My New Compost Bin
Well I FINALLY built my own composter this year - something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time! Those who know me well, know this is a pretty major accomplishment for me given the fact that I’m the furthest thing from a “handy-man” you’ll ever find! Add to that my penchant for procrastination and it truly becomes a remarkable feat!!
It DID take awhile before it was completed. I started with a simple hole in the ground, which I filled with old straw, cardboard, food waste and the contents of several worm bins I’d kept inside over the winter.
My hole-in-the-ground served as my composter for several months (did I mention that I like to procrastinate?), but I finally started working with my building supplies. Speaking of which, I’m sad to report that much of the wood I used to build the composter was brand new, from the lumber yard. If you can build a composter from old scraps of wood you have lying around thats definitely a better option.
Anyway, I must say I was pretty pleased with the way the composter turned out! Doesn’t look half-bad, and gives me a little more confidence in my building skills.
In preparation for my new composter building project this year - and much to my wife’s dismay, I might add - I started stockpiling cardboard boxes in our shed so I would have LOTS of Carbon-rich feedstock. Here is the view from my shed after I pulled most of them out in preparation for shredding. I’m sure it must have been quite the sight for my neighbours!! Luckily I completed the job in less than 24 hours.
I’ve found that composting worms (red wigglers) absolutely love brown cardboard, and of course it’s a great way to keep things balanced in the bin once all the sloppy wet N-rich waste materials (aka kitchen scraps) start getting added. It really helps speed things up if you can moisten it early on - I accomplished this by leaving the composter open during some rainstorms, and occasionally adding some water with a watering can.
Whats amazing is that I was eventually able to get ALL the carboard seen in the picture above into the composter!
Thus far the bin seems to be well on its way to becoming a lean, mean, composting machine!!! I’ve added lots of kitchen scraps and green debris from my yard work, and recently also another thick layer of rotting straw on the top to help keep the moisture in.
More updates to come as my continuing new-composter saga unfolds!
Cheers
Bentley
Written by Bentley on July 28th, 2006 with 1 comment.
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