Composting...

[BigBlueHen53]

I was lucky enough to get 3 of the plastic "pallet" thingies that 2 liter pop (soda) bottles come on. Turn them upside down (ie, flat side up) and they make fantastic boot drying racks racks.

I also use them in my basement. The idiot who built our house did not put a drain in the basement floor. (Where is all the plumbing, the water heater, and other things that might eventually break and spew water everywhere? The basement.) I stack cases of canned goods on these to keep them off the floor.

Oh my lands! Was he licensed? Bonded? Insured? That doesn't sound like building according to code. But I could be wrong. Some unincorporated areas don't require such things.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Here is my 3-bin system. We did some research first, including a small book I own on composting, with a wide variety of styles and types. In the end, we chose this style for functionality and footprint. The boards on the outer sides are fixed. The low boards across the front are fixed. The boards in between the bins can be removed easily as they just sit on top of each other. There are fixed boards below to the same height as front boards. By removing boards between the bins it is easier to transfer from one bin to the next.

Since it gets pretty cold here, it cannot be turned in winter. It certainly breaks down better when turned more often. The hardest bin to turn is the new bin on the left. When I went to turn the middle and right bins this weekend, I noticed a decent number of worms in the middle bin, but probably 10x more in the right bin.

Yesterday I used some of the compost from the right bin, and had to remove a few large chunks of unfinished stuff, but, otherwise looks good in and mixed into the soil nicely!

View attachment 3033469

Sigh! Be still, my covrtous heart!

 

[gtaus]

Here is my 3-bin system.

Very nice bin setup. I just use free pallets for my compost bins, but I do have the front system where I drop down boards along a rail as I fill up the bin. I just fill up one bin and then move on to the next bin - no turning in my pallet compost bin system. It takes a long time for a pallet bin to compost without turning, but I am willing to just let it sit and compost on its own for a few years. Almost all my compost comes from my chicken run compost system where the chickens do all the work for me.

That's an attractive and functional 3 bin setup. Unfortunately, that's $1000 worth of lumber today. I just spent $125 on 6 8' 2x8 for a raised bed.

Yes, a very nice bin setup, but I, too, immediately thought of the current cost of lumber and how expensive it would be to build a nice compost bin setup like that. Hence, I just use free pallets that I scrounge up from wherever I can get them.

I mentioned that in addition to the free pallets, I also use boards in a rail system to drop down the front of the bin as the material builds up. I like that system as it reduces the amount of lifting I have to do until the bin reaches towards the top and completely full. Last year, when a 2X6 was like $200 a board, I went through my scrap pile(s) behind the garage and started to piece together some scraps to make them 4 feet long for the front rail system. I just connected the pieces together using pocket hole screws on the end to end butt joint. Not a very strong board, but good enough for the purpose on the front side of the compost bins.

At the current price of a 2X6X8 pine board at Menards for $12.00, I was able to pocket hole screw a couple scrap pieces of wood with only about 20 cents of screws. That saved me about $6.00 per board for the front of the compost bin. Some of old wood I dug out from the scrap pile was definitely not very good, but I figure I'd use it for the compost bin and if the old wood failed, I will just remove the pocket hole screws and reuse them on some other scrap wood to make more 4 foot long boards for the front of the compost bins.

As for the wooden raised beds, last year I had to pass on all wooden raised beds like I usually make. I changed over to making raised beds out of corrugated galvanized steel and using only 2X4's to make a frame panel to screw on the sheet metal. I used 4X4 posts cut down for the corners of the raised bed and used my pocket hole screws to attach the panels to the 4X4's. The galvanized sheet panel raised beds worked great for me last year, so I bought some more sheet metal to make a few more of those raised beds this spring.

Again, I used scrap lumber to make the panel frames, but since I did not have enough scrap lumber at 8 feet long, I had to make 2 raised beds 4X4 each. But, having a couple smaller 4X4 beds instead of one 4X8 raised beds has some advantages. Also, since I was able to make my builds using only scrap lumber, I only had to pay for the galvanized metal and my pocket hole screw.

