Project: Compost Bin

We left our old compost bin in our previous house when we moved into this one. But instead of buying another bin, my husband liked the idea of making a new one, this time out of wood. Our previous bin was made of ugly black plastic and cost just about as much (if not more) than the wood did for this project. It was also a little scary to open because you didn't know what was inside and sometimes big old flies buzzed out into your face as the lid popped up. Yuck. Plus it didn't work all that well. I don't think we ever used any of the compost that came from that old bin but it sure made the weeds around it REALLY happy.

Anyway, he found suggestions online and decided to create a modular bin so that we could make it as big or as small as we needed; and if any one section somehow got ruined we could replace it more easily than remaking the whole bin.

I think it looks lovely. I helped with drilling (yay, no wounds!), screwing nails, and sanding, and then I helped finish the wood with shellac, a safe and edible option. I had the hubby add the mesh on top (it's stapled on), so that animals can't easily jump into it and make messes. We had that problem with the garden; we might as well prevent the same problem from happening here. We'd prefer that worms do the bulk of breaking down the compost. The mesh won't prevent smaller animals from getting in between the modular bands, but if necessary we can narrow the gaps by trimming the legs of each band.

I hate throwing away vegetable and fruit peelings in the trash because 1) it's such a waste not to recycle them especially when we have a garden and other plants that can use the compost and 2) they smell up the whole kitchen and house. I'm really happy to have a compost bin again, especially a nicer one this time that makes me proud to look at it. (Great job to my better half!)

xo, Gladys