Easy Composters You Can Build

This is a good little book for a decent price to see if you are really interested in composting. It does show some various designs to build composters and what you can put into the composter. I built mine out of pallets and it is working fine with really no investment but my time.

Well for 3.95 I would not expect a full book. But a little more details would have been nice. It does not really show you how to build a compost, but talks about it. I guess the rest is up to your imagination. A decent pamphlet. Does not go into detail about composting.

Nice little guide. Worth the small price to get some good ideas. With encouragement from this book, I started a compost pile after a long time of just thinking about it.

I've been composting for three years now, using a commercial "Earth Machine". My "Earth Machine" is bulging and splitting at the sides to the point where the door on the bottom doesn't fit any more. That's why I'm looking for plans to build something stronger. The illustrated composters in the pamphlet are either open to the air, so they'd be too cool for the accelerated composting I need in my small urban lot, or they would be too weak to hold up to the great stress and weight a 20 or 30 cubic foot compost pile generates.

This is a pamphlet with just a few ideas of how to build a practical composter. I found the discussions of composting in general interesting, but most of the composter suggestions are more appropriate for a large lot or farm than a single family urban home. I am disappointed that there aren't plans or ideas for building composters of reasonable urban size (let's say about 15-20 cubic feet) out of wood.

The closest to a usable idea is a 30 - 45 gallon plastic trash can with a bunch of holes drilled in it, which wouldn't work very well because that much damp compost would weigh hundreds of pounds. You really need an access door on the bottom to remove compost as it forms. Also, I doubt any standard trash can would be strong enough to hold up to the weight and heat. I also doubt that the unmortored cinder block plan in the pamphlet would hold up for the same reason.

For urban home use, the composter should be near the kitchen so it will be used. A good compost pile is almost odor and fly free. I wouldn't put anything suggested in the pamphlet on my patio near the kitchen. The composters described just wouldn't be appropriate next to the house.

In summary, I didn't find anything useful and practical in the pamphlet that I didn't know already. If you want to build something for your patio to compost yard and kitchen waste, this pamphlet will not be of much help.

Great little book that cuts through the crap:) and shows some very practical and workable designs. I use large scale open-front bins, made of wood, so that I can use the front bucket on my tractor. Our composted barn bedding, horse manure, chicken guts, and other "stuff", is like magic on our pastures and around our immature Live Oaks, etc. When we lived in the burbs I composted grass clippings and was kicking myself for not starting it years before. I just made a 4 cornered bin using t-posts and hardware cloth (wire). It was 4' square by 3' high. We put all our grass clippings and fall leaves in it and by early winter the pile was less than a foot high. This was from a half acre lot with a lot of trees, but the bin was in a fairly sunny spot. The only thing extra that I did was a couple of times I put a layer of twigs on top so that a little air could circulate after the next batch of stuff was added. Go ahead and go for it! You'll be glad you did! Good luck!