Got A New Composting Bin Today

Sunday afternoon we were out looking for some lawn furniture and we stopped by WalMart to check and see what they had left. Since its almost the end of the season, Walmart had dropped the prices on most of the items in the garden section. By the register they had an end cap display for the Super Composter for only $45! Walmart's and Sams both had these composters for 80+ through out most of the season.



After looking the display model over, I decided it was worth a try and it is a lot nicer than my are.

The composter is packaged in shrink rap and the instructions are pictures only on the back of the label. So do not damage the label while opening. The first step was to seperate the parts and make sure I had all the parts. Next I put the for sides together. Next add the corner brackets. Followed by installing the door and hinges. Putting this together will take about 30 minutes or less to put together. It is poorly designed and I would love to able to have screwed/nailed something together. The composter is injected molded thick durable plastic. But the sides do not line up well and the looking tabs will lock completely. The lid is durable and has sturdy spring loaded hinges. Once the composter was in place it looked real good.



Today I added a large bag of fresh grass clipping, shredding paper, coffee grounds/filter, bone meal, blood meal, and alfalfa pellets and mixed in. It is to early to recommend this item. I will see if this composts faster than my homemade units.



I will keep everyone up to date on my findings.

Update on my Veggies and the garden

Its been about a week since I last posted. Its been so hot outside, I haven't done much. Right now I am in the middle of prepping a 10 x 10 shaded bed. So far I have ammended the soil with, top soil, donkey manure, composted mushrooms, landscaping mix, and humus. Before I started that bed was rock hard. I took me hours to get the bed ready for planting. It still needs a little more tilling but right now its in good shape and I will be adding new plants shortly.

Right now the bed currently has some English Ivy that is has some starts in it and ground cover that produces little purple flowers. It starting to take up a large part of the bed. I may pull that up once I get the bed established. I planted Ajuga that I received from a gardening friend in Copper Canyon and some coleus that I never got around to planting earlier this year. I eventually want to fill the bed w/ some ferns.

I did lay a soaker hose down. It took several hours to get it right. I do have several spots that stay dry but, that will be that way until I can raise and level the bed. But thats a different story.

On Sunday I mixed of some compost mix and added to my veggies. This mix has 3 parts donkey manure, 2 parts mushroom compost 1 part peat moss, 1 part landscaping mix, I then added several large hand fulls of bone meal, blood meal, and alfalfa meal and mixed it up. Took that mix and added to my winter squash, sweet potatoes, cuccumbers, zucchinis, tomatoes, and peppers. I added this mix to around the plants and worked it into the top layer and covering all surfacees for each pot. I then watered each pot. Today I checked on the plants and they are greener and look healthier. Tomorrow I will post pictures of my plants.

New Compost Bin

Late last summer we started composting our our garden and kitchen waste. We started with a basic 35 gallon black Rubbermade trash can. We spent about 12 dollars and in about 15 minutes we were up and running. Once we got the trashcan home, I took a drill and drilled out 100 small holes all over the can including the bottom of it for drainage.

Within a couple of months we filled the first one up. We then bought another one and started the same process all over again. Of course we filled this one up as well. After several months of research, we decided to go bigger!

We went out and bought a 55 gallon food grade barrel for $22. From the local feed and seed store. Originally I was going to build a tumbler composter out of 2x4s and a food drum. After getting the Drum home I changed my mind to use that money toward some other garden project in the next few weeks.

I used a heavier duty drill and drilled over 150 holes to provide for air circulation and drainage. The more air the compost bin gets the faster the material inside will compost. Because the drum has an air tight lid I will fill the barrel up about halfway and tip it over and roll the drum up and down the driveway several times, once a week. Once the barrel gets to heavy I will remove some of the composted materials in one barrel to cure. The other barrel will be used for new materials waiting for its turn in the tumbler.

Quick Directions for building a "rolling compost bin"

Materials Needed:
1. 55 gallon food grade barrel .
2. Drill and drill bit
3. 20% bleach water mix
4. Black spray paint for plastic. (optional)
5. Bricks to make a stand.


1. First thing you need to do is clean the barrel out. You may need a 20% bleach and water mix to clean the barrels. With my barrel it was easy. I Only needed dish soap to clean the barrel
2. Let the barrel dry out.
3. Once dried, start drilling holes. You will need to drill holes every 5 inches all the way around. At least three rows will be needed. Once finished add rainage holes into the bottom of the barrels.
4. Once completed you can paint the barrle black. By painting the barrel black this will help heat the barrel.
5. Fill the barrel with garden waste and kitchen waste.
6. Once a week tip the barrel on its side. Check and make sure the lid is on and secure.
7. Start rolling the barrel around the yard.
8. Once finished put in a sunny spot out of the way and let the composting begin!

- All I have left to do is paint the the bin. I will update this post once that has been completed.


Please post your opinion on this homemade garden project.