I think everyone knows that one of the most important ingredients any garden needs, whether you are growing tomatoes or any other vegetable for that matter, is a good supply of well rotted compost. Purchasing compost from a garden centre or store can become a little expensive and for most people really isn’t necessary.
Recycling garden and kitchen waste is a great way of providing compost in ample supply and making a compost drum to enable you to do this couldn’t be simpler. The video below describes exactly how you can go about making a compost drum for the garden using a plastic trash can as the base.
Preparing your soil for tomatoes is an important aspect of tomato growing and, as I am sure you already know, involves mixing lots of well rotted compost with well rotted manure and good quality top soil to get the best results. So making a compost drum for the garden is a sure way of ensuring that you have at least one of those ingredients in good supply. Of course you don’t have to make your own compost drum, there are plenty of affordable compost bins available on the Internet or from your local garden centre, but it’s always nice to get hands on and save a bit of money doing it.
I know that the compost will really help with the garden. However, my concern with it is: does it smell bad? My garden is between my house and my neighbors house, and I just want to make sure not to offend the neighbors.
It can get quite smelly but it is usually when it is a bit too wet or out of balance, so it is not really recommended to have it too close to yours or your neighbors house, even if you control the smell they may see it as an eyesore. If you could find somewhere perhaps up to 10m away in a shady area or behind some screens you would probably be OK. If it did start to smell just cover the top over with dry cuttings or something to contain it a little bit and soak up excess water, this would normally stop it smelling. If the smell is like ammonia you need to change your mix and get some carbon based compost in to balance out the nitrogen based compost. Regular turning will also help the compost break down more quickly and when it is actually compost it shouldn’t smell badly, likewise if you are adding the right sort of compost in the correct proportions and not getting it too wet.
Hi There Growingredtomatos,
I know what you mean, If you happen to be looking to flip your rubbish into gardener’s gold and do it in a hurry, then you will want to test a compost tumbler. If you have a compost bin then you know how really good it is to add compost to your flower beds and vegetable back garden. But doing compost normally requires time and it truly is commonly in short supply. A compost tumbler is a marvelous time saver when creating compost.
All the Best