Re: WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins

**sanderson** 4/26/2016, 12:06 am

Ralipaco . . . I give up

landarch 4/26/2016, 8:26 am

Here are my two main bins...I also have a large pile on the ground.

Geo-bin compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Pile_210

Vinyl coated wire mesh bin (county extension office ran a deal a few years ago...came with a compost thermometer). compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Pile_110

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Pile_110

ralitaco 4/26/2016, 8:47 am

Too funny Sanderson...

Landarch, are your piles hot or cold composting piles?
I guess that's a question for everyone to answer

landarch 4/26/2016, 10:14 am

I try to turn them when I can so I suppose they're hot. At the end of the season I'll empty completely to get the compost at the very bottom and set-up in a new spot.

I compost between a large limestone wall and a large bur oak tree...an area I don't want to build permanent compost bins.

The ground pile is cold (passive)...I add new compost material to shredded leaves (from last fall)...then grass clippings as the summer progresses.

katjohn83 4/26/2016, 2:35 pm

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos10

I got this a couple of years ago and I love it. Easy to turn. IF I put more care into what goes in and turning it more often I would get finished compost much faster. I could probably get 6 containers per year. As it is I get two full containers per year. It holds 80 gallons. There are galvanized brackets on the bottom like the ones you see in front without latches. Because they are on the bottom they have started to rust after a couple of seasons. I called the company to see about purchasing new ones. They sent me the entire hardware kit free of charge. Great customer service.

I also use this to mix Mel's mix.

ralitaco 4/26/2016, 10:24 pm

Thanks Landarch.

KatJohn, thanks for sharing your composter! What brand is it? I looks like the entire thing opens up, like a clam shell, is that correct? While that would be great for emptying the finished material, how do you load it?

**sanderson** 4/27/2016, 3:04 am

Katjohn shared this composter on this thread. https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t19145-new-composter?highlight=composter

This thread is for composting bins.

**jimmy cee** 4/27/2016, 8:32 am

I have this problem of wanting beautiful garden fixtures, however, it never seems to end that way. I start on building, then everything goes by the wayside and I do what needs to be done at the time to get things functioning, then will go back and polish things up, which I never do.
Whatever happens everything works well.
Thing is, I am never finished with anything...maybe someday, I'll run out of space, right now I am looking at my wife's lawn....for expansion..
My compost piles are 4 stakes, 3 feet square, with removable covers. 2 x 4 wire mesh surrounds the squares and has served me well, back out of sight so there's no priority to improve..
I have a 1 foot space between the 2 for coffee grinds, stored there until use.
On each side of my 2 beds I use for storage of finished compost, that's where it sits until screening. compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos20

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos20

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos21

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 10_8_111

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Coffee11

yolos 4/27/2016, 9:39 am

jimmy cee wrote:My compost piles are 4 stakes, 3 feet square, with removable covers. 2 x 4 wire mesh surrounds the squares and has served me well, back out of sight so there's no priority to improve..

AHA - now I see how you constructed your tops. I tried to find some of that sheeting in 3 foot width's but could not. Okay, I see your brace half way back. What is the best tool to use to cut the plastic roofs. I was going to put mine on hinges but maybe they will be light enough to just lift off like yours. Does the wind ever get under it and lift it off. I guess I could use a hook and eye to keep them from blowing away.

**jimmy cee** 4/27/2016, 11:18 am

Yolos
I used tin shears in the sun, otherwise it may have cracked.
All tops are tied down with nylon clothes line, ( I love that stuff )..
Their tied on the frame of the tops, really easy and light to remove.
No wind has picked them up yet and I don't expect it to.
I only remove tops when I know rain is coming and need some moisture, however,
due to all those veggies I add, I hardly ever need water.
Yes and supports I recommend for the edges.

ralitaco 4/27/2016, 10:37 pm

Thanks for sharing!

jimmy cee wrote:I have this problem of wanting beautiful garden fixtures,

Me too!!! My issue is that I get caught up in making it look nice and only get 1 or 2 things built.

jimmy cee wrote:I have a 1 foot space between the 2 for coffee grinds, stored there until use.

That is interesting...I guess there is no need to keep them sealed up in bags until time to use? Also, if I recall, you attracted lots of worms under those grinds.

jimmy cee wrote:On each side of my 2 beds I use for storage of finished compost, that's where it sits until screening.

