Inexpensive way to start composting?

[Redbaron]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

I just put some logs in a square and pile inside them.

[lakelady]

I just have two giant piles covered in tarps like Kath does.

Last year, I was going to build one of pallets, I thought they would be great since they do have slats and air could circulate, you just have to attach them on 3 sides which can't be difficult. I still might go with the pallets for next year once it cooks down a bit more.

[COMPOSTER]

I am lucky enough to have some land and do most of my composting in piles away from my house. However, I do keep a compost bin close to my house to recieve my kitchen waste. I was able to purchase that bin from my town DPW for $25. Check it out it might be an option for you. Also, most of the square bins come in sections and will fit in any car.

[peebee]

My 1st composter was a roll of rabbit-hutch wire, sold at HD type stores, 4 ft tall ones. Unlike chicken wire, the grids are smaller (less stuff falling thru) and the metal is stronger so it can stand on its own. I just cut the length I wanted, and used shoe laces or wires to tie the cut sides together. Started to layer grass, leaves, etc and watered as I did. Nothing could be simpler; it worked. I still use it to this day 7 yrs later and the great part is that it is so easy to move once its empty should you change your mind. I even plant a zucchini right on top if the contents are fairly settled. Very very versatile.
Right now I have 2 more diff. composters going so I am using this wire one as a potato planter.

[bughunter99]

In some suburbs, people get angsty if everything doesn't always look just so. I think what people forget about compost piles is that that they can be easily hidden by planting around them. Peebee I love the idea of planting a zucchini on the top of it!

Stacy

[halleone]

My compost/worm bin is made out of old pallets, painted the same color as the house, and sits behind the garden shed. It is two chambered; new material gets put in one side only per year. I "harvest" the compost off the oldest side each year, plant a couple cherry tomatoes in that spot, and then start adding the current seasons waste to that side. The material is a good mulch for the tomatoes, the little bit of leftover compost/wormpost feeds the plants, and the plants grows about 8-10' tall, hiding the bin pretty much on both sides. The older bin just sits for the year, the worms eventually run out of food, and migrate over to the other side.

And since the tomatoes are sort of contained inside the bin, my Shelties can't reach the fruit, which are their favorites; they are shameless when it comes to stealing tomatoes, peas, and beans.

[dice]

Google Images, "compost bin":
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...mg.zyV3SSwaMig

[carroll49]

Get some black totes from Wal-Mart.

[SIP Gro-Tubs]

Originally Posted by Steve Magruder

I would say aesthetics are a minor concern as I live in a suburban neighborhood. It doesn't have to be pretty, but having something to enclose the material would the best choice for me.

No enclosure needed, you probably have the perfect object around the house, or they are available at any dollar store.

When I, was very young around 11, I, worked for a lady who did her composting in small piles behind her tall shrubs next to the fence around her yard.

But the neat thing about her piles of compost were that they were pretty much basically the same height, same roundness, and they were done composting in the summers heat in lest than 6 months.

She didn't use any compost starters, no enymes, nothing but weeds, and fresh cut grass. She would collect the weeds and put them in a pile to be used, after she mowed and raked the fresh grass clippings.

She used a bushel basket.

1. Place 3-4" of fresh clippings in the bottom of the basket and compress them as much as you can.

2. Place the weeds in the center of that but away from the sides of the basket about 2", mash them down as much as possible.

3. Then add more fresh grass clipping on top and along the sides. But, what you need to do is stuff the clippings down the inside, pack it in as tight as it will go. You'll be surprised to how much you can get in a bushel basket.

4. Keep building with the weeds in the center, till you fill the basket.

5. Take the basket to were you want it to sit for 6 months without being disturbed.

6. Flip the basket up-side down as fast as you can on the ground, shake it gently while pulling straight up.

7. Wahhlla, you have a perfect pile, the shape of the basket, no weeds showing. Rain won't even knock it over.

8. If you don't get a perfect shaped pile then you didn't stuff the sides hard enough.

She was 88 years old, when I worked for her, she lived by herself till she died at 99+. And till the day she died she could stuff a bushel basket, flip it, and have a perfect shaped compost pile.

You might ask, "How long did it take me at 11 years of age to perfect my piles" 2 times. You see she would deduct 30 minutes from my wages for the day for a fallen over pile, didn't take long to perfect her technigue, and I still use it today.

Terry Layman