DIY Compost Bin [from a water tank]

Homemade Compost is the king of plant foods

Problem is, when you’re a newbie gardener, you’re not really sure about how to create a diy compost bin.

Whether you’re planting in the ground or in raised garden beds, compost is going to be your magic trick to creating a thriving garden. Even if you start with the BEST soil combination, it still needs to be fed with rich compost each season to really perform at its highest.

Keeping things simple around here is our specialty, so today I’m going to show you how we upcycled a leaking water tank into a simple compost bin. 

How a compost bin works

When you’re making a compost bin, all you’re essentially doing is creating a place to store organic matter that will mix together and break down into composted material to use straight in your garden.

If you were to throw things like coffee grounds, kitchen scraps, leaves, & eggshells into a pile, it would eventually break down into rich soil, but the reason why we build things like compost bins is to speed up the process.

By adding water & turning the pile, you are going to get good composted material a lot quicker. As you start to compost things from your home & farm, you’ll not only be saving the environment, you’ll also be making free food for your plants that in turn, feeds you.

To learn more about what you can & can’t add to a compost bin, read this composting guide for beginners.

DIY Compost Bin [from a water tank]

There are lots of diy compost bin tutorials out there, but for this tutorial, we’re going to show how we turned our old, leaky water tank into an awesome compost bin! While you can snag a compost bin online, there’s nothing more satisfying than making one from something you were going to throw away.

STEP ONE:

We started by cutting slits all around it, because we wanted any rainwater or irrigation flood water to seep in and water it naturally.

STEP TWO:

Next, we cut a hole on the side to so the free-ranging chickens could hop in and peck at things, poop, and till it naturally as they scratch around. This also can be covered with a board if we need to cover it up as we turn it. 

STEP THREE:

Inside, you’ll see things like goat manure, egg shells, wood chips, wood ash, grass clippings, produce scraps from the kitchen, coffee grounds, banana peels, leftover vines/veggies from the garden, leaves, etc. 

STEP FOUR:

You’ll see in this video that we add things to it daily, then turn it about once a week. If it needs water, we’ll water it, but for the most part, rainwater & irrigation water does it’s job. Also, the hot sun & plastic around the water tank provides a warmer environment, speeding up the composting process even further. So far, so good!

Making your own Compost Bin

This is just one example of the many items around your yard you could use to make a diy compost bin. For all the work it takes to create one, you’ll be glad you did. And your plants will thank you with gorgeous harvest each year!