How to Make a Composter Out of a 15-Gallon Barrel
Home composting keeps food waste out of landfills and provides free nutrients for home gardens. One drawback, however, is that most composters are so big that they're difficult to move when they are full. If you make your own, more sensibly sized home composter out of a 15-gallon, plastic barrel, you can keep it in a protected indoor area where raccoons and other animals can't get it, and you can take it outside only when you need to turn or empty it. Start with a clean, plastic barrel that never held toxic chemicals.
Screw one cabinet hinge on the top of a 15-gallon, plastic barrel as close to the edge as it will fit. Directly opposite the hinge, screw both sections of a deadbolt, with the bolt inserted into the latch.
Open the deadbolt, and draw a line with a felt-tip marker on the top of the barrel so that the line passes through the deadbolt's two parts. Unscrew and remove the deadbolt and hinge, and continue the line around the barrel's top to make a circle. It should pass under the point that the hinge pin occupied.
Drill a 3/8-inch hole on the line you drew. Insert a jigsaw's blade through the hole, and use the jigsaw to cut around the circle, removing the circular center section of plastic from the top of the barrel.
Turn over the circular section of plastic you removed, and glue a piece of 1-inch-by-2-inch lumber that is about 1 inch wide and 1 inch long over each hole you made when screwing on the deadbolt and hinge. The glue doesn't have to be strong; it can be contact cement. Glue two more pieces of wood to the underside of the barrel's top rim, covering the other sets of holes you made.
Screw the hinge and the deadbolt to the circular section of plastic. Screw the deadbolt latch to the top of the barrel. Set the circular section of plastic back into the barrel, engage the deadbolt and screw the other one-half of the hinge to the barrel. Afterward, the barrel should have a hinged, locking top.
Create a door in the front of the barrel near its bottom by using a procedure similar to the one used to make the barrel's hinged, locking top. The door should be large enough to accommodate a small shovel; so the door may require two cabinet hinges.
Drill a series of holes in the barrel's top, sides and bottom with a drill and a 3/8-inch spade bit. Space the holes about 8 inches apart. The holes will aerate the barrel, or composter.
- Keep the composter's front door closed when you fill the composter from its top.
- Turn the barrel's compost every two or three days by closing its front door and top, turning the barrel on its side and rolling it on the ground. It should go through at least three complete revolutions.
- When the compost is ready to be used, remove it from the barrel's front door.
- When you turn the compost, expect a certain amount of runoff. If you can catch it, use it for your plants.
Chris Deziel has a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in humanities. Besides having an abiding interest in popular science, Deziel has been active in the building and home design trades since 1975. As a landscape builder, he helped establish two gardening companies.