Benefits of composting and an easy, inexpensive way to make yourself acompost bin!

    People sometimes refer to compost as "black gold", this is because compost is worth so much to anyone with a garden. It saves you money and also offers more benefits to your garden than commercial fertilizers. There's a very rewarding feeling from compost, you've taken your "trash" and turned it in to this dark, fluffy beautiful soil, you can tell by looking at it that it's going to be good for your plants! Compost releases its nutrients slowly, unlike store bought fertilizers that can release everything so fast and then be void of anything great. Compost helps sandy soil hold water better and nutrients. It will help loosen clay/silt soil for better air and water flow. 

    There's a common misconception that compost bins smell, well, they don't! We have a tiny little yard and right as you walk into it, the compost is to you're left and you'd never have a clue. If you put the wrong things in your compost bin, you might have a foul smell but not if you compost correctly. Here are some things that you should put in:

        •fruit and veggie scraps

        •egg shells

        •coffee grinds and filters

        •grass cuttings, leaves, weeds (avoid putting any diseased plants in)

        •newspaper, brown paper bags

        •wood ash

Here are a few you shouldn't put in:

        •meat/bones

        •dog/cat feces

        •diseased plants

        •dairy products

    You end up saving a lot by recycling these scraps rather than bagging them up and sending them to the landfill. You can use the compost for your vegetable garden, flower garden and grass. 

    Your organic matter will break down as you pile it up in your bin. As it decomposes the bottom will become a very rich, nutrient rich soil. You will know your compost is ready it's dark brown, soft, fluffy and crumbly with an earthy smell and no sign of the scraps you put in. If you see big chucks of oranges and stuff, it's not broken down enough. If your compost is ready, it's best to let it set out for a week or two to be sure it's stabilized. 

    If you have looked at compost bins, you probably know that they can be kind of expensive. Consider making one on your own for about $15! It takes about 10 minutes to do. Here is our process... 

Old trash can (if you have to buy a new one for this, you're only looking at about $15. If you have an old one, its free!)

1 1/4 inch hole saw is what we use to get our circulation/drain holes for the bin

Start by drilling 6 holes around the top of the can. 

Then start your rows on the side. 

We stagger them about 6-8 inches apart

Now you'll need your saw. Sawzall works great.  

Drill a circle opening in the bottom of the can. Leave a lip around it. 

Here is your finished bin. No need for a lid really but if you feel you want it covered, the original lid would cover it over just fine. We never have a lid on ours and its no problem. When we are ready to check if we've got usable compost, we tilt the can a bit and grab some out. If it looks ready we tilt it and shovel what we need. 

    We started out with an expensive bin that broke after a few years, it's little door to get the compost from was broken within months of purchase! We have used the same trash can compost bin for several years now and it's in fantastic condition still! So save some money and try this out. 

~ Janet ✌