Plants soak up nutrients from the soil. A seed is like blueprints... it contains all the information necessary to grow the plant, but none of the actual building blocks. Therein is where composting comes into play. Compost is basically a natural fertilizer. Sure, you could just go to any store and buy a tub of Miracle Grow, but then you could always skip going to the grocery store and just eat at McDonalds too. Both will "get the job done", but aren't the best possible solutions.
The great thing about compost is that it is pretty much free and can consist of nothing more than kitchen scraps and yard debris. Composting is a method for treating solid waste, in which organic material is broken down by natural microorganisms. Basically it renders solid organic materials into a rich and nutritious plant soup!
There are many ways of composting, all with the benefits and limitations, and many things can be composted. For the sake of our topic, I will assume that the compost we are making is solely for the use in a food production garden. One of the first things that you will be told about composting is to NEVER COMPOST MEAT. While this isn't actually a "set in stone rule", there are reasons behind it. To be clear, you CAN compost meat and bones, it just is not recommended. The three main reasons that I have understood are:
- Meat attracts rodents and animals that don't care about the hard work you have put into your compost bin. If you put a bunch of rotting meat on top of a compost heap, expect to come outside the next morning to that compost heap being scattered across your lawn.
- Science. I mentioned that the composting process is done by microorganisms. These microorganisms require "Aerobic Conditions" which is science talk for "Oxygen". However, meat requires "Anaerobic Conditions", which of course means the "lack of oxygen". This not only means that the meat probably will not break down fully, but it will slow the composting process of non meat scraps.
- Smell. The anaerobic conditions mentioned above will generate a powerfully putrid stench. If you live anywhere near neighbors, this probably will generate complaints.
When I started a compost, I didn't have a lot of time or materials, so I used a simple 3 sided lattice to frame a hole in the ground. I quickly found that the neighbors dogs thought that this was an open buffet, so I decided to make a closed compost. Of which I found two varieties, the box and the tumbler.
The box type compost is just that, a box that you put your scraps and yard debris in. It's simple and easy to work into a yard or to cover up, and can generally be built from home materials. However, as we discussed above, composts need oxygen in order to do their thing. This means that you would need to agitate the contents of the compost bin in order to maintain proper aerobic conditions. That gets dirty and adds to your list of chores. Here is an example of what you would find at a local hardware store:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Keter-90-gal-Deco-Composter-17196661/203112228
Enter the tumbler. The tumbler is generally a cylinder shaped container that has the ability to spin, thus easily agitating the composting materials and exposing them to the requisite oxygen. Here is a tumbler from home depot:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Suncast-Tumbling-Composter-TCB6800/202021419
Notice that it looks a bit nicer, but also costs $100 for less cubic space than a 55 gallon drum. A compost tumbler is, I think, the best bet for a smaller home that doesn't have a lot of animals. If you have pigs or lots of rabbits, you are going to be producing more manure than you can easily handle in a tumbler.
Here is the process that I went through to create my compost tumbler. I based it off a few pictures I had seen when doing research online. Most tumblers that I see bandied about the homesteading forums are these cute little quaint affairs, raised from the ground so that the matching DIY wheelbarrow can be easily slid beneath it. Aint Nobody Got Time For That. Such a contraption looks nice, and is sure to get lots of Likes or Repins, but equals little more than a pretty picture relegated to "future dream farm" boards of Pinterest. We are more concerned with actually getting results.
With that in mind I went for minimalistic design so as to keep the monetary and time costs down. The best idea I had seen was certainly simple, a 55 gallon barrel placed on top of wheels with a lid cut into it. I thought that I could do that pretty easily. So I acquired a 55 gallon barrel from the side of the road one day where it was sitting with a free sign (check craigslist if you don't see one), and made myself a tumbler:
Here is everything laid out in front of the old compost pile.
The box type compost is just that, a box that you put your scraps and yard debris in. It's simple and easy to work into a yard or to cover up, and can generally be built from home materials. However, as we discussed above, composts need oxygen in order to do their thing. This means that you would need to agitate the contents of the compost bin in order to maintain proper aerobic conditions. That gets dirty and adds to your list of chores. Here is an example of what you would find at a local hardware store:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Keter-90-gal-Deco-Composter-17196661/203112228
Enter the tumbler. The tumbler is generally a cylinder shaped container that has the ability to spin, thus easily agitating the composting materials and exposing them to the requisite oxygen. Here is a tumbler from home depot:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Suncast-Tumbling-Composter-TCB6800/202021419
Notice that it looks a bit nicer, but also costs $100 for less cubic space than a 55 gallon drum. A compost tumbler is, I think, the best bet for a smaller home that doesn't have a lot of animals. If you have pigs or lots of rabbits, you are going to be producing more manure than you can easily handle in a tumbler.
Here is the process that I went through to create my compost tumbler. I based it off a few pictures I had seen when doing research online. Most tumblers that I see bandied about the homesteading forums are these cute little quaint affairs, raised from the ground so that the matching DIY wheelbarrow can be easily slid beneath it. Aint Nobody Got Time For That. Such a contraption looks nice, and is sure to get lots of Likes or Repins, but equals little more than a pretty picture relegated to "future dream farm" boards of Pinterest. We are more concerned with actually getting results.
With that in mind I went for minimalistic design so as to keep the monetary and time costs down. The best idea I had seen was certainly simple, a 55 gallon barrel placed on top of wheels with a lid cut into it. I thought that I could do that pretty easily. So I acquired a 55 gallon barrel from the side of the road one day where it was sitting with a free sign (check craigslist if you don't see one), and made myself a tumbler:
Here is everything laid out in front of the old compost pile.
- 1 - 55 gallon barrel - Found free on side of road
- 4 - non pivoting wheels (called casters) - cost me $2 each at Home Depot
- 2 gate hinges - $3 for a pack of 2 at home depot
- 2 security gate hinges - Also about $3 for a pack of two at home depot
- screws to attach caster wheels to board
- electric drill with 1/2" drill bit and philips head
Take whatever shovel it is that you intend to use in the compost and use it to determine how large of a lid to make. You want enough room to easily maneuver a shovel into and out of the compost. However, the larger the lid, the more damage you do to the structural integrity of the barrel itself
Using whatever you have to mark on plastic, drawn out the sides of the lid. It may look like the hinges are on the "top" of the lid, but it is actually the bottom, as you want the lid to stay open for easier access.
I did not take any pictures of me cutting the lid, but I used the 1/2" drill bit to pierce holes at all four corners and used a jig saw I had from harbor freight to cut through the plastic. I'm sure you have a saw or some kind of tool to use.
This is the first attempt I made, using gate latches, which failed miserably. When the compost bin is rotated, all of the weight of the materials inside will be pressed into the lid. This will cause the lid to bow outward, and unless those gate latches are super long, they are going to slip open.
This is what I finally came up with, simple and sweet. Two security gate hooks at either ends opposite the hinges. These gate hooks have a clasp on them that makes it so the hook can not slip out of the eye when rotating. I also drilled a hole and put in a cord for easier opening and closing of the door.
Next to make it spin. I centered the barrel on the board to get an idea of where to put the wheels and then measured that distance. As it turns out, the total distance was that of the board plus 2 inches, so I knew to indent the wheels about an inch.
And there you have it, it took me perhaps 30 minutes to get it all cut out and screwed in.
Now to get rid of that put and close the 24 hour critter fast food joint.
Plenty of room for the shovel
