worms and compost tumbler

Hi, still super cold here in Chicago.   I have decided to try composting.  So I am some what of a organizing freak.  If I could earn money doing that, I would be rich.  Since I just don't want a pile of stuff in my back yard (once the weather warms up) that I would need to turn, I am looking at a compost tumbler on Facebook Marketplace.  This would make things nice and tidy.  I know that I don't need it but it would make things look 'neat'.

Also, in trying to enrich my mind about composting, I have come across the subject of worms.

I will read more about them and what they do, but right now I have two questions?

Will a compost turner work?

Do I need worms, otherwise, I won't read up on that subject.

So much other stuff I need to learn before my first  SFG

And by the way, I realize that there is no way on God's green earth, that I can start to compost now and expect to  have for spring.  I know that ain't gonna' happen

Dani

danieggert wrote:Will a compost turner work?

Yes.  With properly mixed C:N ratios a good tumbler will produce quality compost in 4 to 6 weeks from the time that no more goods are added. I have two double bin compost tumblers and they produce 4 or 5 cu ft of compost every week during the composting season.

Do I need worms, otherwise, I won't read up on that subject.

No, worms will not survive in a compost tumbler.

So much other stuff I need to learn before my first  SFG

When you have learned it all, let me know.  I've been learning for over 70 years, and still learn something new every time I start a new project.

Dani, A good sized tumbler with proper ratios of carbron:nitrogen materials will produce usable compost in a few weeks. You can screen out chunkies with a piece of 1/4" hardware cloth secured to a wood frame. The chunkies go back into the tumbler for the next round.

We generate a 12qt stockpot of kitchen scraps every 1.5 days. 

The tumblers I bought last June have not gotten the job done here.  User inattention. 

Jan 1
I  am trying a large worm  bin to process our kitchen scraps.  

The worm farmer I bought from 1st week  January said  my 8lbs or 8000 worms in 8 sqft surface area would double in 2 months (70days cycle?) to 16000, and have produced 9cu ft worm castings... 

( I read crowded in the bin, worms produce higher rate, just proximity. )

Right now I'm feeding them my kitchen scraps, a large blender full, plus coffee filters, paper towels, etc every other day,  and I expect they are eating some of the  damp cardboard. And some eggshells and ag lime, grit for the gizzard.

So this same scraps etc was just very slowly deteriorating in the tumblers. Maybe by May I'd have a few cu ft  compost..The worms eat 
it in 2 days.  

Someone wanna burst my bubble... ? 

At 4 months or so, by mid May?  He said I should  have 32000 worms if it goes right and another 18 cu ft worm castings...  

A total cu yd by then.  

Double again ...  

Fingers crossed.