You don’t need many tools to make compost.
As long as you’ve got something to collect your compost in (wheelbarrow, caddy or even a bag or sack), somewhere to put it and something to turn it with, you can make compost.
But additional compost tools can be useful for:
- The enthusiast: Some tools can be both fun, interesting and great for experimenting.
- The impatient: Tools can speed the composting process up.
- People with large gardens: Tools can help you handle volume.
- People with disability/mobility issues: Tools can make your life easier.
There are quite a few tools mentioned here – but you don’t have to buy them all! You can find many in your shed or kitchen, and you can make some yourself.
Tools for heat
A large well-constructed compost heap will create its own heat.
But the mesophilic microorganisms that kick off the composting process thrive in heat of 20 to 45 degrees centigrade, while thermophilic microorganisms prefer even hotter temperatures.
So while you don’t need to add heat, it can sometimes be helpful to:
- Kickstart a compost bin
- Restart a compost bin
- Measure heat
- Preserve heat, especially in winter
For example, the temperature in my compost bin recently plunged after a bitter cold snap. A combination of a hot water bottle, some wood chips, some chicken manure and stirring had it back over 40 degrees in a couple of days.
Here are some of the tools that can help:
Compost thermometer
A compost thermometer is great for the enthusiast and the experimenter.
I find one of the best things about it is that you can test different materials and see how it impacts the heat of your compost. For example, I’ve found that when I add just a little bit of chicken manure, my insulated compost bin gets super hot.
It’s also useful to know when the compost has cooled down to air temperature, as that can be a good time to turn it.
I currently use two devices – a short-stemmed thermometer for my HotBin, and a longstemmed RETOTEMP thermometer (review) for my pallet bins.
Learn more: Compost Thermometer Guide | Recommended Compost Thermometers
Hot water bottle
A hot water bottle can be useful for speeding up the composting process. I find it useful for getting hot compost going. It’s also good for restarting compost that has cooled down after a cold snap in the winter.
I use the one supplied with my hot bin, but any container that conveys heat will do the job. (Do remember to wash the hot water bottle before you pop it back in the bed.)
Compost Duvet
A compost duvet can be a specially designed jacket to fit over a compost bin, such as the one built for the Green Johanna. Or it can be as simple as bubble wrap to go over the top of your compost.
These are particularly useful for winter.
Tools for aerating compost
There’s a lot of debate over turning compost.
People who like to produce compost super-fast turn their heaps every several days. That provides air to the mico-organisms which speeds up the composting process. The Berkeley method, for example, takes only 18 days.
But you can get away with only turning your compost only once or, if you’re patient, never!
I usually prefer to turn mine twice. I do it both to introduce oxygen and to get the outside of the compost heap into the middle. That usually heats up the heap again and leads to more even compost.
Last year, though, I wasn’t able to turn it as I found grass snakes in my bin, and I didn’t want to damage their eggs.
Even if you don’t have snakes, you might not have the strength and mobility to turn compost. An alternative to turning your compost regularly is to aerate it.
Also see: Darlac Compost Aerator Review
Forks and Pitchforks
You can turn compost with any fork, but if you are looking to make life easier you might want to consider a compost fork or pitchfork. These can give extra leverage to the turning process, and the tines can enter compost material more easily.
See our Guide to Compost Forks for more information.
Compost Aerators
When choosing an aerator, consider how large your compost heap or bin is. Some aerators are not long enough to reach deep into a sizable compost pile.
Handcrank compost aerator: A hand-crank compost aerator looks a bit like a corkscrew. You push the aerator into the compost and then turn it from the top. The bottom of the aerator turns just like a corkscrew, moving the compost and creating air spaces.
Compost stirrer/plunger: A compost stirrer is a stick with retractable claws or ‘wings’ at the end of it. You push the stirrer into the compost. As you pull it back out, the wings open up, pulling the material up.
Raking stick: My raking stick came with my HotBin. It’s a simple yet effective tool for mixing the top layers of a hot compost bin. It consists of a handle, a straight metal section and a hook at the end.
An alternative to using aerators is to create a compost heap with natural air pockets built in. There are a number of ways to do this. For example, you can add materials such as semi-decomposed wood chips, place sticks at the bottom or incorporate drilled polythene pipes into the compost heap.
Tools for moisture
There’s only one tool in this section, but if you are looking to really optimize your compost process it could prove really useful.
Soil moisture meter: These do what they say on the tin, rapidly detecting the moisture level of your compost heap.
They’re useful for optimising compost conditions because a small difference in moisture can lead to a big difference in the heat. That in turn, of course, helps speed the process up.
Tools for monitoring
Until recently, there’s been no way for the amateur compost to monitor elements such as moisture or the C:N ratio with a single tool.
However, the Monty Compost Monitor provides you with information on the Carbon Nitrogen ratio, moisture, temperature and more – all delivered to your phone.
The team explained how it works on their guest post: 7 Ways to Use Technology to Speed Up Compost.
Tools for collecting compost materials
Most of the time I simply use a wheelbarrow or a garden refuse sack for collecting material in the garden, and a compost caddy in the house.
