Fall is here and the leaves are falling… and what else makes for great compost… but leaves!! Not wanting to have any of our newly raked piles go to waste… we spent an afternoon building a compost bin in hopes that some of that leafy mulch will turn into gardener’s gold come spring!
COST
$$ – (Under $26)
MATERIALS
4 shipping pallets – Side of the road… (free)
8 wooden (or metal) stakes/ posts – Habitat for Humanity Outlet… ($)
Window Screen (optional) – Home Depot … ($)
Wire – Home Depot… ($)
TOOLS
Drill
Staple Gun
sledgehammer
We picked up 4 old fencing posts and decided we could cut them in half to get the 8 stakes that we needed… 
Next, we stood the pallets up on their sides to form a square and then hammered in the posts at each end of the pallets. We also drilled 3 of the 4 pallets together for extra stability. The forth pallet gets wired to the other three on the one side to act as a hinge for opening and closing.
Since we have dogs that like to eat just about anything, and squirrels that make a mess of our yard… we decided to line the inside with screen mesh to help prevent spilling out… Using a staple gun, this was secured down…keeping in mind of the pallet that will swing open.
We are currently creating a practical free to download guide to composting specifically for schools. I was looking online for an image of a composter made from pallets and found a good one on your site http://www.frugalpug.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/IMG_5007.jpg Please can we use this? You would of course be acknowledged. I would be grateful for a swift response.
yes absolutely… sorry for late response