Home & Heart Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze Solar Barrel Composter I had always looked with envy upon the high priced barrel composters in my gardening magazines. I hate turning compost heaps, and in fact, I don't do it. I always mean to, but I don't. A barrel composter would eliminate the hassle of turning the heap. It seemed like the answer to me. Of course the price always stopped me short. Boneyard Recycling Our friend, Harry Rakfeldt (see cover story HP#6) was moving and gave me some choice items from his boneyard. Besides a lot of gallon jars he gave me the kitchen sink. No kidding. It's a sink, counter and cupboard set up made of metal. I ended up building a shed for it in the garden. I scored two plastic 55 gallon drums. Some day I was going to make beer and I figured they would come in handy. The barrels got me thinking. All I had to do was paint them black, drill air holes in them and figure out some way for the barrel to turn freely. On second thought, it would be easier to paint the barrel black once it was turning freely. My Makita made drilling the air holes so easy it was fun. There are two rows around the top and bottom of the barrel an equidistant three inches. I cut a rectangular door on one end of the barrel and attached it with two hinges. Nuts and bolts, with lock washers, were used as fasteners. A boughten latch was attached to keep the door closed and as a handle to open it. We had some rebar around so that decided the support and turning mechanism. One piece of rebar would stick through the middle of the barrel horizontally. Two pieces of rebar would be pounded into the ground across from each other the width of the barrel. These needed to be driven deep enough Ä about two feet Ä to support the weight of the barrel even when half full of compost. Construction Now I needed Bob-O's help to drill 1/2 inch holes through the barrel for the cross bar. He used a Hole Hawg(r) since the Makita wouldn't hold a drill that big. He then drilled a four inch deep hole in one end of each eight inch block of 2x4. Turning the two blocks sideways, he drilled each with a 1/2 inch hole completely through the side. The composting area is located in the corner of the garden. I used a big hammer to drive the rebar into the ground. I kept hitting rocks, so I had to move the rebar around a bit, always making sure they were 2 feet apart (the width of the barrel). The blocks of wood sit on end on top of the rebar. With a section of rebar through the barrel I could lift it up to push and pull the rebar through the blocks' side holes. It worked! The barrel was off the ground and turned freely. The barrel's color was a bright blue which had to change. One can of flat black spray paint quickly transformed the blue barrel into a solar barrel. Even as I was spraying on the paint, the barrel was heating up. The Formula Everything I had read about composting said the more air a heap got, the faster it would compost. There are many recipes for compost. Most are for large piles. All include carbon materials (leaves, cornstalks, etc.), nitrogen materials (grass clippings, manure, wet kitchen scraps, etc.) and a little soil, plus water. For carbon I used what was left of some cardboard boxes I had planted potatoes in last year. (They were very easy to harvest.) I also had some corn stalks and garden trash that had sat in a pile all winter without being turned. Floor sweepings from the chicken coop, aged a year, supplied the nitrogen. Dirt was very easy, a random shovelful. One reason for picking the corner location was the faucet close by. Water was sprayed over all. I turned the barrel vigorously. It was a pleasant surprise to note the horizontal bar helped break up and aerate the compost mixings as they flopped from one end to the other. So far, so good. The next morning I went to check the barrel. The sides were hot where the sun was hitting it. I opened the door and stuck my hand in. The air was humid and warm. I saw steam rising from the damp materials. I turned the barrel again. Maybe seven or eight times. This was more like it. I could just see the compost I would have to enrich my garden. Compost Conclusion I weeded two days after a rain and put all the weeds into the compost barrel. The barrel became harder to turn the more I filled it. I stopped filling it. After turning it everyday I checked the contents. It seemed to be working into some nice compost. Within two weeks there was some useable compost in the barrel. When the weather warms up it should work even faster. Success! Access Author: Kathleen Jarschke-Schultze, c/o Home Power Magazine, POB 520, Ashland, OR 97520