Installation and Composting

• 1). Acquire two garbage cans so they can be used in a rotating system. Find cans with tight-fitting lids so animals can't easily break in. Clean both cans if they've been used or purchase new cans at a hardware store.
  
  
• 2). Drill 10 one quarter-inch holes in the bottom of each can for draining purposes and so beneficial insects can get in. Then, for aeration, drill 10 one quarter-inch holes on the sides of each can, a couple inches down from the lid of each can.
  
  
• 3). Dig six- to 12-inch holes in the ground, to prevent animals from tipping the cans over. Stick each can in a hole and shovel the soil back in around the sides of the cans to secure them. The cans are ready to use.
  
  
• 4). Choose one of the garbage cans to start composting in, and leave the other one empty until the first one is full. Compost by using nitrogen rich materials such as kitchen scraps and grass clippings in addition to carbon rich materials such as dried leaves or hay. Test your compost every couple weeks for moisture, as compost should remain moist to the touch but never soggy.
  
  
• 5). Keep filling the can, and in four to eight months, it should be full, if enough raw material was put in. Leave the full can sitting for another five months. This allows the raw material to decompose into compost. To make the process move a little faster, stir the materials in the can every week or so for extra aeration. Start composting in the second can while the contents of the first one decomposes.
  
  

Harvesting and Mulching

• 1). Check the full can after letting it sit for five months (or less if you've stirred it regularly) to see if the compost looks like soil. Dig around and you might find worms and other organisms in it, which is good. Let it sit longer if it doesn't look like soil. If this is the case, also check to make sure there's an equal amount of nitrogen and carbon rich materials, along with enough air and water, which are necessary for the decomposition to occur.
  
  
• 2). Use the finished compost on your garden as a mulch. Spread it around the surface of the soil if you have existing plants, or till it into soil waiting to be planted in.
  
  
• 3). Continue to repeat the above steps, rotating each can as they go through the cycle.