Building Your Own Compost Bin

If you would rather not purchase a bin for your compost pile, you should still devise away to contain it. You can easily and inexpensively build your own bin. This will give you more control over the size of the pile and can prevent unwelcome animals helping themselves to some free food.

If you are using recycled lumber and it has been treated (either painted or stained) make sure it has been done using non-toxic material. You do not want anything toxic or poisonous to come in contact with your compost, especially if you are going to be using it where you are growing food.

You will need four 4-foot sections of 2X4 and 20 3-foot sections of 1X6 boards. Begin by hammering the 2X4 lumber pieces into the ground with a sledgehammer at the corners of what will become a 3 feet squared container (space each corner post 3 feet apart). Next, put five boards to every side securing each end of the board to the corner post with nails. Be sure to leave enough room in between each board for air circulation. You can use a piece of plywood or another flat piece of material large enough to cover the top as a cover.

Another way to build your own bin is to use new or recycled pallets. Find wooden pallets (you may be able to find them at a land fill site) and nail or screw them together to form a square. If you want you can add a fifth to give the bin a bottom, but this is not necessary.

Another option is to enclose the pile with a wire mesh. You can either create a circle with the mesh and secure with metal ties or hammer wooden posts in a circle around the pile and secure the mesh to the wooden posts.

Different Types of Composting

The most common way to compost organic material into usable fertilizer is to make use of the naturally occurring microbes to use the material as food and energy. Other than ensuring your pile has enough water, food, and air you can leave the rest of the job to the ever helpful fungi and bacteria.

The types of microbes you want to inhabit your composter are aerobic, meaning they need oxygen to thrive and live. You can make sure they have enough air by aerating the compost heap (turning it over with a rake). Another way to ensure there is good air circulation is to add a material such as wood chips or hay – both are bulky and are not easily compressed. This makes sure the air can get in and do its job.

The other kind of microbes that can convert your waste are anaerobic (they do not need oxygen to survive). This may sound like a great alternative – not having to worry if enough air is available. But the unpleasant side effect of having anaerobic microbes in your compost bin is the smell. Without enough air, there will be a distinct rotting garbage smell emanating from your bin.

Another way to compost is to use red worms to help decompose the organic waste. This form of composting is known as vermicomposting. The red earthworms can quickly turn your table scraps into compost. To help the process along it is recommended that you chop or cut the organic material you add to the composter first. This is an optional step but will yield faster results. Only food scraps, paper or yard waste is recommended for this type of composting. You can purchase the red worms at your local pet or fishing supply store - these are not the same worms that you find crawling in your backyard.

How to Choose a Composting Container

There are many sizes, shapes, and styles of composting bins to choose from. You can make one yourself or opt for not using one at all and create a compost pile or heap.

A compost tumbler is a cylindrical shape much like a drum laid on its side. It can be turned on a base that is supported on the flat ends. By turning the drum you are rotating and aerating the materials at the same time. It is an easy and effective way to rotate your compost.

A bio-orb container is shaped like a round ball and comes in various sizes. The benefits of this type of container are the ease of getting it around (you can roll it over to your yard waste and roll it back to its base), and the act of rolling it also aerates and rotates the contents. There are many small round holes in the container to let air in too.

A wooden box with slats or a wooden framed box with mesh sides can be purchased or easily made at home. If you can find four wooden pallets, you can nail them together to create a compost bin very inexpensively or you can find a roll of wire mesh at your local hardware store. Both of these options allow air to circulate as long as the contents are not too compacted.

If you do not want to use a bin, start with a pile of glass clippings or leaves and start to layer your food scraps on top. As time goes by and your pile continues to grow make sure you rotate and “stir” it frequently. Be warned though, it is not as easy to turn a pile that is not contained. They tend to grow in circumference over time as the pile spreads out after rotating.

The Benefits of Composting

Besides a free and nutrient rich fertilizer for your soil and plants there are many other benefits to starting a compost in your yard. A few of the benefits of composting are listed below.

• You can reduce or eliminate weeds in your garden by using compost as it prevents weed seeds from sprouting and prospering. This is a natural alternative to pesticides.

• Mature compost material has been used to stop or prevent erosion in certain areas. The binding capability in the compost can keep the soil in place and prevent dangerous drop-offs.

• Reducing the amount of organic material that goes to a dump unnecessarily – in turn this reduces the amount of methane gas a dump creates during decomposition.
  

• In wetlands areas that are in trouble, compost has been used to revitalize the soil and surrounding plant life.

• Healthier plants, compost material can prevent your plants from contracting diseases that kill or spread to the rest of the crop or garden.

• Can create a stable and healthier pH balance in your soil.

• If your soil is overly dry (sandy), adding compost to the soil and thoroughly mixing can help the sandy dirt retain more water keeping it moist.

• If your soil is clay-like, you can make the dirt easier to work with and less dense by adding mature compost.

• Provides important nutrients and micronutrients to the soil and plants.

• Increases the temperature of the soil creating a conducive environment for plant growth and health.

This is just a few of the important benefits that can be derived from using compost. It helps the environment, your garden, your plants and the planet. The small amount of time that it takes to set-up and maintain a compost bin or pile is well worth the time and effort.

Cold or Hot Composting

The heat that is generated from the breaking down of organic matter into compost is known as hot composting. There is also cold composting, it doesn’t take as much of a commitment from you to upkeep or manage but it does take quite a bit longer to yield results.

Hot (or active) composting uses microbes to breakdown the matter. Some experts will recommend you inoculate the compost with live organisms purchased from a gardening supply store in order to get the process started. While others will recommend adding in healthy top soil as it also contains live organisms that will convert your organic matter into compost material. Either way, once the process is started your compost pile will generate heat. You should tend or check on your pile every second day to ensure good air circulation is maintained and that the right level of moisture is kept.

