While building our first ever vegetable garden last year, I also made a compost bin area on the other side of the fence that faces away from the house and decking area. The location is perfect, but as it turns out the design was not ideal and needed finishing.
What I had essentially made last year was a compost heap with three walls, which I thought at the time would make it easier to use a fork to turn over. While it was certainly accessible, when you tried to turn and aerate the organic matter, it would slide forward because there was nothing containing it from the front.
So as part of our latest wood order for Kirsten’s dahlia beds that we’ll be building in the weeks ahead, I got a few extra boards to transform the compost heap into a compost bin. And what a difference it’s made. By simply adding the two boards on the front it has increased the volumetric capacity, made it easier to stack and create piles, and it’s actually made turning and spreading the compost out a lot easier. It’s also made it look a lot neater and tidier.
So if you’re deliberating putting a front on your compost bin, heap or processing area, the answer is 100% yes. Do it. It makes a massive difference, and makes the area a lot more functional.
Here’s the before and after.
It’s a great idea to have a compost bin(s) if you have the space in your garden. We have 2 large square compost bins pvc slatted construction with lids. Before people say “pvc not very green”. Ours are 20 yrs old passed on to us by friends who went to Australia. When we moved recently they were taken to pieces cleaned and left in storage for 2 months. They are now back in use again. We compost all veg waste, teabags coffee grounds some cardboard and some grass cuttings. Every year we get beautiful rich compost for our beds!