Composting Systems You Can Build at Home From Trenches to Tumblers
Book: Backyard Farming: Composting | Author: Kim Pezza | ISBN: 978-1-57826-587-9 | Hatherleigh Press, 2015
One of the first excuses people make about composting is space. “I don’t have room for that.” Pezza shuts this down early in Chapter 3. Whether you’ve got 30 acres or a studio apartment, there’s a composting method that fits. No excuses. Let’s talk about the systems you can build yourself.
Soil Incorporation (Trench Composting)
This is composting at its most basic. You dig a hole, you bury your food scraps, you let the ground do the work.
The method is simple: dig a trench about 12 to 15 inches deep. Chop your food waste into smaller pieces, mix it with some soil, drop it in, and cover it with at least 8 inches of soil on top. That’s it. The microorganisms in the ground take care of the rest.
What you can bury: grains, cereals, fruits, vegetables, tea bags, and coffee grounds. What you should not bury: dairy, oil or grease, and meat or bones. Those attract animals and create problems you don’t want.
The timeline varies a lot. It can take anywhere from one month to a full year for everything to break down. Faster in warm weather, slower in cold. But the nice thing about trench composting is you literally forget about it and let nature handle things. Zero maintenance after you fill it in.
Grasscycling
This one is so easy it barely feels like composting. When you mow your lawn, just leave the clippings on the grass. That’s grasscycling. The term actually came from the 1990s, which is a fun bit of trivia.
Here’s why it works: grass clippings are about 80% water with high nitrogen content. They break down in just one to two weeks and can provide up to 50% of your lawn’s fertilizer needs. You’re basically feeding your lawn for free every time you mow.
A few tips from Pezza to make this work well:
- Keep your grass at 3 to 4 inches tall
- Never cut more than one-third of the blade length at once
- Mow when the grass is dry
- Use a mulching mower if you have one
If you’ve been bagging your clippings and throwing them away, you’ve been tossing free fertilizer in the trash. Stop doing that.
Covered Windrows
This is the big-scale option. Windrows are long heaped piles, at least 4 feet high and about 14 to 15 feet wide. They get covered with plastic sheeting or a breathable membrane.
This method is more for farms and large properties. The piles get turned mechanically, and you can include food scraps as long as you bury them deep enough in the pile. It’s not really a backyard method for most people, but Pezza includes it because some readers do have the space and equipment.
Types of Composting Bins
Before we get into building your own, here’s the lineup of bin types Pezza covers:
- Stationary bins are the largest and most common. They sit in one spot and you manage the pile inside.
- Tumblers are barrel-style containers that rotate, making turning your compost way easier.
- Worm composters use red worms to break down food scraps. Great for small spaces.
- Indoor composters for apartment dwellers who want to keep things inside.
Building Your Own Bins
This is where it gets fun. You don’t need to buy an expensive composting system. People build bins out of all sorts of stuff.
Pallets are a popular choice. Free, sturdy, and already the right shape. Wooden boards work great too. But Pezza gives two important warnings: don’t use plywood because moisture will delaminate it over time, and don’t use treated wood because the chemicals in the treatment will leach into your compost. That’s the opposite of what you want from organic soil.
Other materials that work fine: plastic tubs, barrels, bricks, and even old garbage cans. Basically, if it can hold stuff and let some air flow through, you can probably turn it into a compost bin.
One solid tip from the book: if you’re building stationary bins, make two or three connected together. That way you can easily turn compost from one bin into the next. It’s a much better workflow than trying to turn everything in a single bin. And always add a cover to keep rain out. Too much water drowns the process.
I think the creativity people bring to DIY bins is honestly one of the best parts of composting culture. I’ve seen people use old dresser drawers, broken refrigerators with the doors removed, stacked tires, and wire mesh rolled into cylinders. If it holds organic matter and gets some airflow, it can work. Don’t overthink it.
Small Space Bins
Living in an apartment or have a tiny yard? Get yourself a plastic container that’s at least 18 gallons. Darker colors are better because they absorb more heat, which speeds up decomposition.
Drill holes about 2 inches apart all over the container for airflow. Then just add your scraps, give it a shake every day, and manage the moisture. If things get too wet, add some sawdust or shredded newspaper. Too dry? Sprinkle in some water.
It’s not glamorous, but it works. And it fits on a balcony or in a closet.
Homemade Tumblers
Tumblers are great because turning compost by hand with a pitchfork gets old fast. To make your own, grab a barrel (plastic or metal both work). Cut a door in the side, attach it with hinges, and add a latch to keep it closed. Drill holes all over for ventilation.
For the rolling mechanism, Pezza describes two approaches. You can attach old tires to each end of the barrel so it rolls on the ground. Or you can run a pipe through the center and mount it on X-shaped brackets so it spins in place. The pipe method is cleaner, but the tire method is simpler to build.
Either way, you end up with a compost tumbler that does the same job as the ones selling for $150 or more at garden stores. For basically the cost of a few hinges and some drill bits.
What’s Next
Now that you know what systems exist and how to build them, the next post covers how to choose the right one for your situation and where to put it.