Anyone with some good ideas to make a low cost compost container? I thought I'd get some empty pallates and nail them together to make a box. However, when I tried calling my local grocery box stores they say they don't make them available. Any other suggestions?
http://xrl.us/q7gy 24 July 2006 Turning compost bin over. The container is accessible so the pile can be turned over. Cost is minimial using the 4 by 8 sheets, plus metal fence posts. Probably less than one hundred dollars. Functionability is my criteria, plus the size due to my requirements. It can be made smaller by cutting the wood lattice, if required. Sometime I cover the pile with a tarp to prvent too much rainwater on the pile, sort of playing it by necessity. Those little plastic container supplied by some cities are more show than useful- a make the public feel good situation. The amount of composted material is very minimal. All I get is about 6 cubic yards of garden ready material, which I spread on the garden in the spring. I even get my neighbors grass clippings from two properties. I leave my grass clipping where they fall. Leaves can be a hassle in a compost pile, since they tend to stick together and eventually become like leaves of a paper book. Tree leaves compost just fine if chopped up with the lawnmower into small pieces by running over and over a pile.
Our local Home Hardware Building Centre often has a pile of pallets free to anyone who wants them. You might try your building centres or put an ad. in your local paper for pallets. Good luck. Margaret
Here's a bin made from used pallets. It's a bit more work to take the pallets apart and cut the boards to size than just slapping a few bins together but the results is a more manageble bin. http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff134/blaamand/Compost Bin/
You can make a compost bin out of anything that can stand up and hold yard waste. Wire attached to 1x2s or 2x3s works. I have some that are plastic sheets (about 3' wide and as long as you want) that have the two ends connected to make a cylinder. Holes are cut in the sides for airflow. Here is a URL to a site I found that has some ideas: http://extension.missouri.edu/xplor/agguides/hort/g06957.htm Hope this helps!
