If you are planning to start composting in your yard, the first thing you’ll need is a container of some sort.
Actually, you don’t even need that. If you want to do the lowest tech-style of composting, you can create a compost pile. The main advantage is absolutely no cost. You could start one today. The disadvantages are more plentiful. A pile is unprotected from the local animals, who might be surprisingly interested in your compost. The other disadvantage is that a pile decomposes more slowly than a container.
Before purchasing a container, you might want to check with your city or other local municipality to see if they offer subsidized composters for sale. City governments have caught onto the fact that helping residents to compost kitchen and yard waste will save a lot on waste disposal expenses, compared with the costs of adding those items to the local landfill.
A simple composter made of dark durable plastic with a locking lid and some ventilation is a really easy way to get started with composting. Several models are even available from Amazon, with free shipping to boot.
Either of these would be a welcome addition to my yard.
If you are a little bit handy, you can make your own compost container pretty easily. Four wooden pallets attached at the corners can create large square compost area. Unless you have a lot of yard waste though, you might need a long time to fill it up. I’ve also heard of people using old window screens to make a smaller compost container. One of our previous composters was a length of chicken wire attached to 4 stakes. If you fashion your own container, you’ll want to allow for ventilation and some portability in the future.
Ideally, you should place your composter in a handy place, although you might not want it to be the centerpiece of your garden. We traditionally place ours along the back fence. Late this fall, however, we had the good sense to move our empty compost to the middle of the yard so we wouldn’t have to make as long a trek through the snow to empty our kitchen waste.
