Probably the most popular compost tumbler today is the Envirocyle compost tumbler. Here is a look at the features of this unique composter, with it's compost tea "brewing" capability.

One reason this composter is popular is that for a tumbler it's relatively inexpensive. Many of the high end tumblers like the Compostwin can run into several hundred dollars, and while they do have a lot of nice features (things like a crank to turn the drum, a drum that is mounted on a frame above the ground, etc.) the price is well out of the range that most folks are willing to spend. But even at a price in the range of under $150, it has several unique features.

The Envirocycle composter has a plastic drum that sits on rollers embedded in a plastic base. The basic idea is that you load up the materials in the tumbler, and process that batch of compost, turning it daily or so to keep rotation the fresh material into the hotter center of the composting material.

The unique feature of the Envirocycle composter is that is drains the composting material, and this empties into the base of the composter where it is captured and can be used as a "compost tea." If you check the definition of compost tea, you'll find that this doesn't really qualify, since it is drained off the still composting material, so it is technically a "compost leachate", which is not quite as desirable because there is some possibility of the still uncomposted material leaching slightly toxic substances, but in general it's pretty safe for the garden.

As with almost any tumbler, one advantage is that because it's all one contained unit, you cut way back on the problems with vermin and other pests getting into the compost. The unit is basically sealed so they can't get in. This also means that you can control the moisture levels so critical to getting fast compost a lot better, since the rain won't fall in and saturate the composting material.

The rollers make it easier to turn, but if you load it too heavily, it will tend to clump on one side making it a lot of work to turn the pile. Work up to loading it fully until you have a feel for how heavy it will be.

Like any tumbling composter, and like many other composters, if the compost is going to be processed in a batch, then you need to store the raw composting materials somewhere else while the batch is working. For a tumbler, this may just be a few weeks, but that is still longer than you can hold a queue in a compost pail or crock. So you may need another composter, or simply a pile to store the materials in while waiting for the current batch to finish.

With any composter, the materials you add have a major impact on the speed of the composting. You need a mix of high carbon (brown) and high nitrogen (green) materials, and the more they are cut up or shredded the faster the pile will work. Keep it as moist as a damp washcloth, not too wet and not too dry. If you can't have any soil or compost to throw in as a starter you may want to use a compost activator, but generally that's not necessary unless you have lot of brown material.

If you are using a lot of moist materials, it is possible to overflow the base of this composter, so especially if you try to keep it indoors (like a basement or garage) watch the base for overflowing. Even though it will hold up to 5 gallons, it can still fill up.