Monday, September 6, 2010

Easy compost bins

I put together a couple of compost bins last weekend and managed to fill them up this weekend.  They were really easy to make too.  I just bought some wire fencing from the tractor supply store and some zip ties.  I formed two round bins -- about 3 feet in diameter.  I used the zip ties to keep the bin closed.  I can easily snip those off to open it up and get the compost out.  


I placed them on the side of our property -- because compost piles are not exactly pretty to look at.  Last Fall when we moved into the home, we raked a HUGE pile of leaves into this area.  I stacked it up the best I could, but the wind and snow flattened my pile out over the winter.  Some of it has decomposed, but a bunch of the leaves look like they did last fall.  I'm hoping these compost bins help speed things up.  I also need more nitrogen to get things going faster (I don't have a good source for manure yet).  I may need to make another one to hold this year's leaves.  Anyway, I'm happy with how they turned out.  I'm looking forward to having all that gorgeous compost to use in my garden next year.

3 comments:

R Dean said...

We use the same method, seems to work well. However, this year, the weeds got the best of ours, so I am awaiting winter to pull them out and take my tractor and turn them over...should be ready for next Spring!!! Good luck...Oh by the way...not sure where you guys are, but I regularly get garter snakes visiting my compost bin's, so be prepared for them to slither out when you start turning the piles... :-)

Shari said...

Thanks for the heads up about the snakes. I don't mind them, but I'm sure I will still jump a mile the first time one slithers out. By the way, we live in Mid-Michigan.

Conny said...

Those are some great wire bins! I was contemplating making a few for the winter. You've convinced me. Maybe this weekend.

I only get spiders and earwigs coming from my current compost bin (a stackable unit) - there was quite an ecosystem going on in there when I turned it earlier this summer. Kind of felt like I was destroying their home. :>)

Thanks for posting this.