Making your own compost is one of the most important (and easiest) steps in growing a successful organic garden. This simple 3-bin composter is easy – and cheap – to build.

Compost is an organic gardener’s best friend, but purchasing enough of it for your garden can get expensive. Plus, with purchased compost (unless it’s marked organic), you really can’t be sure of exactly what’s in there – which kind of defeats the purpose of growing your own food!

You can buy a composter, but it’s generally cheaper to build your own – and it’s really a pretty easy project!

Check out the link below for a simple how-to guide.

(Note: This plan uses wood shipping pallets. Some wood pallets are treated with chemicals, and should never be used for gardening, composting, or in your home. Before using pallets, be sure to check the pallet and make sure it is stamped with the letters “HT”, which means it is treated with heat instead of chemicals, and should be relatively safe to use in your garden.)

Compost—there never seems to be enough. And if you keep adding material to a single heap, the stuff is never really finished. The solution? A three-bin system that allows you to have different piles in various stages of doneness: You start the pile on one end, move it to the second bin when the first is full and the compost is ready to turn, then repeat, turning compost into the third bin where it finishes. Two people can build our version—which repurposes free wood pallets—in an afternoon.

Get the directions here at ModernFarmer.com.