Conserve water by collecting rainwater and using it for your garden or lawn.
would a regular trash can with a lid (w/locking handles) work for this project?
Planning to make this AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!!! Very neat looking.
I get my barrels from the pop botteling companies and the car washes.
For a great place to find a cheap barrel, find a car wash owner. They usually get their soap in large barrels. I purchased several from my local car wash owner.
Can the tumbler be made from a metal drum or is the plastic necessary? I have a metal drum so I was going to use that one, but not sure if it will get too hot?
This is very cool and I cannot wait to get started.
Thanks!
is it really? Could this work for the 90 day compost bin for the gardening merit badge?
nice project, easy to make gonna do it over the weekend
You tip it forward to load it and tip it as far down as you can to dump into a wheel barrow, etc. As to the smell, good compost should never smell check what you are putting into the compost. perhaps too much water??
You should avoid meat and dairy products this is a large source of compost odor.
In step four drill 7/8″ holes is incorrect. The nominal size of 3/4″ galvanized pipe is 3/4″. The outside diameter is1.05″ as found on any pipe size conversion table. I built this compost tumbler and had to go back to the hardware store for another hole saw, size 1 1/8 “. I also added a drain valve at the bottom edge to drain valuable compost tea.
The drain valve is a must. The compost tea that you produce will be just as beneficial as the compost itself. Use it as a foliar spray to improve sun and nutrient absorbtion in the leaves as well as an organic pest deterrent. Also, with the use of the 3/4 galv. conduit you may want to use some sort of bushing or grommet to avoid damaging or splitting the plastic drum.
Yes, I figured this out the hard way. I drilled the size indicated, then to fix it, I used a Dremel to enlarge the hole. It’s hard to fix by getting a bigger drill bit, because it tends to flop around a lot if there’s no anchor in the middle. Definitely start with a hole bigger than 1 inch. It’s okay if it’s too big, actually. Make sure the bungees are on securely before you flip it! I had some unfinished compost dump out…yuck.
My mom has been wanting a compost tumbler for a while and we havent had the money to buy a brand new, so im hoping thid will work
Believe it or not these arre easy to make I could probably make this without instructions
Works really well
Kinda smelly once the compost starts breaking down.
I used a large trash can instead of the food barrel and reinforced the side braces with more wood.
Great weekend project, it took me about 3 hrs.
I am moving to a new place, and I really wanted to start my own compost, but I didn’t want to buy a $200+ compost tumbler. I quick Google search, and my third hit was for Boys’ Life. Being a Scout myself, I had to click it. Needless to say, I am WICKED excited to build this. It’s been far too long since I’ve built anything with my hands (I’m a bit embarrassed to say that the last time might have been my Eagle Project in ’04). Thanks a bunch for these instructions Boys’ Life!
And to all those Scouts climbing the Path to Eagle, keep it up! It will be something that you treasure your whole life, something no one can take away.
Wow–very simple design. I bought a barrel and have been stumped on how to build a cheap but strong frame with stuff I have already. This is a good design–easy, strong, looks good, and I have all the stuff! Thanks Boys Life!
anyone else have some more tips? So you spin it, and the compost comes out of the holes? love to build it
Lazy, you can introduce worms to it yourself, though. 
Stevey, you can throw some things onto your garden, but only those things which break down very quickly on their own and will not attract vermin. For instance, coffee grounds can be sprinkled around acid-loving plants like roses and the plants love it. The main reason for composting first is, the bacteria break everything down into a better form for the garden. The compost warms up in the pile or container, and that sets off a chain reaction resulting in the materials being broken into finer parts more easily introduced to the soil.
Nice drawings David, but where are the pictures of a real one. Didn’t you build one!!!!
Manure from horses, cattle or chickens will work great. Seriously. You need to use three times as much brown leaves since it’s so concentrated…
Don’t use dog or cat poo though, they can have human diseases.
Good Stuff! Clean neat and tidy, but coffee grounds and broken egg shells come right out the half inch vent holes making a big mess, cut the hole size down, and put more of them to get rid of moisture!
This is a great idea! But its one disadvantage is that the barrel is not resting on the ground, so you don’t get all those worms coming in and holding a party!
Sounds really cool,but can you use horse manure with it?
Hi this is very cool!But if you don’t have a barrel
you can us a Garbage Can
this is a really cool project and i hope 2 see more like this one. I hope u guys keep thinking of ways to help the Earth!!!!
this looks like a really good project for my den to try! thanks so much.
Here's how to tumble your way to rich compost for your garden and plants.
Im going to tell our cubs about this, they will love it
Interesting…similar to my feather pen I’m famous for at school!
Does anyone know of a store that you can get the lead at?
NICE!! I cant wait to try this and show my freinds
Can’t you just take a pencil and widdle away at it to get a like effect?
I made it and when i brought to class my teacher told my to throw it away. she thaught it was a real stick
that is cool, i have 1 from a school feild trip and npw i can make my own!
it was a lot of fun and i added a pen to the other side and gave it to my sister and now everybody wants one
itis just a pencil 
, but a cool one ,it also saves $$$$
those look so cool i should make one and use it at school
Twig pencils are fun, easy and cheap to make. And the expressions on your friends’ faces when you start scribbling with a stick will be writetious!
thanks for the tips on the self-watering planter it really helps
I cut a circle in the side of a gallon milk jug and use it to stuff plastic grocery bags in. Makes for a great dispenser with no messy bags everywhere.
