February 11th, 2008

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Here it is, boys and girls: Compost Bin Construction 101 for boneheads who have no idea what they're doing (me) and want to slam together a compost bin because, hey, wonderful organic compost is pretty rad. So chiggidy-check it.

As epic as the baconlove pouring in from the last article is, Baconpig, it's time to give the arteries a little rest. We love growing, planty things here at theWAREHOUSE also, and now that our HQ actually has some property it's time to try our hand at composting. Now it's true that you can compost by just throwing junk (lawn trimmings and vegetable scraps, etc.) into a large pile and letting it sit there, but that tends to get a little windscattered and is definitely unsightly. So what do we do? We collect some found lumber, spend $15 on some additional lumber, and we build a compost bin. Buying the plastic ones seems to cost anywhere from $80 to $400.

 

 

It doesn't look like much so far, but that's because I just started Sir-or-Madam Complainsalot. I didn't have a detailed plan at all when I started this thing, but I had wood. And a dream. And three hours on a Saturday morning. I had done some reading as to different types of compost bins and basically what it boils down to is four walls, maybe one of them is removeable. Bingo.

 

 

I tend to have a lot of nails laying around, and I'm glad I happened to have the 4" ones because they were the perfect length for this project. Again, it doesn't have to be a rock-steady sound stage that people are going to be doing jumping jacks on while screaming fans mosh against it...I hope. It just is supposed to keep the compost together and organized.

 

 

In this picture you can see the compost bin's structure starting to take a little shape. The garbage bin was a convenient height to help use as a holder while I was wanging the boards together - otherwise it would've been significantly more of a pain than it was. Even still it was a little obnoxious to get everything up in the air at the same time, but that's likely because I hadn't really been taking any sort of time or planning. Compost is pretty easy, they say, so I figured a compost bin should be too. Yay natural gardening.

As you can see in that picture, the 2x4s are pointed at one end. That's not the top. I actually built the thing upside down. My thought was to have those points rest in the ground to help keep it secured. I'm not worried about it blowing away or anything, especially when it's full of beautiful decomposing soil, but I figured hey, it can't hurt, right?

Another note, you see how some of the 2x4s have green spray paint dots at the end? At my Home Depot they have a scrap wood pile - usually it's a little anemic - but I grabbed all of the structure-wood for this project that I didn't already have from that bin. It happened to all be cut to four-foot lengths and was only 50 cents per piece, which was a bit cheaper than anything else they were selling (and was already cut to length, so...yay). Just a heads up.

 

 

Here's the little clever part. I didn't come up with this, but I thought it was a good enough idea when I saw it elsewhere that I would use it myself. It's the removeable "slip" gate for the compost bin's "entrance" or fourth wall. It's pretty self explanatory, but here's the explanation anyway: all it is is a guide channel for removeable flat panels that make up the face of the compost bin. After your mix is decomposed and ready with all that healthy natural organic matter, simply lift the panels out of this channel (there's one on each side of the face, obviously) and it's much easier to shovel the compost out this way than lifting it out of the top of other styles of compost bins.

 

 

I'm using this really cheap fence paneling for the side fills. They don't really have to be anything fancy. Again, they're just keeping things organized. I certainly wouldn't use this stuff for anything on a house porch or heaven forbid an actual fence. It's very temporary and fairly poorly constructed; lots of little splits here and there and remarkably flimsy. But it will work just fine for my purposes: good coverage, lots of open space for air flow, and wicked cheap.

 

 

Here it is! Yes, it's still upside down, and I do still need to get another panel to make up the bulk of the front face, but that's theWAREHOUSE compost bin. What do you think? I know that because I used pressure treated lumber we shouldn't use the compost in any food gardens. We'll have to be careful about that. But it will be great for everything else around the property. The interior dimensions are just under a four foot cube. Most articles on the internet say a compost pile should be anywhere from three feet to a side to five feet to a side, so I figure I'm pretty spot on with my dimensions.

 

 

Now I just need for it to thaw a little so I can rake up the last of last Autumn's leaves and start throwing in some organic matter.

Where I net out on the whole issue, for what it's worth*, goes a little like this. My land produces things that most people consider waste. I see my neighbors spend hours raking up leaves and bagging them, waiting for their trash pickup to remove the offending organic matter from their lawns. I grew up in the forest; I'm used to seeing leaves everywere and I don't see anything wrong with a blanket of leaves on a lawn. Still, with the unpredictable and sudden cold/snow that Rochester can get, it does make sense to keep it relatively clean so that leaves don't lay down under the snow too long and rot over the grass instead of nourishing it. So continuing this line of thought, instead of raking up leaves and throwing them out (spending money on bags, etc.) why not mulch some back into the yard and then rake the rest up into a compost pile, thus getting wonderful, fresh, free organic compost that I can redistribute on the property. Instead of thinking of my leaves as a liability, I'm going to use them as an asset. My property is generating a resource that will, in turn and in time, come right around to benefit the property. Right? I hope so.

* If my reasoning convinces you to start composting locally instead of buying mulch and other stuff that's been trucked in, saving you money and reducing the world's oil consumption and pollution, then it's worth precisely that much. Not too shabby.

Do you have a compost bin? Do you have a neighbor who's had a compost bin that smelled? What have you learned from composting experiences? What do you think of my bin design (does it need a top?)? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!

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