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How to Make Your Own Compost Bin
from: Lawn and Garden MagicIf you're planning to make your own compost pile, you'll discover it's nice to have an enclosure or compost bin for convenience and neatness. You can purchase a number of compost bins commercially at your local garden store. On the other hand, your can make your own compost bin. It really isn't difficult and you really don't need a lot of materials.
There are commercially available compost bins that have their own systems or devices for turning over the compost. Some have harvesting trays or mechanisms to make it easier to harvest. However, these are just add-ons made for convenience. You really don't need these extras, all you need is a basic enclosure to keep the compost materials from scattering all over the place.
The only limitations in making a compost bin is your imagination and ingenuity. Start by looking in your storage room or garage to find suitable materials. Chances are you'll discover some quite suitable ones. A bin can be made from heavy plastic or wood or tin.
One suggestion is using a wire mesh, a couple of wood planks or even pipes. The idea is to create a simple wired fence around your compost pile with the pieces of wooden planks or pipes as support. Tie the wire mesh to the pipes or planks to make it more secure. The shape is a matter of your choice -- round, square, rectangular or even triangle shaped.
But remember, you'll need to have quick access to the compost pile to turn it over at least once a weak. You can create a doorway from the wire mesh or you can make your enclosure so that you can easily lift and put back the whole enclosure.
Also, if you have left over wooden slats from an old fence or wooden planks from an old shed, you should be able to assemble a sturdy compost bin in your backyard. Make sure you let the air in by providing spaces between the wooden boards. This keeps the air flowing inside the compost pile making decomposition faster. If you have enough loose boards available, you can even create a dresser-type compost bin including a door with hinges for easy access to the compost pile.
You can even make a bin from a garbage can. If you have an old can, you can afford to experiment without getting into trouble with your wife. Punch a couple of holes in your garbage can to allow air circulation of the composting materials. Then place your composting materials inside the can. Before covering it, wet the materials inside until they appear damp.
You can turn over or roll the garbage can compost bin around to allow the materials to mix while always keeping the compost pile damp. When storing the garbage can compost bin, it's a good idea to place it above ground. In a month or so, you should get satisfactory results from all your effort.
As you can see, making your own compost bin is quite easy. You just have to consider the basics: air must flow inside the bin, you should have quick access to the compost pile, and you need to be able to wet the pile as needed.
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