DIY Composter

After planting blackberries this past weekend, Jason started his next project. A composter. We had been thinking about getting a composter for awhile and once we saw Jason's aunt and uncle's and how functional it was without taking up a lot of space we decided to move forward with composting. 

True to our engineering form, we purchased a book on composting from Half Price Books and began researching. Or rather, Jason did. (Have I mentioned that the boy is a pro at researching? It's his gift. I am pretty good myself, but not in comparison to him. It's a strength of his that I regularly lean on for guidance.)

Jason researched brands, types, functionality, etc. In the end we were looking at purchasing one in the $250 range - a little pricey and neither of us were really comfortable with that. Instead, my engineering hubby decided he was going to build one!! His project has been taking form the past week and was completed tonight.

I planned to make this a DIY post with all the nice pictures of the pieces that we started with and the progression, with the final result. Then Jason got started on everything and I lost my opportunity. Oh well. We basically started with a trash can, plastic sheeting, aluminum rivets, door weather stripping, silicone caulking, and bungee cord.

Jason drilled holes in the bottom for ventilation and worms.

Inside Jason created ventilation channels to allow good air circulation inside.

This is the exit for the good compost. (The good stuff is always at the bottom.) Jason made a door and engineered a way for the door to be held back on with a good seal.

Woo hoo! The finished product. Total cost ~$70. A fraction of what it would have cost to purchase one. 

We started collecting perishables this week once we knew the project was close to being finished. 

And here's our first composting material!

We'll continue composting our perishables, coffee grinds, etc. and hopefully get some good mulching for the garden!

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