How Would I Go About in Designing a Compact Manure Producer from Veges Peels

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composting

Thanx Anonymous I will follow @ the link,Ta

I have seen something similar to the wire basket composter illustrated in the link from Anonymous Poster #1 fabricated from an old 55 gallon drum. The key appears to be:

1- Turning it over frequently (i.e., daily)

2- Having a "starter" (i.e., a small quantity of existing decomposting vegetable matter).

One winds up with good black compost ready to mix with soil in a matter of days (depending, of course, on climate). As others have pointed out, the composting material will get quite warm, and likes to be kept moist.

A composter can be as simple as a 5 gallon bucket with a lid, just outside the kitchen door or out in the yard. Just make sure to poke a small hole in the lid for venting, and turn it over every couple of days.

Small or compact, eat about anything and will produce manure.

I believe though that what you ask about is composting. It's not something that you want to do in you kitchen. Compost is decayed plant matter. It will take several months for your plant table scraps to decompose. During that time it will give off odors and can be biological hazard in the home.

We use a one gallon plastic container with lid. Once full or every day take it out and dump it into the compost box. The compost box a container about 1 meter square. That is open to the ground at the bottom to let fluid run out. That has opens so the the composting matter can breath.

The compost box can be of untreated wood or plastic. They make plastic ones you may find them in garden center. But any container will do, even a pit dug in the ground.

Once you start to compost you will find that the table scraps will not produce much. To get a good amount of compost you need to add your lawn clippings and raked leaves in the fall. Even the weeds from the garden and any bad produce.

I find that my compost is good in two weeks if it is done right, not several months.

Treat it like beer or wine or bread, as it is a fermentation process. The heap should be moist and get quite hot in the center when it's "working". I've seen mine get above 120F and steam like a volcano on a cool morning....

If the heap is on the ground then as it warms up worms will move up into it. Raccoons will then dig it at night for the worms, so if you have dogs, well be prepared for nightly disturbances in the yard.

Fungi will work it first and the hot interior should look white. After the fungi are done with it, stir it up and the bacteria and worms will begin to turn it black. Once it is black, it should have a sweet earthy smell and be ready for the garden.

That little manure producer will not only make manure, but will spread as well. Much more efficient.

Get a pig. Goats are too hard to contain.

I'm surprised by the small quantities quoted by other contributors. I bought the small garden composter - and it's about 300 litres (1 gallon(Imp)* ~ 4.5 litres). My parents built a square sided above ground "pit" using old floorboards. I've seen others made of old doors.

What I'm trying to say is that the container doesn't have to be expensive - or new! You can add most soft raw plant matter (not roots of vines that will be spread about) and the manure of any vegetarian livestock. Dilute chiken manure though!

Check out www.bbc.co.uk and look for Gardeners' Question Time programme - there will be more tips there.

Have fun and good luck!

*Not a US gal, that is 3.785 litres

"I've seen others made of old doors."

Oh, my.

Agreed, repurposing is quite an art, and old warped and split doors have limited uses. Seems a good way to extend their lives.

Try this if you can, it will break it down faster, and it also pelletizes its manure.

composter .co.za

I use this:

http://www.plantea.com/compost.htm

Works. However, I am at 13 deg North Latitude.

I have had VERY good luck with vermiculture. Essentially you seed a plastic box with ordinary earthworms and maybe some damp newspapers torn into strips. keep tossing in the vegetable peelings, and once in a while scoop out the soil. It works much quicker than compost and unlike compost, this does not smell bad. Mine is under the sink in the kitchen. Make sure you have a high sided container or a darned good lid....unless you like stepping on worms in the morning. (Some worms work better than others...)

An African company that does this.

Links to Vermiculture

A Canadian company that does this.

How to make a worm composter

A US company that does this

apparently you can't just use any old earthworm for composting. The African Night Crawler (great for fishing I hear!) is preferred for your area. This link has some more information on that.

So what do you do with all those worms? Well, mostly you are not making worms so much as making a good soil to grow things in. My wife grew many herbs and flowers on her balcony when she lived in an apartment, using vermiculture compost. As any fisherman knows, worms make excellent bait. They are also an excellent protein supplement...and fairly tasty. I have heard you can grind them and mix them with hamburger and never know they are there. I bet you would have to be REALLY hungry though. As a westerner, the idea of actually eating fried earthworms bothers me...but I think my dog would not care.

But considering earthworms eat half their body weight a day of paper, cardboard, vegetable peelings and other veggie waste makes them top of MY list for handy ways to deal with your not so unusual problem

If you need the peelings to be liquified so that they can be transported directly to a tank then you need a macerator. These are common technology in some situations, where the sewage has to be held for later disposal. A google search of macerators will yield a number of results for you.