Early May Compost Tumbler Peek (2019)

A few days ago, I posted a photo and the backstory of our new three-bin compost setup that I've created out in the back of our property and talked about how I plan on using the new setup along with my existing compost tumbler.  The biggest issue I've had with the tumbler is that I've learned that composting is a 'batch process'.  I get a great batch of compost out of the tumbler, but I usually don't get it fully done until about June of each year.

To document the timing of it this year, I am sharing the photo at the top of this post.  This is what the material in our compost tumbler looks like right now.  You can see it isn't quite "Black Gold", but it is getting there.  The carbon material has almost fully broken down and the material has a loose consistency where you can put your hand in and it doesn't come out muddy but rather the stuff mostly falls right off.  It is rich and almost fluffy at this point.  Good, but NOT great. 

The weather just started to warm up a bit in the past few weeks, so I'm expecting the process to speed up here and by the time June 4th rolls around, this will finish processing.  When that happens, I'll revisit this post and try to share a photo of the finished material. 

My goal is to stop the cycle this year and try to get to a place where I can have finished compost by May 1st every year.  That means packing the tumbler right in June or so instead of waiting for the fall leaves to drop.   My three-bin system that is currently collecting carbon material will allow that to happen.  Or *should* allow that to happen.