Some people prefer the natural look of a wooden compost bin. Although most of the commercial compost bins you see these days are plastic, you do see some wooden compost bins now that are already made.

Here are two wooden composters that I like that you can buy.

This cedar bin has two large sections so that you can keep two compost piles going at once and compost large amounts of materials. It’s a great choice if you like to compost leaves, which take up a lot of space. Cedar is very durable, and it’s also a readily available wood that is eco friendly.

This spruce composter is made from FSC certified sustainable wood. It has a really nice look, and the wood has been heat treated for extra durability. The lid is nice, and the extra large spaces between slats allow good aeration.

But what if you want to build a wooden compost bin yourself? You still have a lot of options.

I really like this booklet that has a bunch of different plans for compost bins that you can build yourself. There are a lot of ideas for different styles of bins, and the instructions are clear.

You can also find plans online to build a wooden composter yourself, if you’re the handy type.

The University of Missouri Extension has free plans for several types of compost bins, including a cedar wooden compost bin.

Any other good sources for wooden composter plans out there that I might have missed?

Photo courtesy of Jan Van Raay at Flickr.com.

Synthetic fertilizer is made from petroleum and it poses a triple threat to the environment. When oil is extracted, processed, and transported, it produces greenhouse gases. Synthetic fertilizer also is unstable and will release additional gasses as it breaks down. Finally, synthetic fertilizer washes away when it rains, contaminating rivers, lakes, and bays with nutrients that can cause algal blooms.

Instead of using synthetic fertilizer, you can improve the health of your garden with home made compost. There are plenty of ways to make earth friendly fertilizer by composting your food scraps, and doing so also cuts down on the amount of gas that the garbage truck burns. Instead of throwing valuable nutrients into the landfill, change your habits and save a few bucks too!

Compost can be made in several different ways. You can use a compost pile, compost trenches, a composter, or a worm bin. Each of these methods produces humus that can be used around the yard. Humus is well balanced soil that contains an ideal mix of nutrients, retains water better than depleted topsoil, and has a rich, healthy color. Humus is also gentle on young plants, because it’s easy for their roots to burrow through.

A compost pile is one of the oldest ways to make compost. Simply stack together branches, twigs, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps in a clearing in your yard. Every couple weeks, take a spade or pitchfork and stir the contents together. Fresh ingredients can be stacked on top of the pile, and finished compost will settle to the bottom.

Compost trenches offer similar results with lower maintenance. When you have a big pile of kitchen scraps, simply dig a deep hole in the ground and bury the organic waste. A 4-6 foot deep hole is about the right depth. Shallow trenches are also useful, but they can attract unwanted animals like possums, skunks, and rodents. Shallow trenches are also a bad idea in certain areas because they stink.

Enclosed composters give a great deal of control over compost and they offer protection from the weather as well as small animals. Compost bins are available in various styles. Tumbling models will aerate the compost for you, while stationary models require turning in the same way that compost piles do. Composting bins can accelerate the decomposition process because they offer insulation and they compress compost ingredients into a small space where the heat that bacteria produce will build up. Finally, when the compost is finished, enclosed composters make it easy to transport humus by rolling or pushing the bin to the spot where it’s needed.

Vermicomposting bins are a unique variation on compost bins. They use small animals such as worms or grubs to break compost down into soil. As the animals eat scraps, they will digest them into soil and use the energy to breed.

No matter which method you choose to produce compost, this natural fertilizer is a great alternative to chemical fertilizer. By composting organic waste, you can make your slice of the world a healthier, more natural place to live!

Photo courtesy of duckiemonster at Flickr.com.

Photo courtesy of maudieshah at Flickr.com.

Farming with worms is a simple way to turn food scraps into organic fertilizer. Worms are quick workers, and they don’t sleep. They work 24 hours a day, and don’t take any holidays. Worms breed faster than rabbits, plus their birth rate is boosted even further because there’s no need to kill them to harvest their work. As worms eat vegetable scraps and fruit rinds, they turn trash into soil. Their worm castings are rich in healthy bacteria, as well as worm cocoons that each contain 2-50 baby worms. Worm castings can be harvested simply by sifting the soil from a worm bin.

