How to Build a Compost Bin (Inexpensively)
Brush, trimmings, and grass clippings piled up in my yard and it became clear that I needed to compost. The only thing stopping me was the cost. Unbelievably, composting bins cost around $75-$100. That seems like a lot of money to spend on a something that essentially holds garbage.
Luckily, plans for bins abound on the internet. Here's how I did it. A good bin should 1) hold about 3'x3'x3' of waste, 2) be easy to move, 3) have plenty of ventilation, 4) and be easy to open so that you can scoop out your compost. There might be some other important characteristics but this seems to hit the highlights.
Items:
2 rolls of 36" by 5' galvanized hardware cloth. Home Depot sells this stuff. It's usually in the fencing aisle (way down near lumber) and it looks like really sturdy chicken wire. It comes in rolls of 5' and 25'. 25' seems like overkill. We'll just "sew" our two 5' together. Also, don't get chicken wire. Although it is a bit cheaper you'll probably have to put stakes in the ground for support. That's a pain. Also, shoot for the 1/2" hardware cloth. 1/2" denotes the size of the holes.
1 small roll of 18 or 20 gauge wire. You may not even need this. My hardware cloth was bound with wire already, which can be used to fasten the rolls together.
Tools:
Needle nose pliers. Try to use a pair with a wire cutter built in, which most will have.
Gloves. The ends of the hardware cloth are sharp. Wear a sturdy pair of gloves.
Step One: Roll out both rolls of hardware cloth.
Step Two: Carefully fold back the unfinished edges so that nothing pointy sticks out. Note that the hardware cloth has a finished edge and an unfinished edge.
Step Three: Align the two recently folded edges and tie them together with wire. Put ties every couple of inches. We want this be sturdy. Wire it down firmly.
Step Four. Prop it out so that it now looks like a bin.
Step Five. Stitch the two other edges together loosely. This should be firm but relatively easy to undo when you want to move the pile or really get at your compost. (You might just want to wire it firmly anyway and simply lift the whole bin up instead of opening it.)
This should just about do it. It's no engineering marvel but it gets the job done for about $12. Pictures to follow.
