This is my compost bin. My Dad fixed it up for me following an online tutorial similar to these.
Tutorial one.
Tutorial two. Prior to this, I had tried to make a compost pile in the corner of my garden, but it never got big enough, or stayed piled up. There wasn't really any place in the yard to build a decent pile, so we decided to go with the trash can compost tumbler. There was just enough space to put the trash can behind our storage shed. Every so often, I would tip it on its' side, and roll it to the end of the shed and back. Some bits would fall out as I rolled it, but not enough to be a problem.
After about a year, I decided to see if I had any results. My Dad built a sifter for me - he based it off of
this one. It is custom built to fit our wheelbarrow. I'm very pleased with how well it worked.
My compost can had a lot of large pieces on top that hadn't decomposed - we add kitchen scraps on a regular basis, and occasionally I throw in some grass clippings and other brown woody materials. After placing the large pieces on a tarp, I started shoveling the smaller pieces into the sifter that had been placed on top of the wheelbarrow. My dad helped me shake the sifter back and forth, and we ended up with a wheelbarrow full of compost.
As you can see, there are a lot of larger pieces in the compost. Since I'm not using it right away, I'm not overly concerned. By the time I'm ready to use it, it should be a bit more decomposed Next time, I will probably add another piece of netting to make the holes smaller.
Here are a few composting links that you might find helpful. If you know of a composting site or link that you would like to see listed, send me a message at gardenersgazette at gmail dot com or leave a comment with the link.
Green Composting Materials
Brown Composting Materials
Green Versus Brown Compost Materials
Compost Sifter
Make a composter from a garbage can
How to Make a Trash Can Composter
