Spinning Compost Bin-need some ideas

I have one of those huge black spinning compost bins. I bought it close to 12 or 13 years ago. At different times I have thrown things from the garden in there. The bottom half is dry with chunks of debris. I have filled it with clippings from the garden now. And want to add what is needed to actually make a batch of compost. I understand composting isn't necessarily hard. I get the main idea. But I've started and then neglected this process so many times and now the thing is full and I have no compost to show for it and no idea how to get it cooking. Is the trick to rotate it consistently? To add water? I have a bag of coffee grounds from Starbucks. Should I add that? Any help would be appreciated.

It is hard to tell from your description exactly what the mixture is in the compost tumbler, but it needs an equal mixture of greens and browns in order to "cook".  You say it is filled mostly with debris and garden clippings - I would assume most of that is browns, so it is need of greens.  Coffee grounds are greens, so definitely add those. Is that a large bag of coffee grounds, like 30# or 40# of them? If so, that would be even better.
After greens are added, turn the tumbler for 4 or 5 rotations once daily to mix the ingredients. That should get it going, and it should produce compost in about 5 or 6 weeks.

Sorry for the vague description. All I have ever put in the bin was clippings from my garden. Plants that have been pulled, potatoes, onions that were bad, tops to veggies I took inside. Over the years those have dried out. I've never added leaves from fall or anything like that. Then each year I promise myself I'm going to try again and I add more discard from the garden and then forget again. I have I think a 5 lb bag of grounds but I can easily get several more. I'm wondering do I need to add water? 
I added a ton of tomato plants and bean plants today and basically filed it the rest of the way up. So, I'm happy to add the grounds and turn it daily for a week or so and see what happens. I hesitate to add grass clipping because my yard isn't "grass" it's prairie weeds mixed with prairie grass, crab grass, clover and other assorted weeds. I'm not sure I wanna put all those weed seeds in there. 

Thanks for the help and talking through this with me. Sorry I didn't provide enough info.

middlemamma wrote: I have I think a 5 lb bag of grounds but I can easily get several more. I'm wondering do I need to add water? 

From your description you will need much more green to get it composting, and coffee grounds are great for that. The small bag of grounds will also have filters in it, which adds more browns. Try to get more grounds to add.  Whether or not you need to add water depends on how wet the grounds are. Some of the grounds I get are soaking wet, but others are very dry.

middlemamma wrote: I hesitate to add grass clipping because my yard isn't "grass" it's prairie weeds mixed with prairie grass, crab grass, clover and other assorted weeds. I'm not sure I wanna put all those weed seeds in there.

I would not add those grass clippings. Leave them on the ground to fertilize the grass.

We have a school garden. We had three old wooden bins . Lot of browns .+ greens. Approximately how long will we start seeing progress.

Feeding the soil49 wrote:We have a school garden. We had three old wooden bins . Lot of browns .+ greens. Approximately how long will we start seeing progress.

In general, if the browns and greens have been either layered or mixed, and there is adequate moisture for the microbial life, cold composting takes at least a year.

Hi middlemama!  

This is just my take on tumblers for composting.  They do best when intentionally filled up with browns and greens, moistened well and rotated frequently, especially the first days.  Hopefully it will reach 140*F within a couple of days.  Don't add any more ingredients just because the level dropped.

A wire cage or bin that is open to the ground or a pad for excess drainage and is added to now and then, is a cold, passive composting method and may work best for you if you can't turn it now and then.  Composting will happen, especially in the lower level.  It just takes months.

For hot composting, critical mass is needed and it must stay lightly moist throughout.

Photos of my former tumbler and hot compost bin.

Filling with browns and greens with lid all the way open.


Compost bin after 2 hot turnings.

Sigh. Welp! Nothing about this tumbler being filled was intentional. Ha! I don't think long term with this is the way to go. The tumbler is a good idea but not practical. I need a three bin system. But I'd like to get something out of this mess. So I think I will add the coffee grounds tomorrow night. Wet it down and start turning this thing over the next weeks. See what I can make happen. Maybe next summer I can get hubby to build me a three bin system...closer to the house. I've got dirt with worms galore. If this compost situation were on the ground I'd have way better luck.  

A friend suggested we use sawdust along with other browns. We live in a condo, so just have a small tumbler. Since we started doing this, I can hardly keep up with compost. We are fortunate to live in an area where sawdust(shavings)is readily available from lumber businesses.

I have read that clean sawdust from solid woods is fine. Sawdust from plywood is not, as there are glues, and in some cases even formaldehyde.