I bought the wood months ago then procrastinated on this compost project. Even this small project has countless details and things to work out like will it work as a compost bin? What size? What type and size of wood? I attempted a 3’x3′ box with no bottom and no top. The corner boards are 2×4 and the slats are 5/8 x 5 1/2 x 3 feet. It did not turnout square, but who will notice? I covered the gaps between the slats with wire mesh. The slats are treated wood while the 2x4s are not.

I dug out a spot by the shed and worked the finished bin in with a tight squeeze. Medium size branches covered the bottom lined up in one direction. Immediately I had enough leafage to fill a 10th of the bin. My plan is to mulch much of the leaves that fall this fall.

For starters, I layered the bottom with some mulch and lots of old leaves. This is referred to as browns or carbon. This weekend I added freshly fallen leaves and a banana peel, this is referred to as greens or nitrogen rich. A ratio of 30:1 carbon to nitrogen is ideal. The way the compost is built with plenty of room for air/oxygen and water to enter.