We cut part of the side off of a milk jug to store a plunger in behind the toilet. Catches and drips & keeps the floor clean.
You can cut a bottle to hang on the faucet of a five gallon drink cooler to catch the drips.
If you get a broomstick and two 1 gallon milk jugs and tape the jugs to either side of the broomstick and then fill them with water you get a bench press
Using 2 big plastic storage containers, And adding 16 players and 16 “ball toss” toys, yuo can have a competitive game with 2 teams and the containers as goals.
I made the bird feeder using a one galon jug. The birds love it.
the self watering plant idea is really awesome…thanks
love, love the self watering planter idea… Won’t have to worry about my plants when I’m gone for a week or two…
Does anyone know how to make a sculpture of a flying bird out of a two litre plastic milk bottle? I’m trying but haven’t got it right yet. it looks like a flying swan at the moment!
I think almost everyone was to simple except the self-watering plant
I would love to see how to make a robot. How about electricity projects?!
For the self-watering planter, it may be useful to know some of these tips.
1) use COTTON string. plastic stuff won’t work.
2) use about 5 strings. one string will not bring anough water to the plant.
3) use soil made for seed starting or potting. regualr soil from the garden will compress and become some what like concrete (not good)
4) once in a while, take apart the planter and wash the water resvoir and strings.
the best of luck
these are all eally cool and i think i might try some. these projects are becoming really fun for me and my family!!!
Go Green and recycle empties into fun and useful projects.
This particular project it is too much to do. It took me like 2 days to do this.
i am needing a hot dog cooker with no wood for school project this is no help
This is a great idea. The solar cooker for a hot dog needs direct sunlight (no shade trees) and the outside temperature needs to be above 94 degrees Farenheit to cook the hotdog in about fifteen minutes or so ( usually with a Heat index of over 107 degrees Farenheit)– about the same temperature as cooking an egg on a cement sidewalk which does not have shade trees around. This is a great idea as a school science fair project. It’s a way to have a hot, cooked meal using absolutely no matches or charcoal.
This is a great idea. The solar cooker for a hot dog needs direct sunlight (no shade trees) and the outside temperature needs to be above 94 degrees Farenheit to cook the hotdog in about fifteen minutes or so ( usually with a Heat index of over 107 degrees Farenheit)– about the same temperature as cooking an egg on a cement sidewalk which does not have shade trees around. This is a great idea as a school science fair project. It’s a way to have a hot, cooked meal using absolutely no matches or charcoal.
im doing this in my science fair this year. this is my first science fair and i hope this project works!
im doing this in my science fair this year for the first time i sure hope it works!
does work, me and my friend used it for a science project…was pretty easy too
At my school we did practically the same thing except we used Pringles cans. THey work just the same and all you have to do is cut a hole in the can add plastic wrap and wait a while.
This is a great idea. The solar cooker for a hot dog needs direct sunlight (no shade trees) and the outside temperature needs to be above 94 degrees Farenheit to cook the hotdog in about fifteen minutes or so ( usually with a Heat index of over 107 degrees Farenheit)– about the same temperature as cooking an egg on a cement sidewalk which does not have shade trees around. This is a great idea as a school science fair project. It’s a way to have a hot, cooked meal using absolutely no matches or charcoal.
This is a great idea. The solar cooker for a hot dog needs direct sunlight (no shade trees) and the outside temperature needs to be above 94 degrees Farenheit to cook the hotdog in about fifteen minutes or so ( usually with a Heat index of over 107 degrees Farenheit)– about the same temperature as cooking an egg on a cement sidewalk which does not have shade trees around. This is a great idea as a school science fair project. It’s a way to have a hot, cooked meal using absolutely no matches or charcoal.
i was just wondering how long it will take to cook the hot dog and how to build it
Looks easy, but hard! I guess it will probably explode! 
This hot dog cooker is awesome I’m sooo using this for my project. Hope I get an A+.
If you make the uprights and somehow the skuer bigger, you can cook other stuff. This is a great idea. Where did you get it at?
If you curve some aluminum foil just right, you can cook hot dogs with the sun's heat.
Cave paintings have been around for thousands of years. Light up your own bedroom "cave" with this torn-paper lamp shade.
This is a great idea for my science project and gardeners should do this!!!!:)
This isn’t really a green project unless you use organic liquid fertilizer.
organic liquid fertilizer ?… use cow poo. that’s the only organic good fertilizer. ^^
this is so asome i am going to try it with my science partner!!!:)
I think i’ll do this for my Science fair project. Cheers 
Too bad you can’t do this from a seed… I’ve tried 
Sweet potatoes work very well. They look great after growing for a while.
I wonder what else will work insted of cork? I’m going to definetly try this.
COOL!!!!!!!!!
I just tried it! hope it works with morning glory vines…
If you don’t have a cork a regular water bottle with a hole punched in the cap works great.
can it grow vegetables?
