The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: edstrong on February 23, 2021, 05:53:33 pm
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I'm about to redo our composting system and plan to create some new bins out of corrugated metal sheets and wooden posts. I have (within reason) as much space as needed in the veg garden: I may build a line of them, perhaps 3-4 so I can rotate the contents.
How big is the optimal size for a compost bin? I want each of mine to be big enough to generate enough heat to compost well but small enough to be manageable. I was thinking of perhaps 4 foot square. I'll be putting in a mixture of kitchen waste, garden waste, chicken coop mess, some grass clippings (no weeds though, I just don't trust the composting to be good enough to kill all traces). Thoughts please!
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As big as the amount you want to produce ;)
I chuck most waste inside the chicken run. They do all the work scratching and turning.
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Yup, then you rake the chicken run, put it in the compost bin with some greenery and get good compost a couple of months later
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The ideal size is usually suggested as a metre square, but if you can manage a bit bigger and you have enough stuff to fill it, then go for it, remembering that the heaps go down quickly, and your volume includes depth, when you are considering heat retention. Also, what you can manage might depend on your height for reaching to the back.
If you have a row of bins, then they each keep eachother warm in the row (but you might find that metal gets quite cold at the ends - maybe insulate it with wood). Be sure to design them to make it easy to turn one into the next from time to time. It's hefty work, which you should really do a couple of times a year. I couldn't manage that, but my grandson loves turning the heaps and makes a point of doing all three in little more than an hour. He's young, strong and fit, so be realistic about what you can manage. I had originally planned a pair of compost heaps in such a way they could be turned with a tractor front fork loader. It didn't work though as at the time of year it needed to be done, the backwards and forwards repeat motion just chewed up the ground horribly. So we scrapped those and build a row of three. I have heard of people turning their heaps using a rotavator, but that hasn't worked well for us.
I actually don't mix my animal cleanings with the vegetable waste, but compost the two separately. This is so I have rich FYM and milder compost for different purposes. We also collect the used straw from the sheep field shelters every couple of years, mince it with a rotavator and use that on the outside beds - grows wonderful spuds!
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Ours are just 4 pallets in a square. But if you want more info, Charles Dowding is taking compost making to a higher level than most of us. Good youtube videos.
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Thanks for the feedback everyone.
As I'm going to make the bins out of sheets of corrugated steel the sizes of these will likely define the size of each bin - 6 foot long and 3 foot high. The width is up to me as the end panels can overlap: perhaps 5 foot wide for these. And a total of three bins, to start with. Should be easy to transfer contents from one to the other as they will be separated by a single sheet (just need the strength to lift everything over the 3 foot).
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I ended up making a four bin structure, each bin 6 foot by 4 foot with 3 1/2 foot sides, using sheets of corrugated steel panels and 4 inch wooden posts driven straight into the ground (no concrete). Probably over-engineered but it should last a long time. Total cost just over £200.
(http://www.ehgp.com/public/compostbins.jpg)
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Oh very elegant :D . A lovely shade of sky blue - mine is lime green and rather garish by comparison. Let us know how it works out and if the compost you make is good.
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Looks a great result :thumbsup:
i may be suffering from compost bin envy..
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Probably over-engineered but it should last a long time.
If you think that is over-engineered, we are just finishing our dream of having the full Charles Dowding:
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That's more salubrious than a glamping pod :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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Probably over-engineered but it should last a long time.
If you think that is over-engineered, we are just finishing our dream of having the full Charles Dowding:
This looks like a perfect goat shed! My goats a living in a shack made of pallets
Your compost lives in a work of art! Beautiful 👍
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Now that will survive the zombie apocalypse! As a matter if interest, why did you build a roof over it?
Probably over-engineered but it should last a long time.
If you think that is over-engineered, we are just finishing our dream of having the full Charles Dowding:
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As a matter if interest, why did you build a roof over it?
We get so much precipitation here that if it was all allowed to fall on the compost it would be too wet, I know you can put covers on it but a roof makes it easier to access. Plus - it has a big overhang at the back where the exterior back wall is used as a quick access sheltered tool rack. Plus - we will collect the water from the roof to use as irrigation. Plus - inside under the roof will be a dry timber storage area. Plus - it provides a lot of bird nest opportunities. And doubleplus - Charles Dowding has got a roof on his.
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The old boy who guided me in my gardening when I was a yoof. advised against having a front on the bins as it 's a sod to keep clambering over it ( he was 83 ). What he did do was cover each filled bin contents with old natural fiber carpets , jute sacking or layers of weighted down carboard & newspapers to stop the pile drying out .Like you he had four bins , each abut 6 months behind the other so he always had a ready to use bin and a ready to fill bin .
He also limed his fed bed about a month after nourishing it in early spring. Bill had some of the best veg I've ever seen outside of square foot gardening using a soil free growth medium.
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I just recently built a small bin out of 4 pallets and have a roof panel over there leaning on it, have to put up some framing for it and affix it thereupon. But if I don't hurry up about it all the compost will wash away. We get about 100 inches of rain in a year if my rain gauge is to be believed. Most of that between February and July. The pallet compost bin is inside the garden fence because it contains food waste and we don't want raccoons digging into it.
I'm going to need a bigger one soon. I was considering erecting a roof under which there would be room for a windrow of compost, the hot fast sort is better in big piles that steam when you break them open. Just have to be careful not to let them go too hot or they catch on fire. Had that happen once when I was in school for horticulture. The compost heap was made about 4 ft too tall and it was a hot day. The fire dept came out and soaked it. A week later it had gone anaerobic and we had to spread it out to dry it. It was a big damn mess. I'll never again make high nitrogen compost in piles bigger than 7 ft tall.