DIY Composter

Let’s talk trash for a minute. 🙂 Most of us who garden either make compost or buy it in bags or yards. Compost helps to improve soil structure, increases nutrient content, requires less water, and can assist in warding off plant disease.

I do enjoy putting leaves and kitchen scraps together and winding up with a nice fluffy compost to add to my garden beds when I’m planting. In a previous post, I said we were going to make a composter that would turn to replace our stationary one.

We brought an old rain barrel out of the barn that had been used for five or six years. My husband made a trip to the box store to get some pressure treated wood. If we’re going to go to all the trouble of making something that is easy to turn and empty, I didn’t want to have to paint it. We spent about $32 on a piece of pipe for the center, fittings, and the pressure treated wood.

We left the rain barrel as is. There is a strainer in the top which allows water and air to enter, and we left the faucet on because it could provide a service down the road if I needed to drain off a large amount of water. My husband added additional air holes on the sides and two holes in the bottom for natural drainage.

After looking at the photo, if you are wondering why it is so high off the ground, there was a conscious decision made to elevate it. We can now align a wheelbarrow right underneath it when it is time to empty it. If it is situated closer to the ground, it has to be emptied on a tarp, pulled out, shoveled from the ground to a wheelbarrow or cart, moved, and shoveled again.

It may look odd, but I sure like how it is going to work.

We’ve had rain and more rain with the western part of the state actually receiving 3″ of snow yesterday. But, this week is drying up and heating up. Both good things for a change. Hope your weather is allowing you to enjoy time outside. 🙂