Composter

Composters let you obey the first commandment of environmental gardening "Thou shalt make compost unceasingly' though 'Thou shalt buy a composter' is more questionable - many people like to build their own composters. The cry to 'make compost' went up long before 'pollution' and 'conservation' became vogue words, and the humble composter, or compost bin, remains the best example of a home recycling project. The world would be a better place if cities could find ways of using composters to recycle a larger proportion of their organic wastes. Compost contains both organic matter, which provides good physical conditions for plant growth, and a better range of nutrients than any chemical fertilizer. Composters take in garden waste at the top and release compost at the bottom.

Vegetable waste is converted to compost by the natural process of rotting. This requires air and moisture. Air supplies oxygen to worms and other bio-material. Water is always necessary for life but if the compost is saturated there will be no air and no life. The rotting of compost is faster in warm conditions and since the biological process generates heat, compost heaps can become very warm. Composters aim to keep vegetable material oxygenated and wet but not waterlogged. They also need to be hidden!

Conical composters let the compost slip to the base, for removal