Product review: Envirocycle Compost Tumbler and Tea Maker

July 31, 10:06 PMSeattle Garden & Kitchen ExaminerJerry & Kristy

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Envirocycle CompostTeamaker 

Last year we doubled the size of our gardens. It ended up being less than twice the work so we went ahead and added a third vegetable area last month. If all goes well we should be able to feed a small country! One of the other improvements we made was to pick up a Envirocycle Compost Tumbler and Tea Maker.

Soild and Liquid - Two In One

What makes this a great deal is that it makes both solid and liquid fertilizers! In fact, I believe the Envirocycle Compost Tumbler and Tea Maker is the only product that does both. While the solid compost is used only on my outdoor plants, I also use the liquid fertilizer on my house plants. You get up to 5 gallons with each cycle which is quite a lot.

Using The Composter

One of my favorite things about the Envirocycle Compost Tumbler and Tea Maker is how easy it is to use. I keep 50% / 50% ration of dry/brown materials and wet/green materials. It is important that the contents stay moist but not dripping wet. To keep the ratio, I take my kitchen and garden refuse and add in the equal amount of dry material and add them all at the same time. I learned this by just dumping in the kitchen items after meals and then adding the dry the next day, always left me with a too wet solution so I started adding them both at the same time. 

It  is designed to simplify the composting process which it does. Once I add the compost, I lock the lid and give the drum a couple of turns. The tumbler needs to be turned a few times every week.

The entire unit is self-contained with a detachable, lockable lid making the unit animal resistant which is something I can’t say about our other compost bin!

Waiting, Waiting, and Waiting

The maturation is said to be somewhere around 4-6 weeks, so about 10 cycles of mature compost per year. I have found you can speed it up by making sure all the contents are small (torn or cut up) and if the compost is turned more often than the suggested few times a week.

I like how easy it is to keep the compost well mixed by only having to rotate the drum. It is much better then having to use a shovel to turn our other bin. It is easy to use, animal safe and compact enough to sit on a shelf in the garden shed. But, my favorite thing about the Envirocycle Compost Tumbler and Tea Maker is the fact it makes the solid and liquid compost. Any organic compost is a good thing, but this way it’s two good things!