2 storey compost bin

[gaiatechnician]

I am just going to link to my compost bin on instructables. It works well.
The fresh material goes into the upper bin and when it rots a bit, You fork some out at the bottom and straight into the bottom bin. I think it is useful where there is not much space because you are building up mostly.
http://www.instructables.com/id/2_storey_compost_bin/
Brian

[Garden Green]

That is really ingenious. What a great thing to build. Man, I wish I had your talent.

[gaiatechnician]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I62qT-tmGWE I finally put video of it on youtube. the video also has a very good (In my opinion) technique for getting rid of woody material, brambles and thorn bushes in the compost. Check it out! It is about half way through.
I made my vertical compost bin with brick for the bottom section. Of course it does not need to be brick. It can be whatever you are comfortable with. So it could be wood. I think the best material for the top section is black plastic, though. It heats up really quickly in the sun and helps the stuff rot much quicker.
Brian

[gardengirl72]

Do you do anything to the material while it is in the bin?

[gaiatechnician]

I do not do much to the material once it goes into the bin. Stir it a little with the fork, try to add in sequence so there is enough woody and enough green material. Sometimes I add soil on top and throw a gallon of water on so that the soil bacteria get spread through everything. Just moving it from the top bin to the bottom bin with the fork does a lot of mixing and it is so little effort, it just falls in!
I showed clipping woody material into a bucket on the video but really that only happens a lot in the fall when I prune the vines. I have sprained my wrist then I do it with the hand clippers but with the big pruner, it is very fast and no back, wrist or other strain!
It is an awesome way to deal with blackberrys.
I hope people try that method and also try 2 stage vertical compost bins similar to what I did.
Brian

[patriciathorney]

Wow. Great Idea. I will do same thing! :)