I tried out the trommel. It sieved a wheelbarrow load of compost in no time. #SolarPunk #Gardening #Compost
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@Broadfork I've seen that recently, either yours or someone else's, and I wonder if using bicycle tires with spokes might not allow for easier use. Full spokes on one side, largely removed on the other to allow insertion and removal of the compost. Then the whole thing could be held up by some wooden scaffolding and spin more or less freely.
The same thing might be accomplished with wooden frames instead of bicycle tires. Square should work as well as ground for this.
Or is turning it not tedious? From the picture it looks like you have to pick it up.
I want to do this here in some form.
@mason Oh, fill your boots with a search. There are loads of DIY trommel designs to look over. Each with their different pros and cons.
For mine, I removed the spokes because the compost went in one end and the larger material spiralled out the other with the rotations. Spokes would just be in the way. Plus the spoke holes were also useful to thread the wire mesh to the rim.
I since have found I personally want and need less of a spinning trommel and more a sturdier cylinder for longevity.
@Broadfork Reasonable. Thank you. In the meantime I'm working out possible designs here. My favourite so far is a squared design with removable end caps to prevent stuff falling out. If it becomes reality I'll share pictures.
Some people enquired as to why I sieve the compost. It’s to remove the larger pieces so the compost can be made into soil blocks to grow seedlings in and cut down on plastic use.
The soil blocks are ready for sowing into. I added a little leaf mould, vermiculite, horse manure and perlite to the home made compost for the soil block mix.
@Broadfork i make small soil balls by hand. It's the baker in me. Your soil blocks look great!
@kellyromanych That’s what I do when I’m ‘potting on’ any seedlings. I just pack soil block mix around the original soil blocks.
As seen with these tomatoes I grew a couple of years back.
@Broadfork @kellyromanych That's such a good idea! Totally doing that this year.
@HumToTable happy sowing!
@Broadfork that's a great idea 💚
@Broadfork love it! My compost isn’t hot enough to kill the seeds in it - and my leaf mould also grows a lot of volunteers 😀😀😀 had a fabulous butternut squash from my compost last year tho so I’ll take that. But I don’t think I could use it to grow seedlings…
And I worry about horse manure because of the invermectrin they give the horses…
But I know it’s good stuff!
@JimmyB Yes, after literally years of searching I found a good supply of horse manure free from all the evils last year.
@Broadfork can I just check - is that basically an organic type horse farm where they don’t use de-worming medication? If so, sadly I don’t think we have such a thing in #Jersey
@JimmyB It’s a small acreage of rented fields and stables where they mostly use natural anthelmintics. The only thing they ever spray on the fields is an organic citronella based spray on any ragwort (because it is poisonous to horses and ponies).
They have a dwindling supply of 20+ year old aged horse manure and a good supply of fresh stuff.
Dung beetle surveys have been carried out on their land. It’s a glimpse of what some agricultural practices used to be like before wide chemical use.
@Broadfork wonderful!!! That’s a great resource to have. Just been reading a book by a fella who rented some fields for a couple of years and used no herbicides or pesticides. The species bounce was stunning - just in that time. The agri-business eco-disaster has to be stopped somehow