How to Make a Compost Bin From a Garbage Can

Compost is nothing more than decomposed plant material, so you don't need a fancy bin to make your own compost. You can create compost in a heap on the ground, but most gardeners think that containing your compost pile makes it look tidier. Here's how to make compost in a recycled garbage can.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bricks
• Bricks
• Garbage Cans
• Garden Hoses
• Old Newspapers

1. Punch holes in a garbage can. The microbes that actually do the composting need oxygen to do their work.

2. Chop plant debris into small pieces and place them inside the garbage can. Ideally, you should use 50 percent green material and 50 percent dry, but you can use shredded newspaper for the dry material if necessary. You don't need to fill the can all at one time - just put in the plant material you have on hand.

3. Spray water over the chopped plant material inside the can, until the material is damp but not soggy.

4. Put the lid on the can.

5. Place the filled garbage can on bricks or several 2-by-4-inch pieces of lumber to keep the can off the ground and prevent it from rusting.

6. Turn the can as often as daily, or at least once a week. Lay the can on its side and roll it around to mix the plant material inside.

7. Add more plant material at any time.

8. Keep the compost about as moist as a wrung-out sponge by spraying it with water when the plant material begins to feel dry.

9. Harvest your compost after one month. Use a wire screen or piece of chicken wire to strain out the unfinished compost.

Tips & Warnings

• Compost can be used to top-dress garden beds or as potting soil for indoor plants.
• Once the plant material inside the can is no longer warm to the touch, the composting process is finished.

[allidawn]

on 8/22/2009 You should always add equal parts of "greens" and equal parts of "browns" to your compost bin. Examples of "greens": tea bags, glass clippings, veggie peelings, fruit scraps, and coffee grounds. Examples of "browns": cardboard, egg boxes, paper, leaves, hay, twigs, branches and bark. Do NOT put meat, fish, dairy products and cooked veggies in your bin. They will attract unwanted vermin such as rats, mice and cockroaches. You should also keep your compost moist because vermin prefer dry environments. Do not be concenred about fruit flies, worms and slugs, for they are good for the decomposition process.

[allidawn]

on 8/22/2009 "Buttunhead," rats and mice can actually play a role in the decomposition of waste in your compost bin. But if you really don't want them around, be sure to keep your compost wet, but not too wet. Rats and mice like a dry nesting environment. If your compost is relatively moist, they may stay clear of it. Also, don't put meat, fish, dairy products and cooked food in your compost. This could attract vermin in the first place. And always wear gloves when handling your compost and wash your hands afterwards.

[sarahpb]

on 6/3/2009 What kind of trash can? metal or plastic?

[murch5678]

on 5/10/2009 Good tips on making your own compost bin. You can also put used coffee grounds and vegetable trash (uncooked) in your compost bin.

[slg2858]

on 5/9/2009 I have 2 going at the same time. When the first one is done, I start adding to the new one. Keep the rotation going. 1.The holes can be made by a drill just do tons of them all over and you don't have to keep turning it everyday. 2.If yo use the top you won't need to spray it w/water. 3.Most important to keep the smell down, cover it with the brown matter!