That is how I started out, a trash can with holes drilled in it. Then I decided to get another trash can so one could be filling while the other is cooking. I also have the wire mesh bin in the back now, for rougher stuff.

I think it will be hard with only one trash can. When you need compost, you will have to rummage through the stuff that is not composted yet. But I have done that several times, but I like sifting through my compost!

Wouldn't it be better sitting directly on the ground than elevated on bricks? That would allow contact with the soil below and give organisms and worms access to it.

Karen

A new rub! I now can trade the 30 gallon galvanized can for a 45 gallon plastic trash can with wheels. Much to my wife's dismay, I attract trash, so the size isn't the issue. The new question is, which is better to compost with, the plastic can drilled with holes, or the galvanized can, drilled with holes?

O, and I would like to know about using the bricks or not, now that Karen has raised the question.

Thanks,
Tom

I've got three plastic Rubbermaid trash cans (32 or 35 gallon) going now, full of holes on the sides, bottom and lid.

Just last month, when I emptied two of them, I decided to put them up on bricks. My reason was that these can get hard to turn, and end up being rather compacted and anaerobic on the bottom. Since mine are on an asphalt driveway, I thought maybe lifting them up off of it might give a bit more drainage, since the bottom was really wet.

It hasn't been long enough to tell if this was a good move or not...

:)
Dee

Now there is 3 reasons whether to elevate the trash cans or not!

1) Directly on the ground for access to organisms and worms.
2) Elevated on bricks for Drainage.
3) Elevated on bricks for Better Air circulation.

Are there more reasons one way or the other? And which way is better?

And which should I use? Galvanized 30 Gallon Trash container for the bin, or 45 gallon Plastic Trash container?

Thanks,
Tom

Tom, I think the bigger the better, so I'd go with the larger plastic bin. I would raise it on bricks for the same reason the poster above gave....a yucky wet mess in the bottom. I would also have more than one for the reason stated above.

I would also think that (if you fill the container at the outset) you would be able to add to the first bin once or twice as the material settles and decomposes. Once you've done that, you can start your second bin and let the first finish.

Kristi

Bigger is better for bins. On the ground, with lots of holes.

A shotgun with a box or 2 of 00buck would be a good quick way to ventilate this thing.

-pH- getting all New Hampshire on ya

O.K. From the replies, it is 2 plastic garbage cans vs. galvanized. It is mostly elevated, but somewhat firm on the ground. I appreciate all the input and I'll trade my galvanized can for the plastic one and go buy a cheap second plastic can. Then I'll use 2 bricks to have 3/4 of the can elevated and 1/4 of it on the ground. That seems to be the consenses!
Thanks,
Tom

My experience with garbage cans as a compost container is that there will not be enough air infiltration and the compost will go anaerobic very quickly. No matter how many holes you drill there will never be enough. There is no real need for a container as long as the compost pile is kept neat.

Let me put it this way. I have two of the grey rubbermaid cans going now. Been using them for about 3 seasons now. I have the bottoms cut out sitting directly on the ground. I get earthworms, soldier fly larvre and other beneficial critters.
I have tried several times to get rid of them and go to a more conventional bin system.

I have found nothing that I like better than what I have now! Actually will be adding a third this Spring.

I have lots of large plastic storage containers and plastic trash cans I use to compost in. The trick to turning it is to get a long metal rod that will fit a drill and drill away. Been doing this for a while.

Depending on how large those containers are, a bulb auger may be just what you're looking for. Bulb augers are designed to drill holes in the ground for bulbs, and many of them are on long rods so you can drill standing up. They do a pretty good job stirring up compost.

Seeing that the recommended size for wire mesh, etc bins seems to be 3x3x3, the 45 gallon is probably better. On the ground for access to critters, some suggest to bury it about a foot. Four inch perforated PVC pipe put in the middle for added areation
If I remember right, Ruth Stout did not believe in doing any extra work. She kept 12 bins going. She would fill one up, then the next, then the next, not stirring, turning or anything, and by the time she was finished with the last one, the first would be ready all on its own. Time to start emptying and refilling.
Nature lets all the little critters do the turning.
I guess how many trash cans/bins you have would depend on how much compostable material you create or have access to.
MIke

"Lots of people compost in a garbage can , so I am not sure why the previous post would be against it." I did not say I was against it just that my experience is that there will not be enough air infiltration. To get sufficient air into a garbage can you would need more holes than side. Better and cheaper is 12 feet of fence fabric.

I use two plastic garbage cans for worm compost. Bottom is cut off, 1/4 inch holes drilled all over. I invert them and put them on bricks with plastic on the bottom to keep rodents like moles and gophers out of. If the top becomes the bottom it is extremely easy to slide the can up when compost is ready for harvest. I still get plenty of the beneficials in the compost. I put plastic bags over the top and then put the lid on with a brick to hold lid on.

Penny

Cornell Composting site has the best info I've seen for composting in a can.

