I wanted a hot compost bin.  My garden isn't big enough to justify having several large compost bays.  It doesn't produce enough volume of waste to fill them for one, but mainly because it's not exciting use of the premium real estate.

When I looked into getting one they started at £200! This is for putting waste in! Even an enthusiast like me struggles to fathom that.  It's not an exciting prospect for the majority of the population to spend £200 on something that they stick food scraps into.  

I love to make things  but getting the materials for this would end up being fairly costly too. There must be a better way, I thought.

So I had a weird brainwave that had me questioning my sanity. Why not use a ready made insulated box? A fridge! It's been said that genius and insanity are closely linked.  I've never been called a genius though. Weird.

I tried it out and it worked! Well, it got hot so there was microbial composting activity.  That was part 1 in this video series. I didn't share the results though.  It hadn't produced any compost by then.  It was still "in the oven".

Home made compost in a white plastic bag

I'm happy to report it has become an essential part of my composting routine.  It can take all of my household food waste as well as almost all of the garden waste.

Healthy, vibrant looking Swiss Chard growing in a pot

I've successfully used it in potting media for houseplants and I've used it to enrich the soil in the areas of the garden where I grow hungry plants.  It's a hit!

Composting cardboard in an upturned fridge

If you want to see how I cycle the compost through it then here's a link to the video.