Organic Soil and using a plastic composter bin

Hi,
I am very new to gardening . I am currently setting up a new vegie patch using certified organic soil. I am looking to buy a compost bin (tumbleweed tumbler maybe), but am unsure of the plastic. Is it ok to use a plastic compost bin or does this bring chemicals into the soil when I start using the mulch in the vege patch? Is there any compost bins that are recommended?

The plastic should not add anything to the finished compost, but if you are worried about it here is a way to make compost bins and re-use something:


Pallets are commonly used here in the USA for transporting heavy materials. They are almost always made of fairly cheap wood. I have seen plastic pallets showing up now and then. Look around for wood pallets that have not been used for toxic chemicals. You might find them at grocery stores, rock yards and other places where they need to handle materials in bulk.
Some companies want their pallets back, but many do not, and these might be free if you ask.

You need at least 4, and more is better. Most pallets are 4' x 4' (at least here that is a common size. I would not be surprised if they are 1m x 1m in a country that uses the metric system.

Set 4 on end to make a box. Tie, screw, nail (whatever!) 3 of them together, leave the 4th one loose, as a door.

Fill the box the best you can with the door missing (easiest to get the wheelbarrow in that way). Then put the 4th pallet in place, and tie it (secure, but easily removable).

If you have been able to find 3 more (7 in all) build another box that shares one side with the box you have just filled, again leaving one loose as a door.

As often as you have the energy to do it, fork all the stuff from box 1 into box 2. Let it compost there a while, then fork it back.
By alternating boxes and using a fork you are incorporating oxygen in the compost, and can add materials if needed, to help it decompose faster.
The open slats of the pallets will allow air and water to exchange through the pile. It might lose water, and start drying out and you can assess this each time you turn the pile. . If it rains too much then cover it so it does not get too wet.

Thanks a fabulous idea Diana_K, thanks so much. It will look as lot nicer than green plastic too!

If you have a row of 2-3 compost "cubes" like Diana_K described (or 2-3 plain old piles or heaps), here's a lazy man's shortcut to get usable compost faster, if you don't need to worry about lengthy cooking to control weed seeds or plant diseases.

The center of a pile cooks faster than the outermost layer, partly because the outside dries out and stops composting, and partly because the center gets hotter and cooks faster due to its greater insulation.

Instead of turning the entire pile over from one bin to the next, you COULD transfer only the center of the bin. That way, the second bin will be half full of almost-finished compost. You might be able to use that stuff in 1/3rd the time it would take for every piece of the entire first pile to break down.

Add new browns and greens to the outermost layers of the first pile, and make sure they get damp all the way through. You might have to water as you fill, or arrange a very slow trickle that runs for a long time. (I like to think that mixing parts of an old pile with a new pile carries many actively multiplying microorganisms into the new pile, speeding its startup. But I can't prove that. As far as i can tell, as soon as I pile up some greens and browns, they start composting whether I nurse them along or just wlak away.

I usually work with small piles or a row, where I can rake the dry stems and twigs off the outside of pile #1 and make them the core of a new pile #2. Then I take the center of pile #1 whenever I need it, and add it's remnants to the next pile down the row.

Rick has a very good point. You can sort through the piles as you work them and take out the best materials for whatever use you have, or let them cook longer.

Coarse material is good mulch for walkways. Chips, bits of sticks that won't break down so fast.
Somewhat finer but still coarse is good mulch for under shrubs and larger perennials.
Finer than that would be partially composted, you could not tell what it used to be, though there may still be a few chunks an inch or so across. Good material to mix with the soil when you are transplanting.
The finest, almost powder is good seed starting material, perhaps mixed with sand.

Rick, you are right that compost while it is still composting is a rich source of the microorganisms that can 'seed' the next generation of compost. These microorganisms are all around us, but by blending some nice compost with the new material I agree that you are indeed jump starting the compost process. As the compost process slows and cools off these organisms are starting to die off, so "get it while it is hot".

>> "get it while it is hot".

Great rule to remember! It also reminds us that the maximum amount of organic nutrients are found in "young" compost. "Fully finished" compost and "aged" compost have had more of their nutrients consumed or leaved out.

The only reason I know to cook compost longer than it takes to make the ingredients indistinguishable is that prolonged heat may kill off more weed seeds and plant pathogens.

Sometimes when I have an immediate need for more compost than is really ready, I'll rub the center of the pile though 1" chicken wire. Anything that falls right through is "ready enough".