So this is where it all began, and where it all will end. There are endless designs and ideas for building your own compost pile at home, such as three stage, tumblers, open piles, and so on. However if your space, time, and finances are limited like ours this plan is easy and so far is working great. The gardening and landscape center down the road from us was closing up shop and moving to a better location. What was a bad turn of events for them turned out to be great for us. We bought about 40ft of chicken wire, trellises, rebar,and countless other items for a very pocket friendly price.
These two compost bins from start to finish took about 10 minutes. All you have to do is cut about 10ft of wire and roll it around itself to form the cylinder, then just weave the rebar through the fencing and hammer into the ground and you have a compost bin.Don't forget a lid to keep out unwanted critters. We used the remaining chicken wire.It's a bit difficult to pull back when you want to add scraps and my adorably uncoordinated girlfriend has scratched herself a few times. So, by next year we will make a few lid adjustments. Now all you have to worry about is making sure you have the proper mix of carbon,phosphates, and nitrates. Basically just make sure you have a good mix of green and brown and you won't have to worry.
General upkeep and health of your compost bin is easy and you barely have to think about it. We add all produce scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds, biodegradable paper and paper towels, also once your garden is done for the season whatever you do not till back into the soil can be thrown into the compost. Basically you can add most anything organic just no Meat, fecal matter, dairy, or anything that has already been cooked, all of these can breed bacteria and stop your compost in it's tracks. The only real work you will have to do is once a week stir up the compost to make sure it is aerated and semi damp(like a wrung out sponge).
Now for a completely non classy, yet, effective tip on speeding up and enriching your compost pile......PEE ON IT. I know it sounds gross, and also risky if your backyard privacy fence isn't all that high and your neighbor catches you mid stream at 8am( what was i supposed to do? stop mid stream?). We have a good amount of hay in our compost an when mixed with urine it produces nitrogen quickly. Don't worry by the time it is all done composting everything is broken down to basic elements and you are not putting pee soil on your plants. This chore is for men only, and I am not being sexist or saying women can't do it (although if Angela tried, I'm sure I would have jokes to last all year!). Feminine urine is much more acidic than that of male urine and can be detrimental to decomposition and the resulting soil balance. If you don't believe me feel free to research it, I recommend http://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/is-male-pee-better-than-female-pee-the-compost-conundrum.html
Aesthetics!
If you are worried about having ugly bins full of compost becoming an eye sore, do not worry. There are many ways to disguise and hide them to where you won't even know they are there. We went with two trellises in front of them where we plan to grow our snap peas and green beans. This way they are fully blocked from view and once the peas begin to bloom in mid summer any minimal odors from the compost will be disguised.
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