Q: We are interested in composting kitchen scraps. Do the tumble composters that claim to make compost in 14 days really work?

A: In my opinion they are not very useful. In winter, the tumbler cools off too much to let beneficial fungi do much decomposing. In summer, they dry out too fast. The easiest composting is to layer kitchen scraps with leaves in a pile. If you are worried about attracting wildlife, make a twelve inch diameter cylindrical bin (with a lid) from one-half inch hardware cloth and submerge it in a leaf pile. You could also dig a 12″ x 12″ hole in the ground, cover it with a concrete paver and put the scraps there.