How to Compost Tumbleweeds

Composting is a great way to reduce the amount of organic waste that goes into your garbage can and eventually into landfills. Composting is essentially transforming organic material, like grass clippings or leaves, into nutrient-rich soil. Some products are easily composted, while others can be more challenging. Because of their size and coarse structure, tumbleweeds fall into the second category. This does not mean you can't compose tumbleweeds, just that it will take a little bit of extra work that in the long run will be well worth it.

Compost bin
Lawn mower or wood chipper

Instructions

- 1
  Position the compost bin in a spot that will get plenty of sunlight. Composting works best, and fastest, when heat is involved to help break down the fibers of the organic material. Many compost bins are designed to turn, or tumble, so be sure to set it up with enough room on all sides so it can be turned.
- 2
  Collect a large pile of tumbleweeds. Tumbleweeds are quite large, but the actual amount of organic material is quite small due to the design of the plant. You will need quite a few tumbleweeds to produce enough material to make composting worth your time and effort.
- 3
  Use a lawn mower with a clippings bag attached or a wood chipper to chop the weeds into smaller pieces. If you do not do this, the material will take much longer to decompose and you will probably be able to fit only 1 or 2 tumbleweeds into the composter at a time.
- 4
  Fill the compost bin about 3/4 full with the tumbleweed chips. You will want to leave enough space in the bin so when you spin the composter there is enough space for the material to move around and for air to get into the material.
- 5
  Spray water into the compost bin. You want the material to be damp throughout, but not soaking wet, so lightly spray the material and then spin it around. Continue until all of the material in the bin is damp.
- 6
  Turn the compost bin every few days, and check to make sure the material is damp. Depending on how warm the bin gets, the tumbleweed can be turned into useful compost in 1 to 3 months.

Flow of Water in Soils

In-Vessel Forced Aeration Composting Process

Soil