SAN ANTONIO – The soil you use in your garden is important because it adds nutrients to your plants.
You can save money and help out the environment at the same time by making your own compost soil. Read about why it’s so important for the environment to throw your food waste into your City of San Antonio green bins over your trash bins that go to the landfill and how having a compost pile at home can make an environmental impact.
Let’s take it a step further and make a compost bin for our gardens. We made one for under $40, along with some free supplies.
I teamed up with Kristi and Becca, who own a local environmental gardening consulting company and Rainbow Gardens. They will show us the easiest way to make your own at home.
Here is what you need:
- Four non-painted pallets; you can get these for free at most local nurseries or businesses, including Rainbow Gardens, just ask! Make sure to get non-painted pallets, so no chemicals leak into your compost pile.
- One roll of chicken wire
- Two burlap bags, these are also available for free at Rainbow Gardens
- Staple gun and staples
- Wire cutters
- Screws
- Set of four angle brackets
- Set of two door hinges
- Drill
- Shovel
Where you put your compost should get either full sun or dappled sun, as the sun helps break down the matter.
How to build your compost bin:
- Take the screws and angle brackets connecting three of the pallets together.
- Next, cut the chicken wire and staple along all three sides.
- Then, drill in the door hinges.
- Staple in the burlap sacks, fill with a compost and plant trailing flowers for the cottage aesthetic.
- Dig a hole in the ground for about a foot and start your compost pile.
“At the end of the day, you want to keep your composting simple. You don’t want to get caught up in the ratios of the matter. Everybody’s compost is going to be different,” Kristi said.
She said many gardening sites take you down the rabbit hole of how many greens versus organics you should put into your compost pile, but as long as you add matter, you’ll create compost over time.
Here is a good resource that can go into your compost pile. Just make sure not to add meat (to avoid critters) and dog poop for bacteria purposes.
Add your food scraps to your hole, then cover them with your yard clippings or racked leaves. Depending on how often you add to it, lightly aerate it once a week or every 10 days.
The beauty of composting is that it’s not rocket science, and everyone does it differently.
It should start looking more like dirt or actual compost in about six weeks. That’s when you can start flipping it, or you can flip it about every time you add to it. When you flip your pile — flipping is basically turning it over with a shovel a couple of times — if your food waste or greens haven’t started to decompose, then it’s not time to flip.