Making a compost pile.

839 Views 19 Replies 17 Participants Last post by ceyko, Sep 10, 2009

talisman

Discussion Starter · Aug 30, 2009

I'm thinking about building a small bin for compost in my backyard. Our yard has finally filled in after 3 years and I'd like to start bagging the clippings, but it just seems dumb to throw them on the curb. This would also help clean up the oak leaves in Fall. Any suggestions? I've seen plastic ones you can buy, but I'd rather just build something out of wood. The plastic ones are covered, whereas I would probably leave the top open on this. Pros or cons?

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

greenrebel

· #2 · Aug 30, 2009

The girlfriend's mother built one for all the gardening and flowers she does. Basically built a 3-sided box about 3 feet tall on each side out of 6x6's, then used a tarp to lay down on the ground and started tossing clipping, and any food by-products eg. eggshells, pasta, leftover fruit/veggies. She's got it in a place in the backyard that gets about 4 hours sun max during the summer. They had a problem when the rain season came the first year they made the box, so she poked a bunch of holes to allow for drainage. I don't think she had to add any worms, but after reading some other composting articles I've heard you should get a few pounds of earthworms to work it all through. If you have too much sun then you should cover the box with a tarp as well to help keep humidity up.

Hope some it helps

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the spindoctor

· #3 · Aug 30, 2009

a friend of mine made one out of 5 old pallets with fine wire mesh stapled to the inside for ventilation. had hinges on the top and 1 side to make it easier to fill and turn.

another somewhat cheap way would be to get a steel drum with a clamp on lid ($20 from a recycling place), and copy the ones they sell for big $$$. cut a hole on each side, slide a bar though the middle and weld some hacked up garden tools to it to help churn things as you spin the drum.

buzntxn

· #4 · Aug 30, 2009

i've recently seen a design where they have basically a box with a lid and trap door type thing where you can pull from the bottom of the pile with no interruption to the top layers.

G

· #5 · Aug 30, 2009

What the shit? I don't want rotting gabage in our yard. :ugh:

MireFire 2.0

· #6 · Aug 30, 2009

RedLilPony said:
What the shit? I don't want rotting gabage in our yard. :ugh:

What about all of those dead bodies buried in the back yard?

ELVIS

· #7 · Aug 31, 2009

damn you're old Tali!!!!!

god bless.

Chili

· #8 · Aug 31, 2009

All you need is some chicken wire and zip ties. Form a circle with it and layer in leaves, food, whatever. When you are ready to use it just pick up the chicken wire and dig in.

Hicompression

· #9 · Aug 31, 2009

talisman said:
I'd like to start bagging the clippings, but it just seems dumb to throw them on the curb.

Just an FYI...the City of Arlington will not accept grass clippings. Those bastards will even poke holes in your bags to check if they are clippings. I actually started putting trash on top of the clippings in the bags to fool them until they caught on. Now I just use a mulching mower.

talisman

Discussion Starter · #10 · Aug 31, 2009

ELVIS said:
damn you're old Tali!!!!!

god bless.

Fuck you!

Hicompression said:
Just an FYI...the City of Arlington will not accept grass clippings. Those bastards will even poke holes in your bags to check if they are clippings. I actually started putting trash on top of the clippings in the bags to fool them until they caught on. Now I just use a mulching mower.

They've never given me a problem, but it is rarely more than 1 bag. We've got a semi-small yard. Just the way I like it.

Vertnut

· #11 · Sep 1, 2009

When your neighbors start whipping your ass every time they catch you outside, you'll know it's ready...:tongue:

Strychnine

· #12 · Sep 1, 2009

redlilpony said:
what the shit? I don't want rotting gabage in our yard. :ugh:

lmao

JFurst

· #13 · Sep 2, 2009

I bought a used one similiar to this at a garage sale for $40. It works really well- put all the egg shells, coffee grounds, grass clippings, etc in it and turn it frequently- has turned out some great compost. good luck.

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Doug Hatton

· #14 · Sep 2, 2009

Smells like shit in here! :tongue:

The Big Matt

· #15 · Sep 2, 2009

RedLilPony said:
What the shit? I don't want rotting gabage in our yard. :ugh:

no shit, you fucking hippies!

Sgt Beavis

· #16 · Sep 2, 2009

JFurst said:
I bought a used one similiar to this at a garage sale for $40. It works really well- put all the egg shells, coffee grounds, grass clippings, etc in it and turn it frequently- has turned out some great compost. good luck.

x2 on the spinning compost bins. Just make sure you get one that is big enough or you'll need more than one. Many of the spinning models have a pretty low capacity.

Chili

· #17 · Sep 2, 2009

Some dude in the classifieds is selling 55 gallon drums. Make your own!

Here: http://www.dfwstangs.net/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=109550&cat=8

cool cat

· #18 · Sep 3, 2009

I used an old pallet and some sheets of plywood, and 4x4's to build mine. Its not the most efficient design but it works. The downside is I have to stir it myself, and it doesn't work as fast as a fancy spinning design, but I have no money tied up in it, and most of the time I don't bag the grass, just let the mower mulch it.

If yuo were wanting to build a spinning composter, I would think there would be a way to combine an engine stand an a 55 gallon drums, plus some way to mount the drum to the stand.

fbracing5

· #19 · Sep 10, 2009

Wtf!

ceyko

· #20 · Sep 10, 2009

Just make sure you can mix it however you build it. Hell, when I was in WV we'd just throw it stuff in the corner of one of our gardens and then just mix it with a rake and/or shovel.

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