I’m also quite lucky, as two of my neighbors give me their garden waste instead of leaving it out for the waste collectors.
(I must look strange tramping along the road with a bag of garden waste slung over my shoulder.)
Compost caddy: An essential tool for collecting your compost. Often very cost-effective, they come in a huge range of sizes and designs. If smells are a concern, choose a design with a carbon filter to absorb smells.
Compostable kitchen bin liners: Compostable kitchen liners are designed to keep your compost caddy clean inside. It’s true that you do get annoying food waste sticking to your compost caddy, food waste that sometimes resists a casual outside swill.
I’ve personally found, though, that claims they will easily decompose are sometimes exaggerated. They may compost in council composting systems, but they have failed in both my Bokashi bin and in my hot compost bin at temperatures of 60 Celsius and above. They have left, in their wake, a sticky mess.
You can make your own kitchen bin liner from a newspaper. In fact, it’s so simple a 6-year-old can do it!
Leaf vacuum and mulcher: If you have a lot of leaves around, one tool you might want to consider is a leaf blower, vacuum and mulcher. The function we want, of course, is the vacuum, not the blower!
These devices can suck up leaves in large quantities, and shred them so they take up a tenth of the original space. The advantage of the shredding is not the space saved, but that they will compost a lot faster.
You can now choose to make fantastic leaf mould or use the shredded leaves as a brown in your compost heap.
Disposal Diverter: The Kich’n Komposter is attached to your garbage disposal system, allowing you to divert food waste from your garbage disposal unit, before spinning it dry. According to Building Green, some users reported getting usable compost from the results after just two weeks.
Unfortunately, the Kich’n Komposter no longer appears to be available for sale. However, a device called the Sepura appears to do a similar job.
Tools for sifting
The amount you need to sift your compost depends very much on how fine it is, whether there is any rotted wood it and how you are going to use it.
Wood, sawdust and chippings can leach nitrogen out of the ground. A few bits and pieces are not going to matter if you are using it on the veg patch. If you have a lot of wood in the compost, I would recommend sifting the compost to get it out.
If you are using the compost for seed manure, it needs to be finer and you are more likely to need to sift it. It also helps if the compost is dry when you do this operation.
Compost Screener
You can buy compost screeners, or you can make a screen by stretching wire over a wooden square. For a large-scale compost screener, you could knock the center out of a pallet and stretch the wire over it.
Garden riddle: A simple metal sieve that is ideal for smaller-scale composting.
Rotary soil sieve: Pushing and scraping the compost through wire or a sieve can become a pain. The rotary soil sieve does some of the work for you. You add dry compost into the top of the sieve and turn the handle, which separates out the wood and stones and pushes the compost through the sieve.
Electric rotary sifter/sieve: An electric rotary sifter or sieve is very much for composting on a larger scale. It’s often able to handle several cubic meters an hour. Once turned on, you simply shovel your compost into the open end of the rotary sifter and let it do the work for you.
They usually come with different gauge mesh, so you can choose how fine you want your compost.
Do note that some electric sifters don’t always arrive fully constructed. It can take some time to put them together!
Related: Best Compost Sifters
Tools for cutting and shredding
You can make more compost, in a much shorter time, when you cut or shred compost material first. Very often you can do this with tools you have lying around your garden or in your shed.
Shears: Shears are not the easiest thing to use for compost material, but they can handle small amounts. I often leave material in a wheelbarrow and go through the material with my shears.
Blenders and food processors: You can use blenders for small kitchen waste. They can produce a very mushy result when you are cutting up wet material. Food processors tend to produce better result.
Lawn mower/rotary mower: A lawnmower is great for collecting grass. You can also use it for other materials such as leaves. I like to lay down leaves in a line on my lawn and then go over it with my lawnmower. It creates a lovely balance of well-shredded greens and browns. On the negative side, it’s not very efficient and it does create a bit of a mess!
Compost Shredder: For large gardens, market gardens and small holdings, you can’t beat a compost shredder. They can handle larger quantities of material fast. They also produce a more uniform size of material, which lead to more consistent compost.
Shredders are also mobile, so you can move the shredder to where the work is, and create several compost piles around your land.
Some shredders can also be used to grind and pulverize compost, producing a finer compost ideal for potting and for seedlings.
Shredders currently available range from small electric units for leaves and kitchen waste to heavy-duty devices capable of turning a hefty branch into wood chippings. You can read more in our best ompost shredders for the US and best compost shredders for the UK guides.
Tools for green manure
Rotary tillers and garden tractors with tiller attachments:
If you work your ground, rotary tillers and garden tractors can be a highly efficient way to till green manure and sheet compost into the ground in larger gardens.
The key is that they both break up the material and dig it into the ground. The combination of the smaller surface area and the micro-organisms in the ground means that the material is rapidly broken down.
No-dig gardeners may prefer to remove the material and add it to their compost. (Material left on top of the soil can rapidly become a harboring ground for slugs in wet climates.)
Summing up
There are a lot of compost tools here. Many of them are designed for people who want to make serious amounts of compost. If you’re new to composting, it’s important to remember you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get started.
Happy composting!