Oh, I should mention that worms and bugs freak me out (I know that's absurd for gardening, but I'm working on it). Another reason I'd like an enclosed composter.

Make sure you have a tray of some kind under it to catch any leachate. It will stain concrete, and/or run down onto your neighbor's concrete.

If it's cold in the winter, it may not break down very fast, so the question of when to stop adding may be answered by "when it's full" rather than the required lead time. But aside from that you will probably want a couple of months at least for it to mature with no fresh additions.

Which brings me to...what are you going to do with all your stuff in the meantime? Always the problem with a single tumbler.

BTW welcome to the forum!

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There can't be anything easy about urban composting. The small scale makes it harder and you have neighbors right on top of you who can smell anything. You must keep things clean because of the community implications.

Hot composting is about getting the right conditions so certain bacteria grow fast and heat everything up. It's the bacteria that makes it hot - not the sun or anything else. You need the right balance of greens (nitrogens) and browns (carbons) and air (oxygen specifically) and moisture. The promise of tumblers is it mixes the greens and browns and gets the air mixed in. The problem with tumblers is it's a real bummer when that stuff tumbles out spilling all over the place so they're enclosed which restricts the air from getting in. They also let the moisture build and too much moisture tends to squelch the hot process and smother the air too. If you go a tumbling, do everything you can to get air into the thing.

Hot composting should be faster and the heat kills weed seeds and some pathogens.

Worm bin is a possibility but then you're looking at the kitchen or something like that because NC is subject to frost and snow in the winter and some hot temps in the summer. Worms shouldn't like it when your cat doesn't.

Do your homework and search on URBAN composting.

Don't plan on getting oodles of compost and plan on buying anything you need for your gardening needs. Especially first time out. I don't believe I've heard anyone on this board ever saying they have enough compost.

Plan on mistakes being made.

Crazy thought: You can compost to make compost or you can compost to digest what some call waste. Consider the digesting objective with any resultant compost for your garden as gravy. Buy your gardening compost from the eccentric gardening guy who talks about holistic things.

Good basics but not necessarily urban: http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/compost-info/

to sense
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Here is a link that might be useful: Good basics on composting

..
There can't be anything easy about urban composting. The small scale makes it harder and you have neighbors right on top of you who can smell anything. You must keep things clean because of the community implications.

Hot composting is about getting the right conditions so certain bacteria grow fast and heat everything up. It's the bacteria that makes it hot - not the sun or anything else. You need the right balance of greens (nitrogens) and browns (carbons) and air (oxygen specifically) and moisture. The promise of tumblers is it mixes the greens and browns and gets the air mixed in. The problem with tumblers is it's a real bummer when that stuff tumbles out spilling all over the place so they're enclosed which restricts the air from getting in. They also let the moisture build and too much moisture tends to squelch the hot process and smother the air too. If you go a tumbling, do everything you can to get air into the thing.

Hot composting should be faster and the heat kills weed seeds and some pathogens.

Worm bin is a possibility but then you're looking at the kitchen or something like that because NC is subject to frost and snow in the winter and some hot temps in the summer. Worms shouldn't like it when your cat doesn't.

Do your homework and search on URBAN composting.

Don't plan on getting oodles of compost and plan on buying anything you need for your gardening needs. Especially first time out. I don't believe I've heard anyone on this board ever saying they have enough compost.

Plan on mistakes being made.

Crazy thought: You can compost to make compost or you can compost to digest what some call waste. Consider the digesting objective with any resultant compost for your garden as gravy. Buy your gardening compost from the eccentric gardening guy who talks about holistic things.

Good basics but not necessarily urban: http://sarasota.ifas.ufl.edu/compost-info/

to sense
..

Here is a link that might be useful: Good basics on composting

Thank you so much for the helpful replies! Sorry it took me a little while to get back, I've been out of town. So, after googling some more and looking at my bank account, I'm scratching the expensive tumbler. I figure I can just drill holes in a plastic bin, and if I stir it with a shovel, it should achieve the same thing as a tumbler, right? I was going to make something similar to the link at the bottom of the post. Does this look like it will work well and reasonably quickly?

Thank you!
Liz

Here is a link that might be useful: DIY composting bin.

I didn't look through your DIY composting bin site too thoroughly. If you go with this, be sure to add plenty of dried leaves! Just the picture alone got me thinking of a slimey mess!
I'm thinking you will want to look into the vermicomposting ideas! They seem to be made for apartments! Nancy

Liz - when I was living in an apartment I made exactly that type of bin, just drilled holes in a rubbermaid container. It worked well, just be sure to add lots of browns (mine was all shredded paper since balcony + living on the prairies = no leaves). I also set mine up on 2 pieces of 2X4 to raise it off the ground a bit as I found it wasn't able to drain out very well onto the balcony.

Also, I found leaving the lid on (even with lots of holes drilled in it) made it far too moist, so I would go without a lid - just cover it when it rains.

I hope it works out for you!