There are many different ways to make compost. It is almost impossible to foul up the compost making process.

Home compost methods range from Compost Tumblers, Holding Compost Bins, or Compost Piles, also referred to as Compost Heap.

 

A Compost Tumbler is simply a rotating bin that allows organic material to be turned, no manual turning is needed.  Compost Tumblers make composting easy. 

The Compost Tumbler is by far the most eye pleasing composter.  The Compost Tumbler is clean, unobtrusive, pest resistant and odor free.  Compost tumblers are widely used in urban and suburban areas where local regulations prohibit open compost piles and nearby neighbors object to an open compost pile.  Compost Tumblers are available commercially or can be built by obtaining an approx. 40 gallon drum that was not used for toxic chemicals.  Ask for a “food grade” barrel.  A plastic drum will also work.  The simplest way is to roll the drum on the floor, whenever new waste material is added.  If you want to build a more sophisticated compost tumbler, you can build a wood structure in order to elevate the drum off the floor.  This is more labor involved.  You can obtain the design and instructions of how to build a Rotating Compost Tumbler from the book  The Rodale Book of Composting: Easy Methods for Every Gardener.

A Holding Compost Bin is another composting method.  Compost Bins can protect the compost from wind, heavy rains and hot, baking sun.   Wire mesh compost bins are inexpensive and easy to construct.  Use a durable wire mesh that can hold the waste.   Compost bins made out of fence material or wooden pallets are yet another simple way to build a compost bin.

                                                                                                               

The least expensive composting method is the open compost pile.  No structure is needed for a compost heap – just pile the material on the ground.  I am using this composting method myself.  I live on 5 acres and don’t have to worry about nearby neighbors complaining.  I prefer the open compost pile over the compost tumbler or the compost bin, because I can inspect the compost heap much easier than in a contained compost tumbler or compost bin.  I turn my compost pile once a month, or more often to speed up the process.  A compost heap should have roughly the moisture of a squeezed out sponge.  This helps the living microorganisms thrive and work their magic.

 

Composting can be started anytime of the year, in sun or shade.  Any mix will compost.  Rough, unfinished compost can be used as topdressing mulch around plants and vegetables in the organic garden.  The finished compost will smell like a forest floor and incorporated in the native soil, it will produce healthy organic vegetable-, herb-, flower-, and perennial gardens.

 

Remember, no matter what method you use – a compost tumbler, a compost bin, or just an open compost pile - Compost is Mothers Nature Organic Fertilizer.