NEW COMPOST BINS, 2005
We've had a three-bin compost system for many years now. Our old bins were built into the fence between the garden area and Pasture One, constructed of metal fence posts and four foot woven wire fencing. The sheep were attracted to the compost bins, nibbling a bit of fresh greens from them from time to time. Eventually, they bent the fencing down over the compost by leaning against it so much. This allowed them to walk up and over the compost bin and into the garden. We straightened the posts, adding more woven wire and some barbed wire along the top of the posts to keep the sheep from using the compost piles as an escape route.
We moved the fence line back 20 feet a few years back as we needed more garden space. Since we've reduced the size of our sheep flock considerably over the last few years, the area lost from Pasture One wouldn't matter much.
The new compost area is much sturdier, as you can see in the picture below. The bins are four feet wide and six feet deep. Each bin has an eight foot long, 5-6 inch diameter wooden fence post at each corner. The posts are buried two feet deep and have 2x4's running around their perimeters at the top for stability. The walls of the bins are made of five foot welded wire with a 2 inch by 4 inch wire grid. We still have to put some doors on the front but we've started using it already.
The bin on the left is where we're putting this year's weeds along with chicken, horse and sheep manure. Paul is standing in the middle bin, which will be where we'll put next year's stuff. The bin on the right contains the compost from last year, which we transferred from the old bins. It will be ready to use next year.
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