If you do not have the desire or time to maintain a regular compost bin, starting a cold compost (or slow compost) may suit you better. In a cold compost, you are only using your yard waste and grass clippings instead of a combination of outdoor material with your kitchen scraps. All that is required of you is to pile your leaves and grass clippings into a pile and wait. The process is slow and long – it will not yield usable compost for up to one year. Be careful not to put in any weeds or other undesirable plants, as there is no heat they will survive the composting process and can grow again when you use the finished material.

If you generate quite a bit of yard waste and it is too much to include in your regular compost bin consider using both methods. You can have the best of both composting methods.

Who Should Compost?

As there are many uses for compost, you will find people with different interests and occupations utilizing this environmentally friendly resource.

A homeowner can create a compost bin or pile to reduce the amount of trash they are throwing away. As an added benefit they are creating a fertilizer for their house plants or garden plot. Since compost bins require green food (grass clippings) and brown food (organic waste) you can collect your grass clippings and add them to your bin too.

On a farm, crops can produce a lot of waste. A farmer can use crops that are not consumable and add them to a compost bin along with manure from any livestock they may keep. Once the compost matures and is ready, the farmer can use the material for added nutrients in the soil; build up low spots in his field; and to keep the soil healthy – mature compost has the ability to prevent weed seeds from sprouting.

A professional landscaper can create compost material for clients that want only natural or organic materials used on their lawn or flower beds. This can be a low-cost material for a landscaper to utilize providing his clients with Earth-friendly options with a low overhead cost.

If you like the idea of composting but do not have the space or time to create one, check with your city or municipality’s recycling center. Some will accept your yard waste and clippings for a city compost heap. This material will then be used throughout the city’s parks and gardens. In certain centers they may let the residents utilize the mature compost for their own needs too.

Schools will utilize compost to teach the students the process of decomposition and to teach children what we can do to help our planet. This is in addition to the cost savings for the school in up keeping the grounds and park.

The Best Place for your Composting Bin

The most common location for a compost pile or bin is in close proximity to your kitchen or garden. You want it in a convenient location to make it easy and second nature to bring your food scraps or garden waste to the composter. If you have a large yard, the yard waste can get quite heavy and you don’t want to be transporting the heavy material e a deterrent to composting.

There are other considerations that need to be taken into account when choosing a composting site. Keeping all the below suggestions in mind, you also want to make sure that it is in an area that children or animals will not disturb or get into the compost bin.

The ground should be level and not prone to collecting excessive water (it needs good drainage). Your compost pile needs to stay moist but you do not want too much water or it will not work properly. In addition to level ground, make sure you can easily access the area with a wheelbarrow.

A shady location is best, if the compost pile gets too much sunlight it will get hot and dry out. Again, the pile needs to stay moist and overheating it with external sources will not help.

A water source should be close by – you can reach the area with your garden hose or easily carry enough water to moisten the pile if it becomes too dry. Remember you just want to moisten the pile with a spray of water not drench it.

If you are beginning with a one bin system, you may want to leave enough room for a second bin down the road. By having two bins side-by-side, you can easily rotate or turn the pile by moving material from one bin to the next.

Composting Precautions

There are living creatures that you want in your compost bin such as microbes and red earthworms and then there are the creatures you wan to stay away like raccoons, rodents, and bears). A compost bin can be very appealing to an animal, easy access to food. As a rule, you should never put animal matter into compost (left over meat and bones) not only do they not make for good composting they will be a magnet to wild animals. Following are some more tips to help keep your compost bin free from pests of all sizes.

An odor-free compost bin is less likely to attract bears or any other animal friends. You can achieve this by rotating or turning the compost pile at least once per week. Another precaution that should be taken is to have a bin with a cover whether it is commercially made or one you make yourself.

Another thing you can do is to put brown food such as lawn clippings on top of the green food (food scraps and other kitchen waste). You can purchase lime at your local nursery or hardware store to sprinkle on the top of your composting materials that will increase the rate at which everything decomposes.

The location of your compost heap should not be near the edge of your property especially if you live near a forest or park area. This makes it very easy for animals tohelp themselves without being exposed by walking through your backyard.

If bears or raccoons are a big concern in your community you can look into a neighborhood compost pile. In addition to making composting more accessible to a larger group of people, you can look into an electric or barbed wire fence to ensure no unwanted animals come looking for a free lunch.

What is Composting?

Composting is recycling your kitchen waste and lawn trimmings and turning them into a valuable resource for your garden or houseplants. This is done by speeding up the process that the materials you use to compost go through on their own – decomposition.

Compost is not soil. It is a common misconception that the end-result of composting is the dirt that you find in the ground. It is a substance that acts as a fertilizer (enriching the soil) to grow hardier and healthier plants.

Before you begin composting there are choices to be made – what type of container and style suits your project, what you will be putting into your compost bin, and the location of your bin. But regardless of these decisions, how you convert your waste into compost happens the same way. It is a breakdown of waste materials as they are digested by microbes (bacteria and fungi).

The microbes are the workers of the composting equation. They need air, water, and food to do their job and it is up to you to supply it to them in the right amounts. If you have heard that having a compost bin or pile creates a foul odor it is most likely the result of not enough air circulating throughout the waste material. Without air, the material will still breakdown but it will be done by anaerobic microbes (organisms that do not need oxygen) as opposed to aerobic (ones that need oxygen). So if you do have an unpleasant smell coming from your compost bin or pile you can rotate the material to let in more air or add a substance to create more room for the air to circulate. Wood chips or hay are good for this.

Composting is good for the environment and your garden – it eliminates the amount of waste you throw away and enriches the soil your plants grow in.