You don't need a bin unless you want one. You can compost in a pile, or make a bin out of pallets, concrete blocks, landscaping timbers, straw bales, whatever you want.

The way to start composting is to pile up organic material and let it start to rot! If you have grass clippings and kitchen waste, you'll need some 'browns' to go with it - dry leaves, straw, sawdust, shredded paper.

The other thing you can do is read the forum a bit and you'll learn a lot.

Happy composting!

This post was edited by toxcrusadr on Fri, Feb 22, 13 at 11:16

I would just do a lasagna garden in your raised bed to begin with. Instead of filling the raised bed in with soil you just add a bunch of compostable garbage (food scraps, coffee grounds, newpaper, straw, saw dust, leaves, egg shells, etc.) and manure. You should do it now that way its ready by the time you plant it.

Are you in a hurry to get started?
Are you a do-it-yourselfer?
Are you a tightwad, or would you rather pay for stuff?
How good is your current soil? Clay?
What will you be growing?

A simple answer would be to make a big cheap mesh bin. It could be moved, holds lots, is cheap, does nicely in the winter (at least compared to a tumbler IMHO), can be put up in five minutes.

im not in a hurry but want to start my garden as soon as we get all moved in

my dh can build simple stuff for me lol

I plan on planting tomatoes, squash, peppers, maybe some pumkins

We dont have leaves or branches right now there are no trees and we about to be laying sod.

I dont mind spending a little money on one but dont want to go crazy. I also want it to look nice.

While there are supposed to be several ways to compost they are all really simply variations of what Sir Albert Howard wrote about over 100 years ago. I find the linked composting tutorial to be about the best available and it will answer your questions about starting and bins.

Here is a link that might be useful: Composting Tutorial

Thanks for the site! I will check it out!