"Diggin' it!!!" wrote in message
oups.com...
All,

I want to set aside a portion of my small yard for a compost pile. My
father-in-law simply started a heap on the back part of his property
and lets it expand as necessary. However, since I do not have much yard
space, I am looking for ideas on how to create a relatively compact
compostpile that can be secured so my dog and toddler do not distrub
the pile.

Any suggestions? The cheaper the better since I have a set of twins on
the way and diapers are eating away at the paychecks.

Thanks!


I've owned these Soilmaker compost bins for many years, and they work
beautifully.
http://www.composters.com/docs/bins_p4.html#sm

There are numerous products on that page. I'm referring to the black 4-sided
box. There are hatches at the front and the neighboring side, for removing
finished compost. Very convenient. And, the dark color helps warm the thing,
so I get maybe an extra month or so of composting at either end of the
season.

A couple of friends have not been impressed with the tumbler type units, but
others report good results. Without knowing how someone's feeding their
compost (types of scraps, size of scraps), there's no way to say one unit's
better than another.

If you think you'll be collecting a day or two worth of scraps in the
kitchen before bringing them outside, head to a tackle shop or sporting
goods store and get an inexpensive small bait bucket. They have a perforated
lid. If you don't have ventilation, you'll get anaerobic decomposition which
stinks like crazy. Give the scraps some air, and they can be indoors for 2-3
days before getting smelly.