Besides my tinkering in electronics and costume building, I also am a organic gardener
and this instructable will be showing off a Compost tower, that I built using parts from the
Septer Garden Gourmet composters;

www.scepterconsumer.com/l_g/

Step 1: The Problem

I live on the first floor, and my garden is at street level,
I keep a small container in my house, of food scraps, brown, green, etc
which fills pretty quickly, But to dump it, I have to carry it down the stairs and
go to one of the composters stationed around my garden.

Fine for the warm weather, but lousy in the cold or the rain.
Also I wanted something that was easy for my mom (she is 82)
to be able to use as well.

Step 2: The Solution

Since the garden gourmet comes un-assembled, and I could easily add more sections
to it, I bought two of them, and started building a Tower, that would sit on a sun facing side of the
house, and the top would reach to a easily accessed place on the porch.

Step 3: If You Build It, It Will Compost

I needed a stable platform to build from, but it needed to allow liquid draining.

So I used a old wood pallet. the wood is strong enough to hold the
weight of the compost, but allows air and bugs access, and in 3 - 5 years
will dissolve as well and become part of the garden.

Picture 1:
The composter sitting on top of the pallet,
I made the opening double wide (two doors) for easy access to the compost
(note the sliding doors above it)

Picture 2:
The top cover is removable, so I can take a augur and stir the compost easily
as well as wash it down, or throw down leaves, or other bulky things i need to
compost.

Picture 3:
Just a view of the bottom

Step 4: The Results

Since the composter has a snap closed cover, it is protected from squirrels, etc
The weight of the scraps and the heat, the unit "cooks" the compost to a level
where the unit is always half full, no matter what I add in.

I have used it now for about 3 years, and i have yet to fill it (to the top)
and that is with throwing down not only food scraps, etc, but bags of thrown away vegtables
(from a local fruit store) and newspapers and leaves / dead weeds, etc.

There is absolutely no smell, and the insects seem to stay closer to the refuse
then the top - so adding items in, I'm never swarmed with flying insects

The compost that comes out, is always dark brown, and rich in texture.
I have had better results with vegetables (esp peppers and tomatoes)

Step 5: The Cost

I bought these composters at the compost giveaway
www.nyccompost.org/program/givebacks.html
hosted by the dept of sanitation in NYC. (read link for more info)

Looking on the internet the price seems to be $50 - $75 per composter
you may need to do some digging for a better price...

(sorry, that was a gardening joke, I do have a sense of humus)