A full corrugated steel panel measures 26 inches wide by 8 feet long. I cut the panel in half at 4 foot, and then in half at 13 inches high. So, my finished 4X4 bed is about 16 inches high when attached to the wood frames. It cost me less than $25 per raised bed using my scrap wood. If I had to buy the wood for the framing, it still would have cost considerably less than an all wood raised bed.

If anyone is interested in the corrugated panel raised beds, here is a YouTube video which is close to what I built.

Bringing the post around to the topic of compost, I used the hügelkultur wood concept to fill the bottom 8-10 inches of the raised bed and then mixed my chicken run compost with top soil for the top 6-8 inches. Those corrugated panel raised beds worked out great for me last year and I have 2 more ready to build this spring.

 

[Acre4Me]

Here is my 3-bin system. We did some research first, including a small book I own on composting, with a wide variety of styles and types. In the end, we chose this style for functionality and footprint. The boards on the outer sides are fixed. The low boards across the front are fixed. The boards in between the bins can be removed easily as they just sit on top of each other. There are fixed boards below to the same height as front boards. By removing boards between the bins it is easier to transfer from one bin to the next.

Since it gets pretty cold here, it cannot be turned in winter. It certainly breaks down better when turned more often. The hardest bin to turn is the new bin on the left. When I went to turn the middle and right bins this weekend, I noticed a decent number of worms in the middle bin, but probably 10x more in the right bin.

Yesterday I used some of the compost from the right bin, and had to remove a few large chunks of unfinished stuff, but, otherwise looks good in and mixed into the soil nicely!

View attachment 3033469

This bin system was built in 2020, and lumber was getting harder to find. Also, we were interested in making it look decent bc it can be seen by neighbors and from the street (somewhat). Yes, lumber is high right now, but hopefully will come back down!

 

[Sally PB]

Oh my lands! Was he licensed? Bonded? Insured? That doesn't sound like building according to code. But I could be wrong. Some unincorporated areas don't require such things.

One rant post about this guy...

He stopped by the house about 8 years ago, to show his (current) girlfriend the houses he'd built. (He built the neighbor's too.) I wanted to grab him by the collar and ask, "Just how DRUNK were you when you thought THIS was a good idea?"

--No access to the plumbing into the shower to fix the drip, without tearing out tongue and groove paneling, or the shower wall

--No floor drain in the basement

--Not sealing the ceiling in the bathroom against moisture

--Electric baseboard heat throughout. Cheap to install, horrifically expensive to run. We put in a propane furnace our first fall.

--I'm probably forgetting -- or have mentally blocked -- some things.

The neighbor has MUCH worse problems. The garage is too short to park ANYTHING in it, except maybe a Smart-for-two which hadn't even been invented 40 years ago. Nice big shop... I guess...!?!

I saved the best for last: their upstairs toilet. It is recessed about 4" into the (outside) wall, which is not insulated. It has to be drained every fall, and is unusable for the winter.

What the houses have going for them is location, location, location. It's gorgeous back here.

End of rant. Thank you for indulging me.

 

[Percheron chick]

One rant post about this guy...

He stopped by the house about 8 years ago, to show his (current) girlfriend the houses he'd built. (He built the neighbor's too.) I wanted to grab him by the collar and ask, "Just how DRUNK were you when you thought THIS was a good idea?"

--No access to the plumbing into the shower to fix the drip, without tearing out tongue and groove paneling, or the shower wall

--No floor drain in the basement

--Not sealing the ceiling in the bathroom against moisture

--Electric baseboard heat throughout. Cheap to install, horrifically expensive to run. We put in a propane furnace our first fall.

--I'm probably forgetting -- or have mentally blocked -- some things.

The neighbor has MUCH worse problems. The garage is too short to park ANYTHING in it, except maybe a Smart-for-two which hadn't even been invented 40 years ago. Nice big shop... I guess...!?!

