airflow | Crazy About Compost

How to Build a Trash Can Composter with a Door

I made another trash can composter today- this time with a nice door upgrade. What for? Now that my first composter is filled up, it's going to be tedious to empty out the finished compost 6 months from now. With the door at the bottom, I hope to remove the finished material much easier. All in all, the project cost me less than $30 and about an hour of work... better yet, it was a cinch to make. I picked a trash can that had a relatively flat side so it would be easier to attach hinges flush to the surface. Here's a close-up of the door at the bottom: To build the door, I drilled the holes for all three hinges and screwed them in place first (don't mount…

Compost Bins: Drill Holes in the Lid?

Yes. I didn't drill holes in mine for a while because I just left the lid off, resembling my larger sized cubic yard compost bins. However, using a lid with plenty of holes can offer the same benefits- good airflow and it allows rainwater to penetrate, too. Now that it's summer, compost systems need more moisture to work effectively... keep them damp, and if you want to use a lid, drill holes to contain the process without hampering it.

Not So Hot Compost

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HByvwFTiMTU The reasons for the pile not working are easily solvable. First: the pile is predominantly manure. A working pile needs to have three times as much carbon as nitrogen. He mentions activators, but in this situation they won't help at all. He needs shredded leaves as his browns. I can't tell if there's any food scraps in there, added to the center and covered with a fresh layer of browns (shredded leaves). Second, the pile is super dense and airflow is limited. He needs browns. Third, there is no reason at all to turn the pile, ever. By doing so, the heat from the center is randomly redistributed, making the pile (the thermophilic critters) lose momentum. Do less, reap the results.