Compost bin for my Boy Scout

Bryce and I have been working on his gardening merit badge for scout lately.  He did a lot of helping in the garden from planting and weeding to watering and harvesting.  He was heavily involved in the de-caterpillaring of our tomato plants (GROSS!).  He also helped us process and can some of our tomato sauce so he has had a lot of garden fun lately.

 

Ok, maybe he hasn't been quite a thrilled about it as I have, but he does have an amazing attitude and rarely lets grumpiness find its way to the top of his emotional pool. 

 

Anyway, as part of this merit badge Bryce needed to create a compost bucket and maintain it for 90 days.  We are almost to the 90 day mark (and good thing because it is starting to get cold).  I thought we would show  you how we created our compost bin.  It has worked well for us and wasn't to hard to make or maintain.

 

Here's how we did it (and then make adjustments for what will work better for you).

 

1.  We started with two 5-gallon buckets.  One needs to have a lid, the other doesn't.

 

 

2. Next, we used a drill to make holes in the top AND bottom of one bucket.  Make sure your holes aren't too big or else you will invite flies and other nasty creatures to wander their way in.  Use a small drill bit and bake LOTS of holes top and bottom.

 

3. Now, the bucket with the holes should sit INSIDE of your other bucket.  This allows all the goopy, fluid gunk to drip through your compost pile and land happily in the second bucket instead of leaving a grotesque puddle on your grass or carport or wherever you store this baby.

 

4. Now, start filling your bucket.  You can use grass clippings, plant remains (it's a good idea to break them into smaller pieces so they can decompose faster), table scraps and any other organic matter you come across (egg shells, leaves, moldy bread, anything like that).  When you get something new just toss in into your bucket, snap the lid back on, roll it around a bit to shake everything together (so it doesn't matt together in a big mass).  Leave the bucket outside to let rain, wind and other weather work on it.  You'll need to dump the bottom bucket occasionally (your garden will love this liquid).

 

And that's it!  You can just sit back and watch as your bin composts otherwise garage bound stuff into usable fertilizer and organic matter.

 

Good stuff.  Thanks scouting!