This single bay compost bin is extremely simple to make and to use.
This single bay compost bin is extremely simple to make and to use.
If you want to make compost from vegetable kitchen scraps, lawn clippings, and debris from a small garden, this compost bin is very simple and easy to make. It is 3’ square, stands 3’ high, and is wrapped with 1″ or larger mesh chicken wire. The gate can be made of scrap lumber and hinged on one side. (You can also tie it in place, if you don’t want to add hinges.)
TIME
About 6 hours (about 4 hours with a helper)
» Hand saw
» Heavy sledgehammer to pound in the posts
» Wire cutters
» Staple gun
MATERIALS
FOR ONE BIN
» Four 2″ × 4″ × 4’ 6″ (or 4″ × 4″ × 4’ 6″) stakes
» One 3’ × 9’ × 1″ section of mesh chicken wire
» One 3’ × 4’ × 1″ section of mesh chicken wire
FOR GATE
» Four 1″ × 3″ × 3’ boards with lap joint at each corner
FASTENERS:
» 1/2″ or longer staples
This compost bin is intended to be simple to construct and to enable the compost to be turned three or four times before it is ready for use. Making the gate removable allows easy access to the contents.
STEP 
Mark out the area for your bin. This one is designed to be 3’ × 3’, but if you have a lot of leaves and lawn clippings, you can make it 4’ × 4’ or even larger. Hammer the corner posts into the ground to a depth of 18″; any shallower and the sides may bow outwards from the weight of the compost. Check that the bin’s footprint is square, but an inch or so off will not matter.
STEP 
Staple the long length of chicken wire to one of the gate posts. Make sure that the bottom of the wire is at ground level. (You can dig a small trench if you like and bury the wire a few inches, but I find that this will corrode the chicken wire more quickly.)
STEP 
Work your way around the bin, keeping the wire taut, and staple it in place at each post until you end up at the opposite gate post. If you wish, you can screw a thin 1″ × 2″ × 36″ slat over the wire at each gate post to help hold it in place. Figure 2-1 shows the bin with wire around it. To stop the bed from bulging when it is full, you can screw or nail wood slats across the top of the chicken wire from post to post and staple the wire to them.
Build the gate. This is constructed from the 1″ × 3″ lumber with a lap joint at each corner. Glue and screw it together into a frame, making sure that it is square. When the glue is dry, staple the 3’ × 4’ section of chicken wire on the inside of the gate, or you can staple the chicken wire to the outside. By putting it inside, it will be forced against the gate as the bin fills and will not try to pull off the staples.
STEP 
You can hinge the gate using two 3″ hinges on one side and a simple hook and clasp on the other side. An alternative is to install four hook-and-eye latches on each corner of the gate, with the hooks on the gate and the eyes on the compost bin. Or you can simply put the gate inside the posts and let the weight of the compost make it lean against the post. However, that might make it difficult to remove the gate when the bin is full.
3-bay compost bin
FOR A THREE-BIN SYSTEM
» Eight 4″ × 4″ × 4’ 6″ posts, one end sharpened
» Ten 2″ × 4″ × 4’ cross braces
» One 4’ × 28’ × 2″ mesh chicken wire or hardware cloth section
» Three 4’ × 4’ × 2″ mesh chicken wire or hardware cloth sections for gates
FASTENERS:
» 3″ exterior-grade screws to hold the cross braces, 1″ staples to hold the chicken wire in place
TIME
About 4 to 6 hours
If you make a lot of compost, one small bin is not going to allow you to turn the compost and let it rot properly. A three-bay compost bin is an essential tool in creating a wonderful garden. This three-bay bin is made like a single-bay bin, with stakes hammered into the ground and wrapped with chicken wire or hardware mesh. Because the bays may be filled far higher than the single compost bin, the posts are reinforced with a top brace to make the entire unit sturdier.
When using this bin, fill one of the side bays (bay 1) first. When it is filled with compost, turn the entire load into the center bay (bay 2). This has the effect of putting the oldest compost on top and encouraging it to rot better. After about six weeks, move the compost in bay 2 into bay 3 while bay 1 is being filled with fresh material. In another six weeks, turn bay 3 back into bay 2. Six weeks later, turn bay 2 into bay 3 again. This process should result in compost ready to be used. At this time, turn bay 1 into the bay 2.
