Here’s a simple compost bin build you can make with wood from a local hardware store, or even DIY it from pallets. It’s an extension of the classic 3-bin hot composting system, to add two more bins. This size works well for us at the Epic Homestead due to the size of our garden, and the 5th bin is a great potting soil / finished material storage as well.
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Single Bin Design (to add more bins, add more side panels)
Back
All pieces cut to 3' long
(6) 1×6” boards
(1) 2×4” boards
2 Side panels
All pieces cut to 3' long
(4) 2×6” boards
(4) 2×4” boards
(10) 1×6” boards
(4) 2×2” boards
Front
(6) ea 1×6” boards cut to fit front, roughly 32” each
Don't use just any pallets people. Make sure they don't have insecticide/herbicides infused into the wood. There are codes on the bottom or sides to let you know what's what.
How do you keep a compost bin during winter months. And protect from animals
Almost 2m Subs!!! Haven't been able to watch in a while but back and have been watching since 900k Keep up the good work!
I was just thinking of building my own, good timing
I bet you could have used the U-channels both to anchor to the ground and to slide your front slats into!
I would have put down a thin strip of landscape fabric topped with pavers or gravel in the space at the back between the fence and the bins to keep weeds and sapling trees from growing back there. I would also make the lowest courses of everything out of redwood and/or cedar, the rest can be Douglas fir.
Great video, very inspiring! Thanks for sharing good work! I wish you a wonderful day!👍
For the front, I would ensure more play than just the 1”… maybe 1.5”. when all the wood gets wet, it will swell, both the side braces and the front boards. Also, depending on if you treat it or not, the front boards will warp, again making it quite difficult to replace the board.
Fantastic! I like how straight to the point you are. Now, I have a question. Have you seen the Lomi Compost? I see sponsored people loading it up with green scraps in the evening and taking out dirt by the morning… How is that possible? Black magic? Do you know? Have you heard anything about it?
So now the seed trays I've been waiting for over 6 months are no longer even on the site. What happened to "coming very soon?"
Compost Daddy, a question: is it weird or gross to put nail clippings or loose hair from the hairbrush into the compost pile?
Very nice. Are you going to put roofs or a top cover on? I’m in western Pa so I have to cover them. The way I did it is not perfect but for now it works. I did post a few videos on my channel about my compost bins. Would love your opinion of the setup……
What s vagina…,…… rookie
$450 will get me 5 years of compost
Lovely project. Just remember, pallets are made from treated wood that actually destroys the aerobic bacteria and fungi that you need for effective breakdown of organic matter.
I used the cedar picket boards for the front for the slats
Hey! Which USDA hardiness zone are you at?
Good god what a waste of lumber (and metal screws). Home composting is about drawing nearer to natural systems of recycling, and away from industrial systems of production and consumption. In that spirit, all the gardeners I know just reuse old pallets, which are free. (Or they use a simple and effective heap system — not at all a "huge mistake" and a system for which no materials, post-consumer or otherwise, are needed).
Viewers: spending this much money on a home composter is not necessary!
God I just love the Naruto references within the editing.
Nice video, tempted to build one of these. Next questions: how to actually use the bins / fill them / turn the compost. And the ultimate question: how long does it take to get nice usable compost?
Hi there! I have an important question. At the start of the season we bought bulk compost and stored it in lidded trash cans. Then forgot about it. Well now we want to use it in a new rose garden bed and it smells vile because there was no air holes 🙈 is this now not safe to use? Will it damage my new roses?
0:21 YASSSSSS, gimme that retro film feel, Kevin & Jacques. Very very nice.
Also, I feel like there should be mini-series segments titled "TOPIC with Kevin & Jacques" It just has a nice flow to it and feels a little funny too. "Cooking with Kevin & Jacques" "Composting with Kevin & Jacques" etc 😀
2:08 @Epic Gardening Kevin, For pallet-bin composting set up since you did talk about it for 30 seconds:
it's really important for SAFETY if you could PLEASE clarify for people that they NEED to ONLY use pallets that CLEARLY have a "HT" stamp on them (HT=heat-treated) and not other lettering stamps. Many pallets are very dangerous, unsafe, and toxic to compost in or grow food in or have soil touching, with intent to grow food.
Other types of pallet treatments, besides HT, are done with toxic chemicals that can and will leach into compost, soil, and food.
If it's HT, it's typically not treated with something else as well. If there's no label at all or the label is unclear, skip it. If it's something else than HT, either skip it or research it well and make a decision.
If needed, you can pin this message, update your pin, maybe reupload the video with an edit, etc or however you want to handle this. But please please please see this message and clarify that info for your large following (of which I am one loyal Northern Canadian follower myself).
<3
Kyle
Don't you have to worry about preservatives leeching from the wood into the compost? I use lumber that I cut with my chainsaw
Is it me or does $400-$500 for a compost bin sound steep? Like for that price you should have the whole garden, raised beds and all. Am I wrong?
@4:40 new garden helper is cute 😄