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Soil, Compost & Mulch

My first compost bins (pics)

14 years ago

I know they are kind of small but they are mine lol! I ran out of leaves and stuff to fill the other one, but I will get more this fall! Just got them started a few days ago so most is still trying to warm up. I hope I've got them close enough together.

The one on the right has gone down some already, because it was full a week ago!

{{gwi:277175}}

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Comments (7)

mustard_seeds
14 years ago
Looks awesome! Does the lid swing down on the right side?
kentstar
Original Author
14 years ago
Actually I can have any of the sides swing down. It depends on where I place the coils that hold it together. Good idea though! That way maybe I could mix it better. I don't have it set up that way now, but when I dump everything out to mix, I'll adjust it for that. That way I can open the side and mix.

And Thankyou!
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Luva--I think it's great! Nice job. My pics are below. I'm kind of proud too!!! Happy gardening
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I know it takes a little while for it to start really cooking and that once it does, if I add anything to it, I'm starting all over again, right? Because you won't be able to turn the pile, just fill the bin as you get materials ... keep topping it off with grass clippings, dead leaves and such, keeping a reasonable balance of "wet green" versus "dry un-green" stuff. End with a layer of dried leaves and pack them down in the fall. Let it sit until when you look about 6-8 inches down it's looking like dark crumbly stuff. If you aren't turning it and watering it, it takes longer to compost but it still gets there. By next spring you should have the center core of that bin as a nice finished compost. Here is a link that might be useful: Cheap Wire Compost Bin: Cold composting method
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Oh how I miss my compost container! Mine is roundish, and gets rolled around daily, when I have it. Presently it lives at my daughters, besides her house. But, yesterday I opened it, to see, if any of my worms are still alive. When I had to move out of my house, I put my outdoor worm bin worms in there, with all the vermicompost that was there. Surprise, surprise, surprise.... the worms didn't cook yet. I shoveled to kitty litter buckets full in buckets, and brought them home on my balcony. No longer do I need to haul my compostables to my friend (but of course, she will miss all that) but I can compost right here now. Yeah! Stop by Starbucks when ever you get near one, and get their bags of used coffee grounds. Great stuff to add to your bin. And it is FREE! Moni
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I think redwormcomposting dot Com did an experiment like that. I kinda did also. I got tired of screwing around with worms, and dumped them into a 5x10 x 2 feet deep bed I dug. Did the whole filling it with cardboard, leaves, horse manure and whatever else I could find before adding the worms over a 2x5 foot section on one end. These were EF and european nightcrawlers. They have taken over the whole bed, as are a variety of squash and melon that grew from the worm bins. I don't know how to precisely quantify "better" than anything else, but there are a lot more worms than I had before and a lot of crops in that same bed.
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jonhughes
14 years ago
Those are great ! !

Before long, you are going to have the best compost on earth.

(I mean ,2nd best on earth ;-)
kentstar
Original Author
14 years ago
They are hard to aerate, so I will take mustardseeds advice and move the coils so that the front can open up instead. Then I can just open the front and start shoving it onto a tarp and put it back in.
mustard_seeds
14 years ago
I could imagine, if you have room, having a THIRD bin along side the two you have now. When you need to turn a bin you could set that tarp in front of the three bins and shovel from the bin you are turning (A) and put it directly into the empty bin (B). The tarp would catch a little stuff but not as much as if you emptied ALL of it onto tarp. Then you end up with A being empty and it can take the stuff from C. Then shake your tarp into a bin and you are done. Next time you turn, C is empty and waiting to be used.
mustard_seeds
14 years ago
ps - the "three bin" method is described throughout this forum - maybe do a search. And if you don't have one yet, I should say pitchfork is awesome for "shoveling" - I saw your other post on your ingredients and it sounds like you are having fun!
kentstar
Original Author
14 years ago
Yes, I figured out that a pitch fork is an essential, especially when trying to shovel in horse manure lol! Have two already BTW!

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