I saved the best for last: their upstairs toilet. It is recessed about 4" into the (outside) wall, which is not insulated. It has to be drained every fall, and is unusable for the winter.

What the houses have going for them is location, location, location. It's gorgeous back here.

End of rant. Thank you for indulging me.

His brother must work in the building department...

 

[TJAnonymous]

That's an attractive and functional 3 bin setup. Unfortunately, that's $1000 worth of lumber today. I just spent $125 on 6 8' 2x8 for a raised bed.

Last weekend I spent $140 for (10) 2x4x10s and another $67 for (4) 4x4x8 posts. This market is ridiculous!

Think about that.... $200 for 14 pieces of wood.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Very nice bin setup. I just use free pallets for my compost bins, but I do have the front system where I drop down boards along a rail as I fill up the bin. I just fill up one bin and then move on to the next bin - no turning in my pallet compost bin system. It takes a long time for a pallet bin to compost without turning, but I am willing to just let it sit and compost on its own for a few years. Almost all my compost comes from my chicken run compost system where the chickens do all the work for me.



Yes, a very nice bin setup, but I, too, immediately thought of the current cost of lumber and how expensive it would be to build a nice compost bin setup like that. Hence, I just use free pallets that I scrounge up from wherever I can get them.

I mentioned that in addition to the free pallets, I also use boards in a rail system to drop down the front of the bin as the material builds up. I like that system as it reduces the amount of lifting I have to do until the bin reaches towards the top and completely full. Last year, when a 2X6 was like $200 a board, I went through my scrap pile(s) behind the garage and started to piece together some scraps to make them 4 feet long for the front rail system. I just connected the pieces together using pocket hole screws on the end to end butt joint. Not a very strong board, but good enough for the purpose on the front side of the compost bins.

At the current price of a 2X6X8 pine board at Menards for $12.00, I was able to pocket hole screw a couple scrap pieces of wood with only about 20 cents of screws. That saved me about $6.00 per board for the front of the compost bin. Some of old wood I dug out from the scrap pile was definitely not very good, but I figure I'd use it for the compost bin and if the old wood failed, I will just remove the pocket hole screws and reuse them on some other scrap wood to make more 4 foot long boards for the front of the compost bins.

As for the wooden raised beds, last year I had to pass on all wooden raised beds like I usually make. I changed over to making raised beds out of corrugated galvanized steel and using only 2X4's to make a frame panel to screw on the sheet metal. I used 4X4 posts cut down for the corners of the raised bed and used my pocket hole screws to attach the panels to the 4X4's. The galvanized sheet panel raised beds worked great for me last year, so I bought some more sheet metal to make a few more of those raised beds this spring.

View attachment 3034463

Again, I used scrap lumber to make the panel frames, but since I did not have enough scrap lumber at 8 feet long, I had to make 2 raised beds 4X4 each. But, having a couple smaller 4X4 beds instead of one 4X8 raised beds has some advantages. Also, since I was able to make my builds using only scrap lumber, I only had to pay for the galvanized metal and my pocket hole screw.

A full corrugated steel panel measures 26 inches wide by 8 feet long. I cut the panel in half at 4 foot, and then in half at 13 inches high. So, my finished 4X4 bed is about 16 inches high when attached to the wood frames. It cost me less than $25 per raised bed using my scrap wood. If I had to buy the wood for the framing, it still would have cost considerably less than an all wood raised bed.

If anyone is interested in the corrugated panel raised beds, here is a YouTube video which is close to what I built.

Bringing the post around to the topic of compost, I used the hügelkultur wood concept to fill the bottom 8-10 inches of the raised bed and then mixed my chicken run compost with top soil for the top 6-8 inches. Those corrugated panel raised beds worked out great for me last year and I have 2 more ready to build this spring.

I make my raised beds the same way. DH uses one 2x4 on each end to make a frame. Corrugated metal gets attached to the end frame.

