I built my composters out of 32 gallon trash bins, with several 1/2" holes drilled in the sides and the bottom. These can be found inexpensively in dark green, black, and other sedate colors. It's much less expensive with something that's sold as a composter.

Yes, you can compost egg shells, coffee grounds, and veggie/fruit scraps. Bear in mind that the egg shells won't really break down (or not very quickly), so they may remain recognizable for quite some time. They will eventually break down, however, and will add calcium to the soil.

I wouldn't add dairy, because it could get smelly. I think that's the main reason against it.

I've read that you can compost human and pet hair, and have started throwing this into my bin when it's convenient to do so. With 3 cats and 2 long-haired humans, it's not hard to come up with a lot of it!

Depending on the available space and layout of your backyard, an open pile discreetly hidden behind a few shrubs would fly under the HOA radar better than a big black drum - probably provide you with a larger quantity of compost, too. Cost = free.

And paying a "reasonable" amount of attention to the mix of materials you're composting, the chances of odors or drawing unwanted critters is virtually nil.

Hi, my guy made me a tumbling composter last winter. Up till now, I've had a bin I made of 3 wood flats. I've used that for the crap stuff, and wouldn't use it in my gardens if you paid me! It's too full of the weed seeds.

For the tumbling composter, he got me a 55 gallon drum from a candy company, used to have chocolate syrup in it. I found how-to's on utube for him to go by for the base. It all cost me under $25. I just finished filling it, and can't wait to see the results! I'm going to put it in the back yard, behind the garage. I'm just waiting for the daylillies to show that I have to displace for it. Now, where the heck to put them?!

Karen

You can make your own which I have done, but check out Craig's List. I just bought an Earth Machine used for $20.

A big black compost tumbler would not be something unobtrusive, while a bin construncted on the ground can be easily concealed by shrubs, if necessary. This link is to a good web site that is a very good tutorial for all composters.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Composting Online

Composters can be invisible to HOA if you're willing to spend the time to build a tidy looking box. I would bet that a compost bin made from pallets with siding on them would not offend, expecially if the area around them is kept tidy. Paint the siding, put some trim on it and people won't even know what they're looking at.

I agree with the poster who stated, "an open pile discreetly hidden." I have a bin I bought years ago, but I make so much compost, I quickly fill and move to a open pile.

Open piles are much easier to turn and work with. I feel once the pile cools down I get much more worms then my bin pile. I just turned a pile I started last fall on the ground and let sit through the winter. It was well composted and filled with worms.

Congrats on the New Home....

P.S. You could take my wife's approach and join the HOA board, then you can change bylaws you don't like.

And if you haven't already read them, be sure to check out the many FAQ's here on getting started, different types of bins/containers, and suggestions on what to add. Linked them for you below.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Composting Frequently Asked Questions

Bee, however you construct or purchase a compost bin, its placement can determine just how much or how often you feed it.
Putting it out in the yard, a fair distance from the back door is likely to get you to "forget it"..."its too cold and/or the snow is too deep". Yes, composts can be fed in winter.

Your idea is to use one composter--a bin that revolves to mix the contents. But its only one bin. How do you get out the good stuff to use, without removing some of the stuff you want to stay.
There's stages to compost....from the ugly, to the stuff you want to hold in your hand and bring to your nose.
Two bins is better than one......and three bins...well that's the cat's meow.
Then you have the bad, to the good, to the best.

$25.00 isn't a lot of money but you can build a compost bin for peanuts....a couple bucks anyway. Dumps have large amounts of old wood--sometimes pallets-broken or otherwise, and they make a fine compost bin when used in conjunction with chicken wire or other scrap wood.

Does a compost bin require a floor? It depends on the surface the bin is located on. You want the worms to enter so shutting them out wont help the compost in that respect. A half-floor...will let the worms in, the excess moisture out. A cement slab can be used.

You want the bin large enough so that you can put a spade into it and turn the contents. A rolling bin might do that when it isn't so full. Not having one, but hearing about them, the little woman doesn't have the arm-power to make the thing move. Such a large drum that mirrors a 45-gallon drum....migawd, it would weigh a ton in no time.

A bin constructed and placed behind a hedge or shrubs can be any size you wish. If its close to the kitchen, you'll feed it often. Otherwise, you will have to put the scraps into a smaller pail to trek out later to the pile.

Remember too, whenever the grass gets too high...i.e. higher than normal because of rain and you cant leave them on the lawn (which is the ideal thing to do), it goes into the compost. Grass clippings is one of the best things to add to any compost. There's a lot of nitrogen in them thar blades. And its nitrogen that is necessary to speed up the break down of the bin's contents.

The bin should also be where you can lay your hands on water. Compost bins need to be sprinkled water over to help the breakdown and increse the heat. So placed near an outside tap--with a small length of hose--would prove handy.
Grass clippings are also one of the best things to put in to increase the temperature.
If you use a bagger on the mower, then its an easy thing to walk over with the mower to the bin and empty.
If you rake, its a lot better to bag it and walk to the bin that's close at hand.

By the way, your new bin will no doubt not be able to take all the clippings or other garden trash you think to add.
Too much of one thing can upset the balance.
So what clippings you cant add all at once, bag it, keep it behind a bush, add a little soil, a little water, poke holes in the bottom to let the worms in, and use it later in the bin.
This goes too for later on use of the leaves you pick up in the fall.

Bee, you mention you do not intend to add meat to the pile.
Why not? Meat will break down just as good other add-ins.
Yes, they can attract vermin, mice and such. But so can a rotting apple and mice will be attracted to the warmth of the bin.

I'm a fisherperson, I love to fish and I have no problem in catching them. So I catch, I clean, I filet and now I'm stuck with a carcass I cant just dump in the garbage.
It too would draw the things you don't want drawn.
So I bury it/them, in the deepest part of the pile and in the space of a week....its gone, all or almost.
If fish emulsion is so good a fertilizer, the real thing cant be far behind.

Dairy products have a thing about them all to themselves and are suggested to not be added.
Eggs, just crush them a bit, they'll break down easy.

Don't add wood....any kind of wood, any form of wood.
Even a 1/4" length of branch off a tree will not break down easy. Put it in in October---its still there in June. Besides, wood steals nitrogen.
Another thing to add...nitrogen. Throw a handful of lawn fertilizer in the bin to help speed up breakdown.