Introduction

Backyard composting is the quickest way to turn your food waste into a nutrient-rich soil amendment, so it’s a great idea for anyone with even a small garden. And since there’s no need to buy anything fancy or expensive, you can get started right away. Here are the materials you’ll need as well as step-by-step instructions on making your own compost bin:

Cut your pallets down the middle to get two shelves.

• Use a saw to cut the pallets in half. You should have two long pieces of wood when you’re done.
• Make sure you have enough pallets to make two shelves, so that each one is long enough for the box, and wide enough to hold the cardboard box (if you used a large box). If not, then grab another pallet or find some other kind of shelf material!
• Use your hammer to remove nails from your first piece of wood if necessary. It’s okay if they aren’t perfect; just try not damage them too much!
• Now place that piece on top of another one with its sides facing down onto each other – making sure they line up properly so nothing gets damaged later on down the road when we start using it as our compost bin!

Line a cardboard box with newspaper.

Line a cardboard box with newspaper.

Cut the box down to size, and line it with newspaper on all sides. Make sure the edges are sealed tightly so no compost can escape. The newspaper protects your compost from getting wet, keeps the bin clean, and helps keep the compost at an ideal temperature range for decomposition.

Make a square frame from chicken wire.

From a hardware store, you can find chicken wire. It’s a mesh made of galvanized steel wire with small openings between the wires.

You need to cut four pieces of chicken wire to make your square frame: two pieces should be long enough to go around your bin (about 1.5 or 2 feet longer than your bin), and the other two should be shorter and wide enough that they can fit inside the first two pieces (about 3 inches).

You will put these together by overlapping them in an X shape across each other and then stapling them together at their intersections to keep it all sturdy so that you don’t have any gaps when building your compost bin later on.

Use plastic ties to secure the frame of chicken wire to the back of your pallets.

Use plastic ties to secure the frame of chicken wire to the back of your pallets.

Plastic ties are easy to use, reusable, stronger than string and weather resistant. They’re also easy to remove and cheap! They come in a variety of sizes so you can choose between using large or small ones depending on what task they’re used for.

Use zip ties to attach the pallets together and form sides for your compost bin.

You can use zip ties to secure your pallets together and form sides for your compost bin. Zip ties are super easy to use, strong, cheap, and versatile.

You can buy a pack of 100 zip ties for less than $10 at any hardware store. The most common size is 1/2″ wide by 18″ long but you should check the packaging because different brands offer different sizes.

Place the cardboard box at the base of your compost bin.

Place the cardboard box at the base of your compost bin.

The box acts as a catchment for any compost that falls from your pile. It should be about the same size as the compost bin itself, and open at both ends so that you can easily reach inside it and pull out any excess materials that have fallen through. If possible, line it with newspaper or other similar lining material (such as plastic bags) to keep all of those rotting materials from getting on your hands when you go to clean them out!

You can make your own compost bin from a few simple items from around the house!

You are going to need:

• a pallet
• chicken wire (around 10′ x 10′)
• 2 pieces of 3″x3″ lumber, cut at 32″ long each
• or- 2 pieces of 1½”x1½” lumber, cut at 36″ long each
• or- any sturdy wood that is roughly 18″-20″ long and 4″-5″ wide, as long as it will fit between the two pallets when they’re laying flat on their sides with their tops facing up.

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed reading this post and that it inspired you to get started composting. All you need to do is grab some pallets, cardboard, and chicken wire and go to town! Happy DIY-ing!