to try to agitate the flies, I took a plastic hand spade and mixed the compost even more. At the center of the mixture, it was a little dry. So I poured about 3 ounces of warm water into the mixture (being careful not to pour in too much). I then closed the lid, rotated the bin a few times and left it to go to work.

Two days later, I went to put some more kitchen waste into the JK 270. The moment I opened it, I realized that something was a little bit different than last time. The inside was hot. I thought a about two weeks ago that it was warm, but this time, it was actually HOT! This has really started to become interesting. It's not just a hobby or something that is good for the environment for me anymore. I even thought about buying a thermometer to see how warm it gets in there. So stay posted, I’ll report back on that next time. The flies aren’t having a party inside of my JK 270 anymore, in fact, they’re gone!

Week Three, No odor

This is so exciting! I Inside of the warm, insulated chamber, the mixture is really starting to have a dirt-like appearance! The compost looked a little wet the other day, so I added some extra wood pellets to soak it up. It seems to be working away in there! 

One thing that is surprising to me is the lack of odor. You would think that all of those banana peels, orange rinds, chicken fat, etc. would inevitably create some type of an odor, at least from the small air holes on the sides, but not at all!

I am impressed!