Build your own composter — step by step
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A composter does not need to be pretty, but it does need to be accessible and aerated. A frame from four pallets does both and comes apart when needed.
Dimensions and materials
Four euro pallets give a box of roughly 120 × 120 cm, which is the minimum at which the material heats through in winter. A smaller composter cools down and the process stops.
The build
Screw three pallets into a U shape and hang the fourth on hinges as a door — without it, finished compost is hard to get out. Reinforce the corners with brackets. Nothing gets painted: wood preservative has no place in compost.
What to fill it with
Alternate „greens“ (grass, vegetable scraps) and „browns“ (leaves, straw, cardboard) at roughly one to two by volume. If the compost smells of ammonia there is too much green in it; add leaves. If nothing is happening, it lacks moisture.
What does not belong
Meat, dairy, weeds gone to seed and coal ash. The rest of your kitchen and garden waste is fine.