Making a Compost Bin

Make your own compost.

A compost bin lets you turn food scraps, leaves and lawn trimmings into rich organic matter to fertilize your garden. Worms, bacteria and fungi do the work, but a bin holds the organic materials in place. A compost bin may be large and expensive, but you can make a simple one from inexpensive materials. Use a single bin to compost a small amount of material slowly with little effort. To speed up the process, build two bins and fork the compost into the new bin every few weeks to turn it and aerate it.

Things You'll Need

• 4 metal fence posts, 4 feet high Sledge hammer Tape measure 13-foot-long snow fence, 3 feet high Fence wire Wire cutters Pliers

Instructions

1. Pound four 4-foot-long metal fence stakes six to 12 inches into the ground with a sledge hammer. Space them at the four corners of a square, 3 feet by 3 feet, measuring the distance with a tape measure.

2. Cut four lengths of fence wire with wire cutters. Make the pieces long enough to wrap around one slat of the snow fence plus the metal post with several inches left over.

3. Set a 13-foot-long roll of snow fence upright beside one of the posts, so one end is against a post. Attach the fence to the post with wire ties, wrapping them around the last slat and the post, then twisting the ends together with pliers. Space one tie at the top, one at the bottom and the other two between them.

4. Unroll the snow fence, run it beside the next post and wire it to that post the same way. Repeat until you've wired it to all four posts and have formed a square.

5. Overlap the end of the fence with the start and wire it to the initial section of the fence. Fill the compost bin with a mixture of organic matter and a little soil, as you accumulate food scraps or garden trimmings.

Tips & Warnings

• Finished compost may take six months to two years if you don't turn it. Turning it regularly may make the time as short as three to six months.

References

• University of Missouri Extension: How to Build a Compost Bin
• Ohio State University Extension: Composting at Home

Resources

• Virginia Cooperative Extension: Making Compost from Yard Waste