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The Ultimate Compost Bin
On this page, find simple instructions for building a three-stage compost bin for your yard, including:
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- Why a compost bin is both useful and helps the planet.
- How compost bins are used.
- Where to locate the bin in your garden.
- Materials and supplies you’ll need to build the compost bin project.
- Step by step instructions on how to assemble and build a 3-stage compost bin.
About the Compost Bin
Most home gardens and landscapes produce a continual stream of weeds, leaves, pruning trimmings, and other green waste. Divert it from household waste to make clean, odor-free, and nutritious compost to keep your garden healthy.
By following the step-by-step instructions, you’ll easily build this compact three-stage compost bin in an unused corner of your yard. Over time, it will turn your garden waste into a compost factory, avoiding weekly green-waste curbside recycling hassles. A compost bin will solve all your healthy soil-amendment needs.
Make compost by placing green waste, clippings, and plant materials from your garden into the first section of the compost bin. Natural bacteria and other organisms will help them decompose into rich, fertile humus. Moving the digesting compost to the second and third section adds vital oxygen to keep odors of anaerobic decomposition from forming.
Place the free-standing bin in a low-traffic area with easy access from your vegetable garden, keeping its back-wall posts at least 2 ft. (61 cm.) away from points of contact with any nearby building, structure or fence.
Step-By-Step Instructions
Allow a couple of days to complete the project. Construct your compost bin of untreated 4 x 4-in. (101 x 101-mm) posts set in post concrete, 1 x 6-in. (25 x 151-mm) dimensioned lumber for the bin’s removable wall slats, and 2 x 2 (50 x 50-mm) slat guides, using 3-in. (85-mm) brass wood screws as fasteners.
This three-stage bin has a 6-1/2-ft. x 12-ft. (1.8 x 3.6 m) footprint, and processes up to 2–3 cu. yds. (1.5–2.3 cu. m.) of vegetable matter per month.
The partitions dividing the compost bin make ample space for raw green waste, partially-digested compost, and finished compost that’s ready for your garden. Pull-out slats ends you lifting heavy compost and provides convenient, easy access to the very bottom and farthest-back areas of each bin section.
Let’s get started. Gather the listed materials and your tools, and follow all the steps shown.
Required Materials:
Redwood or Cedar Lumber:
8 – 6-ft. (180-cm) 4 x 4-in. (89 x 89-mm) posts
48 – 72 x 1 x 6-in. (183 x 2.5 x 15-cm) outside sideboards
12 – 72 x 1 x 6-in. (183 x 2.5 x 15-cm) section dividers
24 – 48 x 2 x 2-in. (121 x 5 x 5-cm) slot guides
Hardware:
120 – 1/8 x 3-in. (3 x 75-mm) Phillips brass wood screws
8 – bags post-hole premixed concrete
How to Build a 3-Tier Compost Bin
Dig post holes 2-ft. (60-cm) deep and 12-in. (30-cm) in diameter, spaced to set posts 6-ft. (180-cm) apart, edge to edge.
Insert and use a spirit level and braces to position each post to vertical with 4-ft. (120-cm) of post above finished grade.
Pour one bag of concrete in each post hole, check level, and add water as concrete label instructs.
Allow the concrete to cure 24 hours.
Allow the concrete around the posts to set and cure. Install a pair of slot guides vertically on each post with wood screws, spaced 1-in. (25-mm) apart, one or two to a post on each side where slats will span between them to divide the bin or form the bin’s outer walls. These guides will hold removable wooden slats to allow easy access.
With slot guides attached to posts, slide slats into place to create divider walls on back walls and between bins.
The top slat should be level with the top of each post. If necessary, cut the post tops level with the top of the slats.