Simple Way to Aerate Compost

Spending hours turning your compost pile or attempting to aerate your compost bin? Use a handy gadget and do the job in three minutes.

Ruth Beckner, a Master Composter certified by the Marin County (California) Municipal Waste Management, designed and patented a tool that performs in three minutes what has traditionally taken three hours. Deceptively simple, Compost Air works like an ordinary drill bit and is designed to get through a compost heap in seconds. The bit fits a conventional 3/8-inch electric power drill.

By drilling air holes into compostable material for three minutes a day, a gardener sufficiently aerates the pile to produce compost within a month. The tool benefits gardeners who do not have the time or strength to turn a pile every three days or space to wait for the piles to decompose naturally.

The Compost Air is inserted in composting material from any angle and to the entire length of the shaft. It works with commercially designed compost containers made of wire, wood or plastic, and with composting material piled on the ground.

Beckner is a Master Gardener, certified by the University of California in 1987, and she has been growing vegetables organically in a community garden for 15 years.

The Compost Air is handcrafted in the United States, has a lifetime guarantee and is available for $19.95 plus $4 shipping. California residents add $1.45 tax. Contact Beckner at 15 Portola Ave., San Rafael, CA 94903. For placing orders, call 1-800-582-6676.