This year I really want some 2 ft x 2 ft raised beds from wood so I've decided to use free pallets and salvage the wood from those to build them.

 

[gtaus]

I make my raised beds the same way. DH uses one 2x4 on each end to make a frame. Corrugated metal gets attached to the end frame.

I found some pictures of the corrugated metal raised beds I made last year.

Here is a picture of one of my new 4X4 foot X16 inch high corrugated raised garden bed. In this picture, I have added about 8-10 inches of hügelkultur wood and organics as filler to the bottom of the raised bed.

Here is a picture after I filled the top 6-8 inches with a 1:1 mixture of my chicken run compost and top soil. I planted strawberries in this bed and they really grew well last summer.

Like I said, I just used scrap lumber I had behind the garage to make the 2X4 frames which I then attached to the 4X4 corner posts. I used pocket hole screws for everything on the framing to hold it together. I bought a small bag full of roofing sheet metal screws with gaskets to attach the metal to the wood frames. I built each of these 4X4 corrugated metal raised panel garden beds for less than $25.00 each because I did not have to buy any wood.

This year I really want some 2 ft x 2 ft raised beds from wood so I've decided to use free pallets and salvage the wood from those to build them.

Would love to see some pictures of your build and your experience using the 2X2 raised beds. Maybe a new thread on the subject. Depending on how you use the wood from the pallets, just be warned that reclaiming pallet wood can take more time and effort that you might think. Some of the pallets I have tried to disassemble have had some funky type of nails that made it very difficult to take the wood off. Other times, the wood would break into pieces and left me with nothing useable. I imagine you can save money using reclaimed pallet wood, but be prepared to put some sweat equity into the project.

There are a few YouTube videos of using pallet wood to make some nice raised beds. Worth a look to consider your options. Here is one guy I like to watch. This was his pallet wood build.

 

[TJAnonymous]

I found some pictures of the corrugated metal raised beds I made last year.

Here is a picture of one of my new 4X4 foot X16 inch high corrugated raised garden bed. In this picture, I have added about 8-10 inches of hügelkultur wood and organics as filler to the bottom of the raised bed.

View attachment 3034960

Here is a picture after I filled the top 6-8 inches with a 1:1 mixture of my chicken run compost and top soil. I planted strawberries in this bed and they really grew well last summer.

View attachment 3034965

Like I said, I just used scrap lumber I had behind the garage to make the 2X4 frames which I then attached to the 4X4 corner posts. I used pocket hole screws for everything on the framing to hold it together. I bought a small bag full of roofing sheet metal screws with gaskets to attach the metal to the wood frames. I built each of these 4X4 corrugated metal raised panel garden beds for less than $25.00 each because I did not have to buy any wood.



Would love to see some pictures of your build and your experience using the 2X2 raised beds. Maybe a new thread on the subject. Depending on how you use the wood from the pallets, just be warned that reclaiming pallet wood can take more time and effort that you might think. Some of the pallets I have tried to disassemble have had some funky type of nails that made it very difficult to take the wood off. Other times, the wood would break into pieces and left me with nothing useable. I imagine you can save money using reclaimed pallet wood, but be prepared to put some sweat equity into the project.

There are a few YouTube videos of using pallet wood to make some nice raised beds. Worth a look to consider your options. Here is one guy I like to watch. This was his pallet wood build.

I'd be happy to document the process. I have a pallet buster crowbar to help facilitate the process and make it easier... I spent $200 this past weekend for 14 pieces of wood (ten 2x4x10 and four 4x4x8)! Crazy! I have quite a bit of scrap wood that I saved from other projects and reuse. I just did some remodeling in the house and have a bunch of trim boards and 2x4s. Considering the astronomical price of wood these days, I'll spend the 10 minutes to buzz off nails or whatever.

Btw, I also use hugelkulture in my raised beds too. I put down leaves, old straw, and dead limbs before I ever add soil or compost. Working wonderfully so far!