To Bin or Not To Bin | To Mix or Not to Mix
Whether you use a bin or not, which bin you use, and whether or not you mix your compost on a strict schedule misses the point: that you compost in the first place. And composting first requires feeling empowered to do so, seeing it as a task you can accomplish. It is. In fact, it’s incredibly easy; anyone can do it.
To start with, ignore the garden books and websites that place particular emphasis on using certain bins or mixing schedules. They are simply trying to sell (their advertisements, their book, their website, their vast and detailed knowledge). They’re not wrong that their method works, but they are that it’s the only or best way. What’s more egregious is that this attitude of “one right way” is often overwhelming to the uninitiated, creating a situation in which, increasingly, only experts think they can compost and garden. If you don’t feel empowered enough to roll your eyes at the “one perfect method that everyone must do,” remember those of us who’ve had gardening passed down in our families for generations do. We’ve seen almost every imaginable compost setup, and while it’s true that some cure compost faster and others heat up to higher temperatures—both of which have their advantages—all cure compost, and none are superior in all ways.
Next, just jump in. You don’t need to be an expert. The process is easy and you’ll learn from doing it along the way.
When considering compost bins, there are infinite possibilities. Use whatever you want and whatever works for you. This includes both bins that are purchased and built and no bins at all. If you decide to use a bin or bins, when considering your design(s), the words of wisdom from “folks who know,” as stated earlier, are that a bin between three- and four- feet cubed is necessary for a pile to be big enough to get hot enough to kill unwanted pests and seeds, yet still be small enough to allow enough air in, and all-around be most efficient at decomposing your organic matter. Here are a few bin ideas to get you started, but, really, do whatever works for you.
If you decide you don’t need a bin; you can just pile your compost. I’ve had plenty of gardening friends and family who’ve successfully used piles for compost. Actually, some of the best composts I’ve seen have been the piles made by friends—including massive piles mixed by pigs as they searched out the handfuls of corn kernels dropped down deep holes made with a rock bar—and I think that’s part of the secret: The bigger the compost, the better a piling method works.
For us, however, with a heap slowly built from kitchen scraps and paper waste, the pile method hasn’t worked. We always just end up with an amorphous mass oozing out in all directions. It’s fine at first—well, sort of—but only when the pile has just started. As the heap grows, even to the smallest heights, each time we try to pile anything on top, it just rolls off. Of course, we pick it back up and add it back to the pile, just to have it roll off—over and over again, in a sort of Sisyphean Laurel and Hardy routine. After about a dozen times, one of us will likely try to forcefully press the “roll away” into the pile and utter a few choice words in false anger at an inanimate object, in an attempt to wedge it in a “holding nook” of sorts and to get the object to understand our increasing seriousness and obvious frustration. About half the time, the thing rolls away as we’re still standing there. The other half roll away as we’re walking away. Although we laugh a lot, it isn’t very efficient. Plus, since we’re not building a pile all at once and, hence weighting light objects down with overlying layers, any paper and cardboard products we add soon find a new home. Once we started finding our old pizza cardboard in our neighbors’ yards, we decided we’d better change strategies. Yep, we’re those neighbors. Sorry.
If you want to help it along by mixing it after three weeks of getting a full bin, great. It’ll cure a little faster. If not, no big deal. For years, my mom had a massive, amorphous pile that she never mixed and never once thought about layering, and it was just fine. There are even proponents of this method, claiming we eventually get more cured compost this way. We certainly got plenty of wonderful compost from my mom’s pile. Personally, I usually help mine along by mixing it, but, if I’m honest, I don’t often stick to the schedule perfectly. I have many more pressing gardening tasks whose timings are much more crucial that take my focus. If mixing isn’t your thing, don’t worry about it. It’ll cure a little slower, sure, but it’s always good to remember that it would rot (cure) if you just set it outside in the elements anyway. It’ll be fine long-term, so don’t stress about it too much.
