compost bin – Page 8 – Crazy About Compost

Bottomless pit composter?… or just a lot of grubs?

I thought i was overdue on starting my second trash can composter... the first one has had a bottomless pit for the last few months. I was certain it would have been at capacity awhile ago, but then I took a closer look. Not only were there a ton of red wigglers in there breaking it down, but also gobs and gobs of grubs- excellent! They've been a huge help for sure- the pile has been steadily cooking along at a mellow 80 to 90 degrees since its inception, which wouldn't be hot enough to break down the contents so swiftly. Once the temperature drops a bit more, I'm going to try transferring as many of the worms over to the big pile as I can...hoping that it's thick enough…

An indicator of a working compost pile… worms!

Looks like the trash can composter is doing well- red wigglers are reproducing here, meaning the environment is hospitable for them. I water mine once a week (half a watering can) after I add my food scraps and cover with leaves. A dry compost pile has a hard time working- keep it damp and you'll keep it moving... and keep the worms around, too.

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…