Build your own compost pit!

      You already want to go green.
    You already want to compost food waste.
    We all want to reduce waste sent to landfill.

DIY - Do It Yourself Composting!

If you are handy, have a yard or garden space, and the desire to manage your own compost, take advantage of our free compost pit building instructions.

OBJECTIVE - to build metal mesh and wood walls around a compost pit in the earth, with optional front gate and lid.

MATERIALS

3 foot boards - 12 - 20; 4 boards for each wall panel

metal hardware cloth - 3 - 4 rolls

staple gun with staples

corner metal plate braces with screw holes and screws; 4 corner braces for each wall panel

screw driver

OPTIONAL

4 hinges

3 handles

PROCEDURE

1. Choose your compost pit location.

2. Lay your boards out on a flat surface to make the square wall.

3. Staple the hardware cloth to the first board as an anchor. Be sure to line it up with the two boards on either side so that the hardware cloth attaches to all four boards that make the perimeter of the wall. The more staples used, the more solid the connection. To ensure tight stapling, put more weight on the end of the stapler.

4. Measure the rolled mesh to fit, and attach to all four wood boards, then cut the mesh from the roll to the desired size.

5. Staple the mesh to the remaining three boards, be sure the connection between the boards at the corners are tight.

6. Turn the wall made from mesh and boards over so that the mesh is down and the back side of the bare boards are facing up. Use the screws provided with corner metal plate braces to secure the corner attachments for all 4 corners.

7. Do this for the additional 2 walls.

8. Connect the three walls, mesh side in, on one side. The three connected will form a U shape, or look like 3 sides of a square.

9. To connect the walls, cut 3 x 3 inch mesh squares and staple these tightly around the corners of wall 1 and 2 at a 90 degree angle. Each corner should have three stapled mesh squares to connect the top, middle and bottom of two walls together. Do this for the second intersection between walls 2 and 3, be sure to keep the mesh side in and the wood frame side out.

10. Now place the three connected mesh walls in your selected compost area, and dig up your pit in the center of it. The pit needs only to be about 10 inches deep, but may become deeper when the composter is in use.

11. Optionally, make two more walls following the above procedure, steps 2 - 6. Wall 4 will be your front door, wall 5 will be the optional lid.

12. Tightly connect wall 4 to the edge of wall 1 or 3 using the three 3 x 3 inch mesh squares attached with staples OR using 2 manufactured hinges. Install the door handle in a convenient location. Be sure that the swing of the door allows for wide opening so that one can easily stand in the "doorway" to turn the compost.

13. For the optional lid, connect wall 5 to wall 1 or 2 or 3 with either mesh squares or manufactured hinges. The lid should be able to flip all the way over when open, and rest back to back with a wall, or rest on a support. It will only be connected on one side. Add one or two handles in a convenient place on the lid for use.

Now the compost pit with 3 - 5 walls is READY FOR USE! The organisms that exist in your soil will be the compost activators (along with you and your shovel!) though you are free to add extra worms or organic seaweed fertilizer. Start to fill the compost pit, adding green and brown items in layers. Green items are grass clippings, kitchen scraps, garden weeds. Brown items are shredded paper, autumn leaves, wood chips, straw. On a regular basis, use a shovel to dig and turn the compost pile. The more often the pile is turned, the faster your compost will be finished. Turning once or twice per week is a really good start. If one is excited about the compost, turning it every day can be pleasurable!

ALTERNATIVES

You might wish to build your walls with bricks, stones, cinder blocks, or slatted wood. Feel free to alter your dimensions to suit the space.