This month Simon Akeroyd builds a three bay compost bin for his kitchen garden to deal with all the garden waste at this time of year.

It is time to revamp my composting facilities at the back of my kitchen garden, as it currently consists of a single, rickety old compost bay made from pallets. I’m building a couple of new bays next to the old one, which will give me a total of three. This should be plenty for the amount of garden and kitchen waste I produce each year. Having three composts means I have one for using, one for resting and one for placing new garden waste into. Building them next to each other means composting can be turned easily from one bay to another.

I’ve made compost facilities from pallets many times before. Why I like using pallets is that they are free, and can be knocked up in about an hour requiring very little DIY skills. If possible, try to use pallets that are all the same size. Most standard pallets are 1.20m by 1m. Free pallets can often be found around warehouse facilities, but always ask the owners before helping yourself as some pallets are ‘returnable’ or may well be needed.

Things You Need

You will need to build 3 bays:

8.5 pallets the same size
Screwdriver, screws and batons
Garden fork and rake
Garden wire

Step One

Clear the ground of weeds. Ensure you remove all perennial roots growing in the soil, as they will otherwise root into the compost heap.

Step Two

Take time to level the soil. My allotment is on a bit of a slope so I’ve had to re-level the ground slightly to avoid the pallets looking too wonky.

Step Three

Start to build your first bay by placing a pallet on its lengthways side at the back. Take time to get it level, as otherwise the other pallets won’t but up flush to it.

Step Four

Next place your two sides on either side of the back pallet. Ensure that the pallets are level. You may need to adjust the soil underneath to achieve this.

Step Five

Use wire to tie the pallets together. If you want something more permanent and long term you can strut the pallets together using batons of wood.

Step Six

Start to build your second bay by placing another pallet on its side lengthways along the back, butted up to the first bay

Step Seven

Use another pallet to create the end sidewall of the second bay. I’ve only built two bays as I already had one, but if not continue building a third bay.

Step Eight

Build fronts to your bays to contain the compost by cutting a pallet in half length ways. This will prevent all the compost tipping out when it is full.

Step Nine

To keep the fronts in place, cut 20cm length batons and screw them to the sides of the pallets across the fronts. Turn them vertically to lift out the fronts when access is needed.

Turing compost

At this time of year I always end up with a huge amount of garden waste, as my kitchen garden is harvested and all the excess plant material gets added to the compost heap. Composting facilities in the garden are rightly regarded as the engine house of the kitchen garden. You can buy your own compost, but it is expensive and you can never be sure what has been put into it. Far better to make your own.

If possible, start with three compost bays. Start by placing all your compost into Bay One. After two or three months or when it is full, use a fork to ‘turn’ the compost out of Bay one and into Bay Two. Continue to fill bay one with fresh compostable material. After another three of four months the material in bay three should be rotted down enough to be used in the garden. Once Bay Three is empty turn, Bay Two’s content into Bay three and Bay one’s content into Bay two and start to fill Bay one again.

Using this system should ensure that you are never short of gorgeous, homemade compost in the garden. For a good healthy compost try to ensure you have a good mix of ‘green’ material such as grass cuttings, vegetable peelings and herbaceous plant material, and brown, carbon rich material such as wood chippings, newspaper and shredded cardboard. Avoid, fish, meat and dairy products unless you can get your domestic compost very hot and it is rodent proof.

DIY Compost Bin
Pallet Project
Garden Composting
Homemade Compost Bin
Turning Compost