When composting with worms, you can use either a compost trench or a compost bin. Compost trenches are simply holes in the ground full of compost. These compost middens can be difficult to dig, especially if you make them deep enough to keep animals from burrowing into the trash. To control odor, compost trenches should be dug at least 6 feet into the ground. This is the perfect depth for Nightcrawler worms (which are also known as Common European Earthworms, Tiger Worms, or Angleworms). A hole that’s one-foot in diameter will hold about 5 gallons of compost, and a 12 ounce tub of earthworms will be able to process that compost in 1-2 months. A shallow trench can also be used within a fenced garden or any area protected from rats, badgers, and other scavengers. Dig the trench 6-8 inches deep, and then add Red Wiggler worms. These worms work close to the surface and will generally stick to the area that you’ve dug up for them, because the loose turned soil is easy to tunnel through.

Digging compost trenches is hard work, and compost bins are an easier alternative. Instead of digging a new hole every time you have compost, you can simply lift the lid and add compost to your vermicomposting bin. Worm farms will not only protect your worms from predators (such as birds and snakes) but they will also keep the worms from wandering away into your neighbor’s yard. Worm bins come in many different sizes and designs; you can make one yourself, or buy one and protect your thumbs from stray hammer blows.

When choosing a bin, the size you pick often depends on the number of people that live at your house. An average person produces about 2 square foot of organic waste per week, so your worm bin should have at least that much space per person living with you. Choose a bin with enough capacity to meet your peak needs, and maybe a little bit more. For example, if you have 2 people living in an apartment, an ideal size for a worm bin would be 4 or 5 square feet. If you often host relatives at your house for Thanksgiving dinner, there’s no need to count them towards your total, but if you have guests over for dinner every wednesday, you may want to get a slightly larger worm bin.

After you’ve picked out a worm bin, it’s important to put a biodegradeable lining into it. Worms don’t like the feel of plastic, wood, or metal against their skin, and extreme temperatures can stress them out. So, you should insulate your worm bin with shredded paper, strips of cardboard, peat moss, or coconut fiber. These materials will soak up water and help maintain a steady humidity level. They are also rich in carbon, while most food scraps have high levels of nitrogen. When worms need to snack on some carbon rich materials, they will nibble at the lining of the worm bin and choose a diet that meets their needs.

It’s important to add a thick layer of soil to your worm composting bin along with food scraps. Worms need soil in the same way that fish need water. They need it to ‘swim’ through, and it makes them feel comfortable. Soil will help buffer the acidity of any organic waste that you add, and it also provides a pathway for worms to burrow through. Soil also contains healthy organisms that will help the worms digest food scraps.

Photo courtesy of mdelemos at Flickr.com.

Photo courtesy of Mnemonix at Flickr.com.

Vermiculture is a word that can be confusing. What does it mean? The prefix, “vermi”, sounds unpleasant, like ‘vermin’, but Vermis is the Latin word for worm. That leads to the next question – how does one “culture” worms? Well, so far no one has had any luck teaching worms to enjoy the opera or visit art galleries. Instead, we’ve learned how to culture worms in the same way that milk curds are cultured to produce cheese. Just like cheese bacteria, it’s easy to raise worms and get them to do useful work at the same time that they grow up and reproduce.

Worms can reproduce very quickly, as many species are hermaphrodites. They can breed even if there are no other worms to mate with. Worms lay cocoons that contain anywhere from 2 to 50 baby worms. This rapid reproduction keeps the species alive in the wild, even though many different birds, snakes, and other predators try to eat them. Inside a worm bin, there are no predators so the worm population will grow quickly.

Photo courtesy of Sevenoh at Flickr.com.

Worm composting can be done indoors or outdoors. Many different containers are suitable for vermiculture. You can buy a custom built worm bin, or build your own using a wooden or plastic container, an old wash tub, barrels, sandboxes, dresser drawers, or even suitcases. The trick is to keep the worms happy. Maintain good air flow, keep the soil damp but not too wet, and give the worms plenty of food. Then, sit back and let them eat and reproduce around the clock. If you feel like it, go to the opera or check out a museum – the worms will still be working when you get back.

Photo courtesy of wyo92 at Flickr.com.