Feb
13
2011
Home-made Composting Bin?
Posted by admin in Question & Answers, tags: composting, HomemadeI want to start composting my waste, but before I go and buy an expensive compositng bin, I wanted to try it on a smaller scale first. I have an old kitchen bin (plastic) that I have put some veg based kitchen scraps in, some dead leaves and some grass cuttings from the garden. I’ve put it outside and put an old plate on the top to stop rats getting to it. Do you think this kind of thing will work in the short-term? I know it will need air so, every couple of day, or whenever I add mor escraps to the bin, I am going to turn the pile over to add air and to mix it all in. What do you think?
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That should do fine for now. You may run out of space soon. I don’t think there is any need for an expensive bin, unless there is an animal problem or you want it to look very nice. My ‘bin’ is chicken wire wrapped around some fence posts. I have alternate piles that are just sitting on the ground. It all works eventually.
Good for now. Although, you’ll find that over time it’s going to get harder and harder to turn over the stuff inside.
I would get a small barrel or other round object that you could throw stuff into. Something round so you could lay it on an angle and rotate it once in a while (or every day). I don’t have specs on a contraption like that, but I’m sure it’s easily made.
Last year I just used a large round steel culvert that was about 3.5 feet tall and turned the compost over by hand…pain in the rear! Very nice output though you’ll be happy with what you get.
There are units you can purchase they’ll make this a lot easier. Home Depot or Lowes should have them this time of year.
Good luck! = )
Hi SG
You have missed a really important component in your compost bin and that is worms. You can buy them but why bother.
When I made my compost bin and had four free of charge wooden pallets which I roped together and placed in a quiet corner of the garden. All uncooked vegetable waste can go in there along with tea bags, coffee grounds, fur from groomed pets, shredded confidential papers, egg shells and shredded newspapers. You can add mowings from the lawn. You now have the ideal mixture of sun and air, water occasionally, put a pole in the centre of the bin so you can aerate occasionally. Cover with an old non-synthetic rug. The worms from your garden will soon get to work and will chomp their way through the heap. In warm weather you will have compost within six months. In colder weather the worms are less active and the process might take up to nine months.
Do not put any meat, fish or cooked food on the compost as this will attract rats – the rats don’t seem to be interested in the other ingredients.
Happy composting!!
Best wishes from Sue
Composting successfully needs air constantly, as well as a certain volume of material to be composted. You don’t need a large bin. Start with a large outdoor size garbage can and drill 1/2″ holes all over it, up and down the sides and in the bottom for drainage. Use bungee cords to hold the lid on and keep rats/raccoons/squirrels out. You don’t have to keep turning it constantly, just bury new scraps in the older stuff. After a couple of weeks, dump it all out and then shovel it back in again to make sure it’s thoroughly mixed. Eventually you’re going to have to stop adding new stuff to let the old stuff finish.