Getting Green: Composting #1, The Bin

Composting is a great idea, for many reasons.  We chose to compost to reduce the amount of garbage we pay to discard weekly, and to create fertile soil for a future garden.  Here is how we made our compost bin.
Materials:

• 3 Pallets (free, discarded locally)
  
• 1 Roll of Steel Safety Wire ($2.50 Home Depot)

Tools:

• Garden Rake
  
• Round Tipped Shovel
  
• Wire Cutters
  
• Work Gloves, to protect your hands

Instructions: 1.  We first found an area that would be easily accessible even during the winter months. It's also an area close to where we plan to use the soil it produces. The area should also be located in a hidden spot as to not draw attention and be an eyesore.  2.  Next lay out the area by cutting away and removing the top layer of sod. Approximately 2-3 inches deep ensuring to remove all grass root systems. The area should be the same length plus the height of 2 pallets.                                                  3.  Next we placed the Pallets next to each other forming a U shape structure. Wiring it together with twists of wire. Leaving the front open ensures easy accessibility to add materials and rotate the materials later throughout the process.                                                   4.  As my husband was wiring the pallets, I softened up the dirt underneath the sods we pulled out to allow worms to eat our compost.                                                   5.  After all 3 pallets were assembled, we placed a layer of hay on the bottom.  We shook some of the sod over the hay to make a sprinkling of dirt over the hay.  Then we added some food scraps that we had been collecting.  We shook out  more sod over the layer of food scraps, then we made another layer of hay.  Again we shook out sod to create another layer of soil atop the hay.                                                    6.  Lastly we sprayed water over the top of our compost lasagna and were finished.                                                   Kids naturally love learning through hands on experiences.  My kids are having so much fun with this project that they look for ways to help.
In my next post I will go into more specifics about what can be composted. 
In future blogs entitled “Getting Green” I will explain how taking recycling more seriously has helped our family budget and opened up opportunities that we didn’t know were out there.