Making A Compost Bin

Over the last few posts we have learnt how to build a compost bin from pallets, how to make wooden compost bins and more. Today I want to look at a few important things you should always bear in mind when making a compost bin. Learning how to build a compost bin is not realy that difficult, especially if you follow many of the simple instructions here. What does often get overlooked are the other points that need to be considered. It is not just the compost bin construction that needs to be considered if you want good compost. The best composter has a lot more going for it than the design. Let's take a look at the other factors that are involved when making a compost bin.

Before we do I wanted to talk a little about getting th emost of outdoor spaces. We may try to save money on certain things but patio furniture is one thing that we need to spend on. There is nothing better than wicker furniture for helping us to enjoy our outdoor spaces. Rattan garden furniture can be bought quite inexpensively and is a great choice of garden furniture.

Composting and gardening in general is all about making the most of the outdoor spaces that we have. We should, if we can afford to, buy cheap patio furniture so we can enjoy not just gardening but relaxing in the garden as well. Now, on to the main point of this post.

What To Consider When You Build Compost Bins

Let's see what else we need to consider and then we can take a look at them in turn:

• The siting of the compost bin
• Where to make the compost bin
• A covering or not?
• Adequate moisture content
• How to prevent animals

These are all things that need to be considered when making a compost bin. Let's see what we should be doing to ensure we get the best from our garden composter.

Siting

When making a compost bin the siting is very important. You should consider it carefully as once it is there, especially once you start adding to it, there it will stay for some time. Garden composting should be made as easy as possible. This is why siting a homemade compost bin is so important. Think about where most of your organic material comes from and where you will be putting the compost once it is ready. Most of your compost may come from lawn clippings or it may come from the vegetable plot. In that case you may find it easier to site the composting bin you have made at the end of the lawn or a corner of the vegetable plot. These are all things worth considering.

When making a compost bin I always site them near to my chicken house and at the end of the vegetable garden. This way when I clean out the chickens or have spare veg it is easy to put all the contents on the composting heap without having to walk too far. Just have a think about where it will be most suited.

Where should you be building a compost bin?

There is no doubt that it will make life easier if, when making a compost bin, you can do it where it is intended to stay. For some designs, such as the wire compost bin I talked about in the post entitled Build Compost Bins From Chicken Wire, you have to build it in its final position. For other designs there is an option.

I really recommend levelling out the land and building it "in situ". This will save you energy as you will not have to move it after it is built. It will also mean that whatever composting bin you construct you know it will fit the space. You can adjust your measurements as you build the compost bin if you construct it at its final site.

Should You Cover The Compost Bin?
Adequate Moisture Content

This can depend on the weather you get. If you get very wet weather a lot of the year then I would cover it. If you get very dry weather I would cover it. The best composters work at their peak if the contents are moist but not sodden. They also do not want to be too dry. There is a fine balance that needs to be achieved. When making a compost bin you should always bear this in mind. Use an old piece of carpet or a waterproof sheet of some kind. This will work for both wet or dry weather. It will both hold the rain off and also conserve the moisture that is present.

I recommend keeping it covered whenever you get a prolonged dry or wet spell. Making a compost bin work at its best will mean you cover it for at least part of the year.

Preventing Animals

Animals, and rodents especially, can be a major problem for some garden composters. When choosing which composting bin you will make it is worth considering what type of animals may take an interest in it. We have both Dogs and Cats so we built our compost bin from pallets. This means the animals can not get access to the contents. To this end I also place one over the top of my homemade composting bin. They may want to get inside and have a root around but they cannot.

You may have a similar problem. Simply make a compost bin that will prevent whatever animals may be present from getting acces to the composting pile.

These are just a few things to keep in mind when making a composting bin.

How To Build A Compost Bin

Learning how to build a compost bin when typed in to a search engine brings up a myriad of results. The problem is that once you start reading you soon discover that the articles are full of way too much technical information. I have decided to write this site to give clear and very easy to follow instructions on how to build a variety of composting bins. Some are so simple, like the following compost bin design that they need little more than pictures. From a wooden compost bin to a compost barrel, I will be looking at them all and giving instructions on how to make your own compost.

Living in the countryside I have developed quite a passion for composting. I have written about it quite a few times and love exploring the many different ways to make compost. I love writing sites all about different composting techniques and the different ways to do it. Composting tumblers were a surprise to me. I never knew you could make compost so quickly. However, they are not for everyone. Many people like an open or homemade compost bin. This is more what I will be concentrating on here. As this site gets bigger we will look at lots of various designs for making a compost bin. Firstly lets look at one of the easiest and most efficient way of building a compost bin. Don't forget, this is not going to be technical. I want this site to be easy to follow and the instructions will be very clear and simple. I will not be going in to excessive detail. You wil have to use your common sense for some aspects of learning how to build a compost bin. I am going to be giving the basics so you have the ideas to go out and make a garden compost bin yourself.

As well as building inexpensive compost bins we should also consider adding some cheap rattan furniture to our patios or gardens. We should never forget that part of enjoying outdoor living is also getting a little comfort for when we want to relax. Cheap rattan patio furniture is one way to do this.

Wooden Compost Bins

This is for a very simple wooden compost bin. Learning how to build a compost bin does not get much simpler than this. I have three of these composting bins and they are easy to build and the best part is they are free. Here is what you will need to build a wod compost bin:

• Four wooden pallets
• A handful of nails or screws
• A hammer or scredriver
• A few hours of your time

I told you it was easy. I will not be making learning how to build a compost bin complicated. As you can see from the photo, my wooden compost bins are anything but tidy. This is because they were built for scrap materials that I had lying around. For a much tidier compost bin you simply need to ensure all the pieces are the same size. This will give a much neater appearance, like the one in the image.

So, how do we build this wooden compost bin? Wooden compost bins are simple to assemble. It is very simple indeed and you can probably build it without me even telling you. It is simply a matter of finding a nice flat area to construct it. You can then lay the four pallets out in a square and it is then simply a matter of screwing or nailing them together. You may see some compost bin designs that have a concrete base. This really is not recommended. Learning how to build a compost bin is the easy part, making really good quality compost is where you need to focus your attentions. By placing the wooden compost bin directly on to the ground you get a number of advantages. Primarily this is the fact that all the worms and microbes and bacteria that are an essential part of the best composter are allowed to get acces to the material you place in the composting bin.

This will give a fantastic kick start to your compost making efforts. You want the organic matter in your heap to be activated as soon as possible so leave the base open to the soil. Learning how to build a compost bin does not have to be complicated. This design can be constructed very quickly with free materials. It won't last for ever because it is made from wood, but it is free and will last for a god few years.