Compost bin, final chapter

The compost bin is done!


I had hoped to have it done by now, but after getting the pieces set in the yard where I wanted them, it got really, really REALLY windy (and I live in Kansas, so it has to be windy for me to say that!). And then there was a busy work weekend. So today, I have the day off from at least one job and could get it done.

First, after putting the pieces back together, since the wind blew them down, I screwed the L-brackets of each side into the back piece. That was easy.




Then came the trickier part: putting the door on. I hadn't taken one thing into account — that the ground in my yard isn't near as level as the garage floor, where I had previously fit the pieces together and marked where the holes for the screws should go. So I had to use some extra wood scraps lying around to line up the door piece as close as possible. I re-marked the holes for the hinges anway, just so it would fit better. Then I pre-drilled holes for the top hinge and put in the screws before doing the lower hinge.




Ta-daaa!



The last step was to put the eye hooks in the gate to keep it closed. I put one in the upper part of the gate and one in the lower half, because I thought about cutting the door in two, and still might, if I think I need to. That way, I could get to the finished compost at the bottom of the pile while the upper part of the pile stays behind the door. We'll see.



And to prove the gate really works:


UPDATE: And, the first load of grass clippings is in! I mowed the west side lawn, next to the garage, and since there's a lot of weeds, bagged it.



The clippings nearly filled up the bin the city provides, but I'm not sure exactly how much that is (it says it can hold 200 pounds, but today's wasn't near that much).



Anyway, the compost bin isn't even a quarter full with all that, so this thing could hold a lot! And since the grass hasn't completely greened up, there's a nice mix of "brown" and "green" yard waste in there to start. I even have a few kitchen scraps I could go dump in there!

I think I'm going to need a pitchfork, too.