How to Use a Mantis Compost Tumbler
Kitchen scraps and yard clippings can easily be converted into rich food for your garden. Effective composting not only reduces the amount of waste from your household, it also releases nutrients back into the soil when added to your garden. For large composting needs, a Mantis composter offers lots of space for compost to "cook" and provides the convenience of a tumbling composter, taking the work out of composting. It's dual bin design allows you begin using your compost to enrich your garden within weeks while still adding fresh waste for the next batch. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Place your Mantis in an easy-to-access location near your garden. You'll want plenty of room on the handle side of the composter for turning. Be sure the area you choose is also convenient to your kitchen and all those food scraps you'll be adding to your compost.
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Open the lid of the first bin on your composter by unlatching the door and swinging upward. Add a combination of grass clippings, leaves or straw, and kitchen scraps. Only add plant based food scraps to your compost, such as fruit and vegetable peelings, tea bags and coffee grounds, although egg shells are one exception to the no animal products rule. Close the lid securely.
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Rotate the barrel of the Mantis by cranking the handle. One full rotation is usually enough. Turn it multiple times if it has been awhile since the last rotation.
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Maintain the breakdown of the compost by rotating the barrel frequently, as often as once a day. With regular rotation, your compost will be ready for use in just a few weeks.
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Begin using the second bin and stop adding materials to the first bin once it is half to three-quarters full of material. The first bin can now "cook" down the large materials while the second bin is being filled with fresh scraps.
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Empty the "cooked" compost from the first bin by placing a wheelbarrow or bin below the Mantis. Open the lid to the first bin only and rotate the bin so the small particles can fall through and fill your container with ready-to-use soil. Once empty, the first bin is ready to fill while the second bin starts "cooking."
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Tips & Warnings
Never place animal products such as oils, fats, meats, blood, bones, or fecal matter to your compost, in order to avoid disease and pests.
Don't let your compost materials dry out. If your compost seems dry, add water to keep the compost "cooking."
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Margaret Telsch-Williams
