Opinions on this please!!!!

Anyone got a green johanna composter? Are they any good?

http://www.greencone.com/news-view.asp?id=113

 

So how does it ensure that the contents are suitable for composting "hot" 365/7?

I will like it a lot if it really is that foolproof as it seems to take Meat and all the other kitchen waste that I thought only Bokashi(sp?) could tackle.

70 quid would be no more than Bokashi(sp?) or wormery ... and you'd still have to find 4 old pallets and nail them together for the garden waste compost heap!

 

I have serious doubts about the 'hot' part. There is no doubt that hot composting is very desireable, but simple physics says you only get hot compost with a large size - unless the device is exceedingly well insulated, which I doubt. In a book by the 'Moon Gardener' in Cornwall, he stated that you needed a compost pile of at least 10 feet by 10 feet to get any serious heat into it, which sounds right to me. This is why in the old days haystacks were in danger of bursting into flames if they were too wet and started to compost, but small compost heaps didn't.

All organic material, including meat, will still compost at a lower temperature - but it just takes longer, and the heat won't kill the seeds.

 

http://www.greencone.com/news-view.asp?id=156
I have a 'Green Johanna' which came as a West Wilts offer. I've only had it a short while but it is very handy to be able to put all food waste in, as it is rat proof. I've no idea if it gets hot enough to be a hot composter, I think I'm using it as a normal compost bin as I put quite a lot of grass and guinea pig hay in it. I also like the fact that it goes in the shade. Sometimes I add Garotta, and sometimes nettles and comfrey leaves.
It is making compost, and does not smell. I wouldn't pay full price, and I haven't got a winter cover as I just put a large plastic sheet over it in winter.

 

What's the white pipe (from top to ground) in the picture pls?

 

Liz - that reference was very useful. I explains how it works. It is simply a container with a black inner cone and a green outercone. This double skin insulates the contents of the container in the same way that double glazing reduces heat loss in a house. It also has an extra foam insulating cover (I think not supplied as standard) for use when the temperature goes below 10C. It says that you should remove this outer foam insulation when the temperature is above 10C or you will be in danger of overheating and killing the micro-organisms.

So I will take back what I said above. The key to this composter is that they apparently have addressed the insulation problem. And if it really is a 'hot' composter, as they say, it should make good compost quickly. I have seen on TV a council operator standing infront of a huge pile of council compost saying the with the heat and constant turning with a fork on the front of a tractor it made compost in about three weeks. Mind you if I had one the first thing I would do is to put a sensor inside to see what the temperature inside really was.

 

"put a sensor inside to see what the temperature inside really was"

I composted some stuff when working on a carnation growing nursery (abroad). They didn't know anything about composting and steam sterilised the soil and all sorts, and the waste plant material was burried in huge holes to avoid any disease, and they simultaneously bought in animal manure to fertilise the dreadful soil!. I wanted them to try composting (I was the office junior so, hey!, the boss should listen up, right?!!) and they let me make a small heap, and I got my Mum to post some Q.R. ("Quick Result" I think, probably still exists) compost activator that we had used at home when I was knee-high and the helping-hand. They were quite impressed with the temperature - I forget what it was, but it was blinking hot!

I don't think they ever had the confidence to think that the temperature will kill any viruses, but I reckon if they had steam sterilised it afterwards they would have been able to save the cost of digging the holes, and buying in the manure.

 

Thats the stirring stick so u can turn it.

Thanks for all the comments. The website I posted was linked through my council website so I think that the price I'd have to pay. I think I might give it a bit more consideration and save up and maybe purchase one.