Tha material in the trash can is too wet which is why it smells and attracts vermin and there probably is not enough air circulation.
What kind of material goes in there? What kind of dry material do you have access to?
You do not really need a bin, many of us have composted without one, however a bin or containment system of some kind can help keep the material together. About 12 feet of fence material makes a good circular containment system. Some 2 x 4 material nailed together to form squares and then having some fence material stapled on can be a good containment system.
Perhaps this link will be of some help.

Here is a link that might be useful: Composting Tutorial

You want a closed bin for flies and stuff, but you can't get one for under 100 dollars. I would try craigs list to see if anyone is selling an old plastic closed bin, which needs to drain into the ground. If you put it on clement you will have the same problem of too wet and not enough drainage. But, if you can't drain to the ground anything like even a tumbler that you find cheap enough, would be better then just a garbage can with no drainage at all. Or you could try making holes in the garbage can for drainage.

I have to agree w/kimmsr here. I use old wire fencing someone was throwing away. It provides the greatest air circulation, hands down.

Use 3.14(Pi) x (desired width)4 = 12.xx it doesn't have to be exact. Make a circle, cut the fence to make tabs to hook on the other side. Search this forum for more details.

Mine is inside a Trex frame for rigid support. I can put a piece of plywood over the top. Inside I put raspberry canes or rosebush cuttings to keep the rodents out.

It turns out the rodents don't like pain any more than we do. So after a few times they do avoid it. I'm sure the dog will too.

Consider composting right in the garden area or bed. Search lasagna gardening for more ideas on composting right in the garden.

You don't have to get fancy or spend lots of money on composting. Under no circumstances should you spend money to put in a compost pile.

IF you need compost in 2 weeks, go to the store.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Do keep us posted.

Good Luck

O to keep the flies away put leaves or cut grass on top of compost materials. Wet down to keep in place. Keep a water can by the compost pile.

I don't know why so many people think composting should be free, she did say she wanted to spend 100 dollars for something nice that won't be an eye sore. If I had a large property and an out of the way place to put a pile, but my tiny garden has everything showing and close to the house. I don't want a lot of flies and smells. The plastic bins keeps the smell inside and flies don't lay eggs and make huge fly colonies that the neighbors call to complain about.

I don't know why so many people think composting should be free...
Two reasons come to mind right now -
1. IF you have to pay for it - why not go to the store?

2. Mother Nature has done it for FREE for centuries.

Alright 3. It IS a form of recycling.

Those high priced composters are for people who have too much money :)

IF you have flies OR smells YOU are either doing something wrong or using a high priced composter. I have neither.

Imagine IF Mother Earth had to pay all that money?

Ever wonder how the American Indians managed w/o a Walmart or HD?

obtw - the wire fence was/is within the $100 budget. Could make a nice one. She did say she was looking for ideas right?

Pay if you must but there are other options.

Your cantaloupe-eating dog is trying to tell you that dogs should be fed fruits and vegetables. The only two fruits my dog won't eat are lemons and cranberries, and should you eat an orange in front of my Ellen without giving her a section or two, you will actually see tears forming in the corners of her greedy, beady, little eyes.

Another thought,
is that #4? If you were to spend $300-400 on a compost tumbler or bin just figure out how much compost that will buy you before to spend that money. You could be set for awhile.

Is the Gumby theory still circulating? Gumby has a theory that just like the fruitcake there is ONLY one Compost Tumbler :)

A bin will not keep flies from laying eggs in the too wet material in it nor will a bin keep too wet compost from smelling bad. It is too wet material someone is trying to compost that is what causes fly larva, maggots, to hatch and grow whether enclosed in a bin or not. It is too wet material that smells bad, whether in a bin or not.
Some people think bins are more attractive, less an eyesore, then an open compost pile, while others think most bins are eyesores.
While spending money does help the economy many people need to watch where what they have goes, and a compost bin may well be a luxury they can ill afford.

Home Depot and Lowes have black plastic bins for about $37 each. I am useing them now and they work fine for me.

Anthony

Dig a hole and put the kitchen stuff that the dog will eat in it.

Buy $20 worth of hardware cloth (4' diameter and two feet tall). Wait until the right week in September thru November to cut the grass and leaf mixture when it is just right (say half and half by volume, or 1.5 pounds of fresh cut grass to 1 pound of finely shredded leaves).

With the other eighty bucks, buy a compost thermometer and compost fork.

With some experience and reading of posts; you should be able to add your problematic ingredients into the pile you make next year.

Just having a closed type composting system does not mean you will not get odors. I add smelly fish parts into the middle of my pile with no issues. But I learned how to do it properly BEFORE I attempted it.

Great advice from robertz6, and kimmsr is quite right about the odor/flies/moisture.

If this trash can you are storing fresh stuff in does not have any holes in the bottom, that's where I'd start.

