Building Bins for Compost | Compost Bin: Gardening

Helping You Become a More Successful Gardener

Adding compost to your garden soil improves it in three ways: decayed organic matter enhances workability, nutrients contained in the compost fertilize your vegetable plants, and neutral acidity compost buffers too-acidic or -alkaline conditions.

This compost-bin project can be successfully completed in two weekends – and your garden will reap all the rewards.

This illustration details the bin’s corner-post construction.

Making compost is easy and environmentally friendly. Many commercially manufactured compost bins are available for purchase at garden retailers, including some elaborate models that turn the compost mix with motors or weights. Most home gardens produce a steady stream of plant waste, so a large bin is the perfect solution to disposal.

The three-stage bin shown here has a 6x12-foot footprint and processes about 2-3 cubic yards of vegetable matter per month. Raw waste is placed into the first section of the bin and allowed to decompose partially. After 3-4 weeks, the waste is turned into the second section. In another month, it’s turned a last time into the final section, where it completes its decay and becomes available for use as mulch or a rich soil amendment.

The process is made easier by the way the bin is constructed – with slots containing fitted boards between each section. When the bin is turned, the boards slip out, making access easy and reducing the amount of lifting required.

Allow a couple of days for this construction project – 6-8 hours to sink and set the postholes and another day to finish the bin. (One day each on consecutive weekends works best.)

Required Materials

Redwood or Cedar Lumber

8 6-foot-long 4x4 posts
12 6-foot-long 1x6 sideboards
12 6-foot-long 1x6 section dividers
24 4-foot-long 1x6 sideboards
40 33-inch-long 1x1 vertical slot guides

Hardware and Materials

120 1⁄8 x 2-inch brass wood screws
8 bags of posthole concrete mix

Compost Bin

Compost Bin - Step 1

Dig 8 footings, 20-24 inches deep, spaced 4 feet apart side-to-side and 6 feet apart front-to-back, face-to-face. Level, brace, and set posts in cement mix.

Compost Bin - Step 2

After the posts have set, level their tops at 34 inches high. At each junction, install two 1x1-inch vertical slot guides, spaced 1 inch apart. Attach them with wood screws installed into predrilled pilot holes. Into each slot, on the back and sides, insert 6 sideboards.

Compost Bin - Step 3

Install the section dividers and the front sideboards. These boards may be removed for easy access when turning the compost bin or when removing finished compost for use in the garden. The bin is now ready to receive its first load of garden waste.

Completed Compost Bin

The three-section bin has recent clippings tossed in the first section. The middle section has partially decomposed compost, while the third holds finished compost ready for the garden.

Warnings

Beware of “compost no-no’s!” When making compost, never use meat and bones, dairy products or greasy foods, dog and cat feces, diseased or invasive plants, weeds with lots of seed and unchopped wood.
The most common mistake gardeners make with a compost pile is throwing in too much waste from the kitchen. Although such organic material is beneficial under ideal conditions, too much creates a pile that’s too wet. Additionally, such waste, especially if it’s not chopped well, draws flies and even small animals.

Facts

Rich compost is “black gold” that fertilizes the soil with a wide range of nutrients. It also improves soil structure and attracts earthworms and beneficial microbes.

Tips

Good things to add to a compost pile include grass clippings, autumn leaves, weeds, egg shells and plant-based kitchen scraps, such as orange peels or coffee grinds.

Next Steps

Create Your Own Compost
Composting is a simple way to get maximum plants. Just find a good spot, add the right ingredients and mix! (Your garden will thank you for it.)
Hot for Composting (a Resolution)
Once a die-hard passive composter, one gardening expert now vows to take her composting efforts to the next level – and try hot composting. Read her tips for taking on this active way of creating “black gold” for her garden – as inspired by her composting pro of a neighbor.
The Adventures of Wonder Worm, Composting Crusader
A red worm compost bin is a great – and easy – way to recycle certain food waste and improve garden soil. Just add your scraps and let the wonder worms do the rest until your compost is ready for harvesting. (The process is so simple, a child can do it!)

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Building a Compost Bin