Illustration: Permaplans

Three-bin compost

One bin is filled, one rests, one is emptied – every year everything moves on one step.

With three compost bins the cycle never stops:

1. Fill: everything that comes up this year goes into bin 1.
2. Rest: last year's batch matures in bin 2. Turning it once – forking it over into the next bin – lets air in and speeds up decay.
3. Empty: the batch from two years ago is ripe. Sieve it, spread it, the bin is free again.

With only one bin you have to pause in the resting year or start a second heap. Slatted bins with air gaps are ideal: the heap breathes but stays together.

In Garden Survival a compost bin costs 0.1 rm of timber. Each batch takes a bin until it is emptied; turning in the resting year gives 20 % more compost.

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