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Re: Which Compost Bin Better?

Cheapest thing we could find was some shipping pallets a trucking company
was giving away. We tacked 5 together to make 2 open bins -- good air flow
because wood is staggered and they're still holding up after 3 years of wet
weather and full compost.

It is possible that something could leach from the back wall, what is it
made of & how new is it? If you are concerned about that line the back wall
with another pallet or scrap wood. Whatever you do do NOT use pressure
treated wood as the wood contains arsenic which is not good for you, but
most importantly it could kill your plants and garden critters ;-).

Staggered cinder blocks would work, but to keep them stable you should
either pack them with dirt and rebar them or cement them. Up here cinder
blocks are about $1 each for 4 x 5 x 12 (think that is dim. we bought for a
bench and raised beds). I'd think you'd need about 50 for two sides -- so
that's getting expensive.

Look around for free wood. Of course you could always stretch chicken wire
between to steel poles for the sides too -- which, barring free usable
wood, would be the cheapest method.

Check out the Rodale Guide to Composting for some good tips/designs.

Good luck,
Natalie

>Hi SQFT'rs,
>
>I currently have a compost "pile" at the back of my vegetable garden
>where the doggies can't get to it (they like to eat it). Having
>grown tired of the sloppy look, and wanting to use less space for
>the same volume of compost, I have decided to use the back block
>wall as a backing, and build several sides sticking out to keep
>the compost contained (kinda like an open squashball court..pun
>intended..). I saw a design in Organic Gardening magazine from
>a historical tidbit that uses iron rods like rebar to go through
>holes drilled in 2 X 2's, to make a staggered design, but I priced
>the rods and they are too much money. My question is, should I
>use wood for the sides, or should I use something like staggered
>bricks or cinderblocks? Will the back wall bleed anything into
>the pile? Will I have to cement if I use bricks or blocks? Will
>bricks or blocks last longer in the weather than wood? Does anyone
>hazard a guess as to which material is cheaper, blocks or
>wood? I'd like to hear anybody's thoughts - I really need to be
>able to contain the compost, cuz my kitties have started to
>"play" around the edges.
>TIA
>Shawn
>swestaway@smtplink.coh.org
>Claremont, Ca


Natalie McNair-Huff
Happily Gardening in Tacoma, WA Sunset zone 5; USDA Zone 7/8
Publisher/Editor Mac Net Journal http://www.blol.com/web_mnj/
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