PS TropicalThought has 'issues' with flies and when he refers to a 'sealed' bin that will keep them out, that's not really necessary if the compost pile within is well managed with regard to moisture and carbon/nitrogen content. What I hear is that you need something the dog will stay out of, and that's easily done with commercially available bins. Most of the hard plastic square or cylindrical ones with a locking lid are about $75-$100.

So can I just bury all of the stuff? I actually have a rather difficult time getting "browns" for my compost. I live in S. CA, so only time I can get a good deal of it is fall/"winter" when leaves fall. We have a very small lawn that only gets mowed every 2-3 weeks. I saw someone mention going to a feed store to sweep up and get straw??
And I agree mine is too moist. The can gets HEAVY from the moisture. Maybe I'll just try to bury the fresh stuff each time I empty my kitchen can and see how that goes for a while. Thanks for the help! I'll try the cheaper solutions first.

Some times of the year I don't have both greens and browns. The leaves can be stored for long periods in one of my open type bins. The greens, fruit or veggie stuff, fish parts, can be stored in the freezer or put into a hole in the garden area. Towards winter, some holes are dug before freezing weather makes digging difficult.

This year, with bokashi composting, small amounts of greens are put in the bokashi bucket. Another possibility would be inside wormcomposting (vermicomposting), especially for those who also fish (the special composting worms double every six months or so).

I've buried kitchen veggie scraps in between perennials in my garden for years and it works very well. I call it feeding the worms and they take care of it quickly. I also do other types of composting.

However, I do have a warning about dogs and compost as our little pup became very ill after only licking the ground where my winter compost bin had been. In the winter when the snow is deep I collect all compostables in a black plastic composter with no bottom (cost me $5 at a yard sale). Of course the ground under it became saturated and a prime medium for bacteria (and also very tasty to my dog). A vet visit and a week of antibiotics helped her survive but she was very sick for a few days. My new hard and fast rule is that dogs and compost should never mix.

Perhaps if you need browns you could collect shredded paper from offices. I don't have many deciduous trees on my property but have collected bagged leaves in the fall in town. I use sawdust mostly which I shovel myself at a local lumber mill for free.

I did a quick search at Craigslist of 'compost bins' and found many 55 gallon plastic barrels with lids for $15. Cut a few holes in the bottom for drainage and it's a good covered compost bin. We used to use them cut down for temporary watering buckets on the farm and they are very sturdy.

You can simply bury your waste materials if gathering enough, in a timely manner, prevents building a proper compost pile. We did that many years ago, just to see what happens, and we found that after a year the soil was as good as that to which compost was added. Doing so can cause the soil bacteria to use all of the available soil nutrients to digest that material creating a temporary soil nutrient deficiency which can result is unhappy and sickly plants. Therefore it is generally not a good idea to plant where this trench, or sheet, composting is being done.

kimmsr, that won't work, read the first post. OB had a dog, a
beagle that will eat the food. Therefore a solid plastic bin with lid prevents raccoons and dogs.

bahacca,

Living in the city , we must maintain a reasonably tidy appearance of our gardens and compost piles, or the nuisance department is called, the home owner is ticketed and either cleans up the mess, or the city will, with a lien being placed on the home to cover the cost of said clean up. It's just part of being a good neighbor when many people live close together and attracting rats is frowned upon. I'm a big time composter, but I'll be one of the first to make a complaint call if someone is causing problems for the rest of us.

Yes, some folks throw pallets together and pile up garbage, but I assume they live in a more rural setting and own guard animals to take care of the problem rats etc. I think this is how some of these differing opinions occur here. Neither way is always wrong, it just depends on each individuals situation.

Amazon has a good selection of composters most of the time, and personally I love having so many choices, click, and in a few days it's delivered to my front door. Gardening is my hobby, and it's okay to spend a little fun money on our hobbies.

The composter that might be right for you is the SoilSaver. I don't happen to have this model but in forums it's often talked about positively and it does fit your stated budget and would keep your pup out.

Odd that it's not automatically free shipping. Be sure to study the final cost carefully, or put it on your wish list, and wait till it shows up at a better total price. I do that often with books, and have saved a lot.

I'm adding a link to it, and also....the picture with the three lined up...isn't that a member here ???? Looks familiar.

Here is a link that might be useful: Soilsaver Classic Composter

You have some good points plaidbird. Urban areas are a different animal from suburbs and the country.

There are cities and there are cities. I live in a city of 100,000, and I have in fact had a pallet bin that was not protected from critters. I have a suburban yard, in a fairly nice neighborhood. I would not want people to get the impression that you have to live out in the sticks in order to compost or you'll draw rats and dogs.

PS it's not garbage, it's nutrients! :-p

Thank you so much for the responses. Due to recent developments, our beagle will no longer be allowed in our back yard, so I will be composting in a planter area that is currently housing the white pail. I'll just till all of the stuff into the ground there and remove the pail. I'll have to remind my husband to dump the grass cuttings in there. He always forgets.

This is a link to all kinds of home compost PHOTO'S!

Here is a link that might be useful: Check out lazygardens wire cage