Composting Bins

Nearly every serious home gardener uses nature to provide the organic material to make the garden, flowers or vegetables, the envy of the neighborhood. With their potential negative impact on the environment, fertilizers can flow into rivers and creeks harming the plants and animals around them. By paying homage to old-fashioned farming techniques, making natural compost in a composting bin can make better use of table scraps and organic waste generated in a typical household.

Making organic compost in a composting bin is not an overnight job. However, it takes six months to a couple years to employ the simple tools of the practice, which can be little more than a box or a drum. Fortunately composting helps nature to breakdown organic materials like leaves, grass clippings, or wasted and spoiled food. Composting bins are not trash containers, but you can be surprised by what is compostable. In the end, organic compost will produce valuable nutrients for a lawn or garden.

Choosing a Composting Bin

Deciding on the type of composting bin depends on the amount of materials needing to be composted and the effort a person employs to gather the materials. Most commercial or build-at-home kits are wooden frame or molded plastic containers with slats that hold the organic material, but allow air to flow into the compost. Using a rake or garden implement to turn the compost ensures proper aeration of the material and is critical to the decomposition process hurried by billions of microbes. Without proper aeration, decomposition will take considerably longer.

Rolling, Rotating or Tumbler Bins

A rolling or tumbler style of composting bin is simplifies the process of adequate aeration to the composting materials. For a rolling bin, simply fill to desired capacity, secure the lid and roll the bin around the lawn to mix and aerate the materials. This will work best for smaller batches of materials like kitchen scraps.

A tumbler style operates much the same as a rolling bin, except that the barrel or ball is attached to a cranking mechanism to rotate the bin.

What to Put into a Composting Bin

Items added to the composting bin can vary widely from the typical types of materials. Since the resulting compost may ultimately end up into the food supply, do not add dangerous or poisonous items that will harm the microbes or your family. Obviously adding items that cannot decompose naturally will not produce good organic compost.
The following list can give you good ideas on what to compost; however, there are numerous other items that can find their way into the composting bin.

Yard waste – leaves, grass, dead plants.

Kitchen waste – vegetable scraps, leftovers, spoiled fruit, coffee grinds, etc.

Paper – shredded (can use junk mail if its not the glossy photo kind- also remove any glue parts if you are an organic gardener)

Manure-chicken, rabbit

Wood – chips, ashes, saw dust

Shells – eggs, nuts, crustaceans

Stale beer and wine

Composting does not require a lot of moisture, but the composting bin must be well drained for best results, without it a dark slimly mixture is produced. The composting bin should not be in direct sunlight and be placed with good airflow. Overheating and killing the microbes only prolongs the process to make compost. Since it can be unsightly and produce strong odors, the backyard or a hidden corner of the yard are ideal places to put the new bin. Worms and maggots sometimes aid in the breakdown of certain organic materials.

As food prices rise, a home garden is time-honored tradition that can grow fresh produce to supplement the family. Composting kitchen waste and a few household waste items in a composting bin can replace the fertilizers used in modern gardening. Making the best use of organic waste can help the family garden produce food and make better use of grass clippings, leaves and other materials that would ordinarily fill a landfill.

Cheap Compost Bins

If you are looking for a cheap compos bin, you have a few options.

1. Make your own from materials you have already on hand such as old fense boards and chicken wire.

2. Look on ebay or amazon for used or discount bins.

3. Watch the freecycle message board in your area to see if anyone posts a bin for free.