I'm using 6 32 gal plastic trash cans for composting bins and they've worked out very well. All the trash cans have been made into compost bins slightly differently, however, they all share the config below:

a) Five 1" perforated PVC pipes crossing through the cans; alternating each pipe (1st pipe crosses from 12 to 6 o'clock, 2nd pipe crosses 3 to 9 o'clock, 3rd pipe crosses 12 to 6 o'clock, etc)

b) Four 1" perforated PVC pipes standing vertically from the bottom to the top of the bins.

c) Approximately 40 1/8" holes in the bottom of the bin, 50 3/8" holes around the bin and 40 1/8" holes in the lid

On Sat or Sun I line up the bins and move the contents in bin 1 to an empty trash can, then move the contents of bin 2 into bin 1, then bin 3 into bin 2, etc. and then usually Wed or Thurs I secure the lids with a bungee cord and roll each bin about 10' forward then back to move things around a bit.

I run all yard clippings and leaves through a shredder/mulcher (got it on Craigslist.org for 30 bux) before I put it into the composting bins. Breaking down the composting ingredients seems to be more important to me than what you do the composting in.

ciao,
primo_pomodoro

I compost in a Biostack bin which is fairly new and I think I'm going to like it. After mulching all my beds with mulched leaves in fall, I store the extras in 3 big Rubbermaid garbage cans with holes drilled in top, bottom, and sides. If mulched before they go in a lot of leaves fit into those 3 cans. I hoard them for later when I'm low on browns. By the time I get to the bottom of each can those leaves are well on their way to leaf mold. Works well for me and I'm much happier with the cans for leaves than I was when I stored them in garbage bags. I need to get more cans for more leaves, though, and want to get another Biostack this year. We're at the discussion stage on this- my husband is not fond of my compost bins and garbage cans sitting around the yard.

Karen

There were alot of follow-ups so I hope I am not repeating something that was said, but, I would avoid Metal Cans due to the temperature conductivity. It sounds like you are going for plastic anyway - Good Luck.

I didn't like trash cans for composting. The OM always went anaerobic at the bottom of the can, and I had a very difficult time turning it.

The trash cans were just too small in diameter to use a fork, for me. I tried rolling the cans to mix them, but they were so heavy they wouldn't roll. I tried running sticks through the holes, from one side of the can to the other, to let air in, but it didn't help. I always ended up having to dump everything on the ground to mix it (it stunk so bad it HAD to be mixed).

Cut the bottom out (if you can). Turn it upside down. To turn it- pick it up off the pile, move it, refill... or use a garden fence wire bin.

If you have an electric drill, I would 2nd bpgreens suggestion of a bulb auger. These are about 30" long, and seem to come in two diameters, 1 and 2 inches. They are wonderful for introducing air into a compost pile, no mater what the size. They are also very useful for turning old newspaper, magazines, and catalogs into a paper maché slurry, which composts very quickly. Bucket, water, and swish it all around a few minutes.

I have both sizes, and the smaller one is easier on the wrists.

I used a garbage bin when I started 4 years ago and still do but I also bought a compost bin 2 years ago. This is about twice the size of a garbage bin and has no base.
I think it best if possible to have the garbage bin on the soil with holes in the bottom.
A downside to using a garbage bin I found is that the breaking down process is quite slow - and it is difficult to turn the contents. What I did to help this along after my first couple of years was to add more soil and activator to help the compost along. I became less concerned about time and turning. I just waited longer

The whole time I was growing up, my parents had a metal can, buried in the ground so that just the lid was above. I'm assuming they had drilled holes in it first... Every so often, dad would go out and turn it, but I think mostly they just let it do it's thing. Every year they emptied it to use in the garden. I don't remember it smelling too bad.

When we wanted to go fishing, we'd just open the bin and grab out a few worms!

My compost bin (a large rubbermaid tote) is unusable right now. I put the jack-o-lantern leavings in it last year, so now have huge pumpkin seedlings. Since DH thinks the bin looks awful, I'm going to let the pumpkins grow and hide it while the scraps are doing their thing.

I've used a variety of trash cans since I've been composting with varied success. I too noticed it does come anerobic if there isn't enough air even with proper mixing. Also make sure it doesn't get too wet as there is no where for the water to go if there are no holes drilled and then it starts to give off odor. I preferred this to my pallet bin setup as the pallet bin required way too much material to start getting it hot whereas a half can of properly mixed nitrogen and carbon rich sources would get it hot. Also I have recently tried one of those Presto hoop bin setups and I think it gets too much air and dries out fast. Being in a water restricted area I don't want to be spending $$$ watering my compost when I'm not even watering my plants as often as I should be. The Earth Machine I have now is the main composter as it retains heat and moisture but has enough air to keep thinhgs just right.

I started a garbage can bin earlier this year.

I was going to drill holes in the bottom, but decided to cut the whole bottom off instead and set it directly on the ground. I drilled lots and lots of holes all over the sides and a few in the lid too.

My problem has been that it dries out too much on one side. It is near the house so one side is always in shade, but the other gets direct sun for a good part of the day. The "sunny" side dries out all the time. I should add that I'm in Colorado and it is *dry* here!

I though it might just be that I went a little crazy with the holes so I've very loosely covered the sunny side with some plastic. So far things are going well in there, but I keep checking on it every couple days and doing a little mixing to make sure. :)

If all else fails and it keeps drying out too much, I plan on just burying the compost bin in the ground, its got enough holes that it should make a good worm bin ;)

I put mine up on concrete blocks because fire ants got into it when it was on the ground. Not fun getting rid of those.