Investigation of Compost Bins

Posted by Katie Elzer-Peters
January 20th, 2009
Filed in Compost
Tags: cold compost, Compost, composting

The last in my series of compost investigation is about compost bins.  I have been pondering for a couple of weeks now whether I will want to have a compost pile, or get a compost tumbler or compost bin.  I think I am a little bit closer to the decision, especially after helpful comments from our readers.  I think I’m going to go with a compost bin.  Here is why:

• I have a bunch of random junk lying around my yard to make a bin.  This includes old fence posts, half of a fence gate, boards and planks left from house flippers that flipped our house and bits of twine and wire.
• If my carpentry skills don’t hold up, I can procure a tidy bin at a very reasonable price.
• I am not liking the looks of the “pile” into which we put our gutter compost cleanings, and I don’t think it is going to break down very fast.
• I think my dog would find a pile much too interesting, and it is already hard enough to catch her and bring her back inside after an “outing.”
• The type of composting I plan to do lends itself well to a bin–I will turn the compost some, and it will take a while to break down, but it will fit with my schedule for gardening, which is more interest than time.

I don’t think I am ready to be a worm farmer.  As much as I would like to think that I am, and I don’t have any problems with worms, I don’t think I’m ready for that level of comittment.  You might say, “but you have a dog,” but my answer would be that “it is much easier to tell if a dog is having issues than if worms are having issues.”  I am afraid of killing the worms.

Now that I have decided what I am going to do.  It is time to do it.  I got a new camera the other day so that I can document my (mis)adventures!  Stay tuned!