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18-08-2005, 06:18 PM

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I bought a new house and the previous occupant kindly left her compost
tumbler. I've been filling it & turning it daily for a couple of
months & things seem to be happening... but I've got a couple of
queries:

IMO turning it daily is turning it a lot too frequently.

1. There are quite a few smallish twigs & stalks which, unlike
everything else, aren't rotting down. I may have put in a few too many
- but is there anything that I should be doing to help them rot down?
(Or will I just have to wait or live with it).

They *WILL* rot down, but I'd sieve them out, allow them to dry and use
them for kindling. Otherwise, add a quantity of urine from time to time
and they'll rot a bit quicker - it's an excellent accelerator and
doesn't cost you anything.

2. There aren't any worms in it (possibly as it's a compost tumbler on
a stand & raised off the ground by about 6"). Does this matter?
Should I think about buying some?

Put some vegetable trimmings down in a shady spot and put something over
them - a plastic sack, a small piece of corrugated iron, etc. Add to
this for a while. Some horse manure helps if you can get a little, and
grass cuttings are good. In a fortnight or so you may find small very
stripy worms under the cover - put them in your composter - but you may
have to wait a little longer than a fortnight.