Having an ample supply of good rich compost is the gardeners dream.
As foodstuffs ferment they will produce moisture. Each commercial bin for kitchen composting includes a tap, to drain off that excess liquid. If you make your own Bokashi style composter make sure to add a drainage tap too.It has many uses, and all of those uses will result in nicer plants. However, composting can be time consuming and hard work. I place a reasonable value on my time, so spending hours and hours turning compost piles doesn�t qualify as a worthwhile exercise, at least in my book. Nonetheless, I do compost, but I do so on my terms.A cinder block or brick bin is also rather easy and cheap to build. If you visit a demolition or construction site, you are bound to find the materials you need readily available. Simply ask for permission to take them. As with the pallets, if you take them away, it saves the company from having to pay for the costs associated with disposing of them. Simply create a square enclosure by stacking the blocks or bricks on top of each other. Make sure you leave space between the blocks for ventilation.Sure this process is a little work, but it sure is nice to have a place to get rid of organic waste anytime I like. Then down the road when I have beautiful compost to add to my potting soil, I am grateful to have done the right thing earlier, and I know that I have wasted nothing.All you do is introduce a 'starter' to your kitchen composter. This can be a cheaply bought product, usually made of rice, sawdust or wheat. The rice, wheat or sawdust is impregnated with special cultures to provide your compost bin with all the enzymes necessary to get things started. You can even make your own kitchen compost 'starters', with newspaper and yogurt. There is lots of free information online with clear instructions.I admit, I was very sceptical at first. But, it really does make sense. If you seal air out from organic waste, rather than rot, it will ferment. If you introduce helpful yeasts and bacteria into the mix it will start fermenting even quicker.Once you get this system started, you never want to use all of the material in the pile. Always keep at least 2 to 3 cubic yards on hand so you�ve got something to mix with your compost. If you use a lot of compost material like I do, then you should buy more material and add to your pile in the late summer or fall, once you are done using it for the season.The first thing you need to do before you build a compost bin is decide what your needs are. Many people actually use a three-bin system. The bins may be connected, or they may be individually lined up. Some people use the bins for different types of compost (regular compost, slow compost like woody plants, and leaves collected in the fall). Others like to have a three-bin system for the turning purposes. Move the compost from one bin into the next, allowing it to turn. Then you can start a pile in the newly vacated bin. By the time the compost makes it into the third bin, it is ready for use. Others find that a single bin is sufficient for their needs, and just go out to stir it around occasionally.A kitchen composter 'does exactly what it says on the tin' so to speak. With it, you recycle all your kitchen scraps and organic household waste into lovely friable hummus. Because it works through fermentation rather than aerobic decomposition, you can actually site your compost bin indoors.The beauty of the kitchen compost bin is that you add literally all food waste including bones, processed and cooked foods. Because you are keeping all the kitchen waste in a sealed environment you need not worry about vermin. This means you get to recycle more and get more viable compost too. Your green credentials increase as you send less food waste to municipal landfill. It is a win-win situation!You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as, including the contact information at the end. Website URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate link, http://www.freeplants.com/resellers.htmOnce I have the first bin completely full, I start using the second bin. As the material in the first bin starts to break down, it will settle and the bin is no longer heaped up, so I just keep shoveling the material that I piled in front of the bin, up on top of the pile, until all the material is either in the bin, or piled on top of the heap. Then I just leave it alone, except to water it once in a while. The watering isn�t necessary, it just speeds the process.The pile of usable compost will be layers of material, some more composted than others. Kind of like a sandwich. So what I do is chip off a section of the pile from the edge, spread it out on the ground so it�s only about 8" deep, then run over it with my small rototiller. This mixes it together perfectly, and I shovel it onto the potting bench.Next you need to determine what materials you will use to build your bin. It is important to note that some exposure to the elements is necessary for more effective and quicker composting. Chicken wire is not particularly good for compost bins as it can stretch out of shape very easily and does not wear well. Materials like 16-guage plastic-coated wire mesh and hardware cloth are better choices, as is hog wire. Wood makes an interesting choice, but it is important to note that it will eventually compost itself and will need to be replaced. Do not used pressure-treated wood, as it has toxic levels of copper and chromium, and there is evidence that arsenic can leach into your compost. Other materials that are acceptable for building compost bins are spoiled hay bales, old cinder blocks or bricks, wooden pallets, snow fencing, and a discarded rabbit hutch. The hutch is desirable because there is very little that needs to be done to make it ready.I built two composting bins. Each bin is five feet wide, five feet deep, and four feet high. I built the bins by sinking 4" by 4" posts in the ground for the corners, and then nailed 2 by 4�s and 1 by 4�s, alternating on the sides.One of the easiest and cheapest ways to build a compost bin is to construct it from wooden pallets. Most warehouses, grocery, and hardware stores are more than happy to give these away for free, or for very cheap, as it saves them the trouble of having to discard them. You can use plastic ties to hold four of them together in a box formation. Adding another bin to create a system is easy: just attach three more pallets using one side of the already made bin to complete another box. Be warned: after about two years you will need a new bin, as this bin will be composting itself.Then when I�m out working in the garden I set a small sprinkler on top of the pile and turn it on very low, so a small spray of water runs on the material. Since I have a good water well, this doesn�t cost me anything, so I let it run for at least two hours as often as I can. This keeps the material damp, and the moisture will cause the pile to heat up, which is what makes the composting action take place.I started by filling just one of the bins. I put grass clippings, dried leaves, and shrub clippings in the bins. I try not to put more than 6" of each material on a layer. You don�t want 24" of grass clippings in the bin and you should alternate layers of green and brown material. If necessary, keep a few bags of dry leaves around so you can alternate layers of brown waste and green waste.
You are welcome to use this article on your website or in your newsletter as long as you reprint it as, including the contact information at the end. Website URLs must be active links. You are welcome to use this article with an affiliate link, http://www.freeplants.com/resellers.htm
Author: Michael McGroarty
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