Wednesday, April 30, 2008

DIY Compost Bin

The produce section of the grocery store is always so fresh and bright that I fill my cart with a zillion plastic bags of fruits and veggies. At home I put them in the "crisper." A few weeks later the crisper has become the "rotter," and I'm throwing out way too much produce.

I convinced my husband we needed a compost bin for all of the limp lettuce and bendy carrots along with our table scraps (my 3-year-old won't eat anything green). He quickly agreed, because it would save him bagging and hauling a ton of leaves in the fall.

We aren't remotely handy, but you don't have to be. I went to a hardware store and got 4 pallets ($2 each) and convinced a guy there to tie them to my car (no you don't need a truck, just drive slow).

At home we used L-joints and bungee cables to attach them in a square, then we attached it to our fence so it wouldn't blow over.

It took a year of sprouted potatoes, bags of salad (minus the bags), brown bananas and leaves/grass, but we got enough compost this spring for our flower beds and garden. It is so amazing how all that trash turns into healthy compost!

8 comments:

Kathy in WA said...

Great compost bin! Dh is VERY into growing tomato plants these days. He must have 30 pots around the house full of vegetables. I think he and ds #2 are hoping to sell the plants and make a profit. Cute.

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Jodi said...

great idea to use the pallets! might have to give it a try! thanks

Anonymous said...

Awesome - I love it!
Going to write about this on my blog. :-)

Anonymous said...

Ya know, I've been wanting to start a compost pile for a while now but all the ones you buy are soo expensive! And Hubby just doesn't have the time and energy right now to create one for me. Using pallets is just brilliant! Quick, easy and gets the job done. Will be implementing this immediately. Thanks for the awesome tip!

It's you know who! said...

Very nice! :)

Lisa said...

I remember you doing the compost bin.

It was a great topic of conversation.

I'm so glad it paid off!

Joy said...

What a simple and brilliant solution! I also like the fact that the contents get lots of air. It seems like it would speed up the process. Thanks for the tip!

sara l said...

happy composting!