Homemade Composting Boxes

Instead of purchasing an expensive compost bin, make your own from scraps of chicken wire.

While you can effectively compost in a pile or heap, many homeowners and gardeners choose to build composting boxes or bins to prevent pest animals from eating fresh contents or using the materials as bedding. Building your own compost box or bin allows you to select the size you need as well as how you can access and remove finished compost from the bottom of the container. Making a compost box does not require the efforts of carpentry professionals and often is as simple as creating a form from chicken wire.

Things You'll Need

• Wire or tin snips
• Chicken wire
• Chain snaps or heavy wire
• Pliers
• Wire snips
• 5-foot wooden or metal posts
• Mallet or hammer

Instructions

1. Cut a section of chicken wire measuring 17 feet long by 5 feet wide using a pair of wire or tin snips. You may shorten the length and height as desired, though the University of Minnesota Extension and LSU extension agent Denyse Cummins recommend compost containers measuring approximately 5 feet cubed to produce the temperatures necessary for composting.

2. Bend back the first 6 inches at each end of the 17-foot length of chicken wire. Use the pliers to wrap the cut ends around the adjacent wire to prevent composting materials from snagging on the sharp, exposed ends. This results in a section of chicken wire measuring 16 feet long.

3. Form the chicken wire into a cylindrical shape by pulling the ends of the chicken wire together. The cylindrical form should measure approximately 5 feet in diameter by 5 feet in height. Attach the two ends of the chicken wire form with chain snaps or by twisting heavy wire around the joined ends with a set of pliers.

4. Set the form into place where you intend to keep the compost container. Drive wooden or metal posts into the ground around the inside edge of the wire form, using either a mallet or hammer. Placing a post every one to two feet around the inside perimeter of the form prevents the unit from collapsing or falling out of shape.

Tips & Warnings

• Use galvanized chicken wire to create a longer-lasting bin that will not rust as quickly as non-galvanized wire.

• You may also use a longer section of wire to form a square-shaped compost unit, using the metal or wooden posts at corners to maintain the square-shape.

• Remove the posts and lift the wire form a few inches when you are ready to harvest finished compost from the unit.

References

• University of Missouri Extension: How to Build a Compost Bin
• University of Minnesota Extension: Composting and Mulching-A Guide to Managing Organic Yard Wastes
• Ohio State University Extension: Composting at Home
• Denyse Cummins; LSU AgCenter; Shreveport, Louisiana

Resources

• University of Illinois Extension: Composting Methods