Is that finished compost under the tarp on the right side?
Also, do you have 2 piles "cooking" at the same time?

jimmy cee wrote:

And now for fun...Identify the differences b/n picture 1 and picture 2...Just kidding, but when I noticed the tree was cut and there was a second roof, I thought of those find the difference games.

ralitaco 4/27/2016, 11:40 pm

While reading the Compost 101 Thread, I found SOMEONE had a very interesting setup...

How did it work out with the venting pipes?

**sanderson** 4/28/2016, 2:59 am

Actually, they worked pretty good for venting. When I took the caps off, there was a definite warm stinky compost smell. Caveat. It is very difficult to use this type of set up and be able to turn the compost and put the pipes back in as you build back up the cage. Also, the volume was not sufficient to do a Berkeley hot pile. I now use the cage for fall leaf storage. Nothing goes to waste! Then I had some cage wire left over and built another last fall for a slow over-winter compost pile for the flower beds. Little cages like this can be used to store ingredients until needed, one for coffee, one for leaves, one for manure, etc. Caution:D : worms will start invading the bottom material.

**jimmy cee** 4/28/2016, 7:02 am

Ralitaco

I've noticed coffee grinds stored in bags will go moldy, I prefer them out in the air , yes the worms love it.

Yes finished compost is stored on each side of my 2 piles, after I screen I store it in garbage containers, seems to work nicely.

Yes on those pictures, I sometime just pull them from my image library.

ralitaco 4/29/2016, 12:35 am

Here's a link to my other thread. This post has photos of what I have built so far...
Compost Bins Under Construction

ralitaco 4/29/2016, 11:54 pm

Here are couple of pics of what I put together:
compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 2016-083

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 2016-082

I have more pics in my other thread if you are interested:
2016 SFG Adventures in Hampstead, NC

yolos 5/1/2016, 9:40 pm

I previously showed my new compost bin. It was chuck full. Now it has decomposed somewhat and is down about 1/3. It is time to start sifting it and adding the undecomposed stuff to the new pile I am starting.
compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos17

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos17

Here is the rest of my compost operations. I am eventually going to replace all the old bins with ones similar to the one I recently built.
compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos18

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos18

**camprn** 5/2/2016, 9:05 pm

A work in progress.

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 01610

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 00510

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 00310

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 00410

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 2012-110

yolos 5/2/2016, 9:07 pm

Camprn - I have always envied how big your compost bins are. Do you get all that material from around your house or do you scavenge around or have friends and family help contribute.

ralitaco 5/2/2016, 9:48 pm

Wow Yolos...how long was it between those pictures?

WOW CampRN, That's a lot of compost to turn. How big is that pile? Also, what are those sticks/handles for? Is they to wiggle around to aerate?

**camprn** 5/2/2016, 9:59 pm

yolos wrote:Camprn - I have always envied how big your compost bins are. Do you get all that material from around your house or do you scavenge around or have friends and family help contribute.

Sometimes the pile is ridiculously big. This one topped out at 4x4x8 in the fall, then I added to it all winter. Contents almost all from my place, about a half acre, less the house footprint. I do sometimes get manure from here and there, like the dairy, or from a lady I know who keeps ducks. I get coffee grounds and chaff and sometimes burned beans when I can from a local roaster. ( she's a pro so she doesn't burn coffee very often).

ralitaco wrote:Wow Yolos...how long was it between those pictures?

WOW CampRN, That's a lot of compost to turn. How big is that pile? Also, what are those sticks/handles for? Is they to wiggle around to aerate?

4x4x8 and then it shrunk but I kept adding stuff to it. The first pic was from a different year in the summer. you can see fresh cut grass in the holding hoop. The sticks in the pile are there when I build the pile, then I pull the sticks out, making little chimneys for ventilation.

yolos 5/2/2016, 10:43 pm

ralitaco wrote:Wow Yolos...how long was it between those pictures?

38 days between these two pictures. No turning pile or touching it at all. Those boards on front are 5.5 inches high. There were originally 7 boards. Now there are only 4 boards. So it decreased 16.5 inches so it was actually a 43% reduction in height over a 38 day period. Partially due to settling and partially due to decomposition.
compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos19

compost pile - WANTED: Pictures of Compost Bins - Page 2 Compos19

reynajrainwater 5/2/2016, 11:44 pm

I have a worm bin. Does that count???
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**sanderson** 5/3/2016, 3:56 am

Camp,

Huge pile!

Rainwater, Yep Very Happy

**camprn** 5/3/2016, 5:27 pm

sanderson wrote:Camp, Huge pile!

Rainwater, Yep

YUGE!

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