Compost Barrels

Compost barrels like the one in the picture are among the simplest and easiest of compost systems. I took this old metal barrel (you could use plastic) and propped it off the ground with some concrete blocks.

This allowed air to circulate underneath and provided a ready access point to shovel out the compost from the bottom of the bin.

To anchor the barrel so it wouldnt' blow over, I put large rocks against it. This had the added advantage of making it hard for dogs to tip over the compost container or eat away at the bottom.

To stop the small material from falling right through, I used a few woody stemmed weeds and packed them into the bottom of the compost barrel. This worked fine; I suspect that torn up cardboard boxes etc would work equally well. You want something to hold the finer material up until you have several good layers in there that will not immediately fall through. Once this material rots away, then the compost (starting to finish off) is OK to fall through.

I don't have a top on mine because part of the deal I have with the local barn cats is that I'll let them eat from this bin and in return, they'll hunt mice in my garden. This is a good deal but if you're plagued with raccoons or other big animals, you'll want a top on it that can be used (a round shape cut in half and hinged so one half can be weighted down but the other lifted to deposit the compost material.

Compost is harvested out the bottom of the barrel. This is not hot compost so weed seed is not killed. I use this system (along with my worms) for all of my kitchen waste and it has worked fine for the last two years with new material going in the top of the compost barrel and finished product coming out the bottom.

The only problem is that sometimes the material "bridges" and won't come down. Then a bit of poking with a shovel handle is necessary to "convince" it to fall to the bottom of the barrel.

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