Plants don't need soil as long as they have five things: food, water, light, air and support. You can provide all five in a hydroponic garden. Here's how to create your own.
What’s the best direction to face this garden. Should the vines face south so they don’t block the sun?
Our local lumber yard suggested using cyprus for this. We did and it turned out great, light weight too. If we decide to move it to another spot in the yard we can before we fill it with dirt and seeds.
Maybe a dumb question, but what are the measurements of this box?
This sounds great. Will have to have my hubby build one of these for me on the saw horses.
If you use pressure treated wood can you use a weed liner around the box so that it doesn’t make direct contact or will that still hurt the veggies?
Yellawood is a pressure treated lumber that will not hurt your plants. You can get Yellawood at Home Depot.
Can this type of planter be used on a deck or cement patio?
This can also be put on sawhorses for wheelchair gardeners. There is a book by Mel Bartholomew called Square Foot Gardening that teaches you this method and it is great. I got all my wood from construction sites garbage piles, and old litte league bleachers.
This is such a great idea. One tip; putting lots of mulch around the plants will help keep the moisture in as well as help keep the weeds at bay.
What would you say the average cost for the building materials is?
I just got all the supplies and it was $50.
Super cheap and can’t wait to build it.
Can lattice be used instead of wire, I’m not very hands on with building.
This is great! We have a built up small garden spot at our new home. It’s built up on the ground with bricks. I was wondering how to best plant the veggies this year and this is just the ticket!
You start planting after the last frost. We usually start in about a week or so.
@ Metallica, please give more details. Sounds like a great idea!
Can you plant it in the ground but use the same design for the square?
Yes, you can do it in the ground if you have good dirt. Most types of in-ground dirt is either too wet (clay) or too dry (sand). You have to know your dirt. Using good, loose, fertile, well-drained, near neutral dirt that has a lot of decayed organic matter will yield you a good start to a great harvest.
Pine or spruce construction lumber will last a couple of years before the rot becomes significant. White oak lumber will last a lot longer although it is more expensive. Do not use pressure treated lumber with vetetables.
If you wanted to substitute cantaloupe or watermelon, where would you put them? We would have a larger garden but I like the layout of yours.
What makes this compact garden so productive is that you will be placing plants close together in squares instead of traditional rows. You can continue to plant as you harvest.
Build a Purple Martin bird house and attract these bug-eating birds to your yard to help make your summer pest-free.
This simple project makes an ample feeder for serving a flock of seed eaters.
I love the idea of solar cooking! My family cooks out every Saturday and we always make dessert with the solor oven. At first I made s’mores, but now I have expanded my recipe list to enclude chocolate chip cookies too. You can find more great recipes by serching on the web (with a parent’s permission) for “Solar Oven Recipes” or “Solar Powered Cooking.” Also, the great thing about these solar ovens is that you can bring them on camping trips and cook food right at your campsite without having to bring your whole oven. As for the project, I got help from an adult, but it wasn’t boring work, and I enjoyed making the oven. I couldn’t wait to taste those s’mores, they are the best part! 2 thumbs up for this one. (Or maybe just one, because I’m holding a huges s’more in the other hand!!) 
Are troop tried this and when we finished we sold the for $10.00 a pop and made a fortune. these are awesome
I haven`t tried it yet, but that is another non green house gas thing off the list.
Ac tually it is quite workable.
In one case something like this was shown to reffuges in a camp in Africa. One tribal group that seemed impervious to new ideas tried it and soon started taking courses in other subjects.
Do a GOOGLE search on Solar Cookers, Solar Stoves, ect.
Another good source “Fun With the Sun” by D. S. Hallacy.
Simple cookers can be made from three reflector panels (like two walls and a floor), a dark colored glass jar with lid (to hold the food) and a plastic roasting bag. The three panels form a two walls, corner and floor structure. Put the food in the jar and add water to cover and close the jar. Put the jar in the bag. Put the bag in the reflector corner. Inflate the bag slightly and tie it shut. The bag helps to trap hot air around the jar.
I have heard a rumor that if you lay a closed one liter pop bottle half full of water in the sun for six hours the water will get hot enough to kill microorganisms. I would advise against testing this method but try to see how hot the water can get as a Science Fair project.
This is a neat thing! Great for when you can’t get a fire started!
i can melt a candy bar in my pocket, what if i want a hamburger, or cook up some road kill? bogus.
I’m gonna get food poison and suit the magasine. The real American Way!
I think it is a great idea and it sounds lightweight.
I thought it was great!! By the way, I don’t want to sound rude or anything, but for those who asked “how does it get the heat?” the answer is the following: Light energy in the form of photons hits the black construction paper. The black construction paper absorbs the light energy, turning it into heat. The aluminum is apparently for centering more light onto the paper, therefore creating more heat.
i wish we did this in Girl Scout camp, but we only did the “Dutch Oven.”
can you make briscuits,pizza,steak,fish,hambergers and other stuff??
write back
You don’t need four burners and a gas line to make some great-tasting trail food.
You don’t have to wait for the right season to plant your flower and vegetable seeds. Grow plants indoors any time of year with this easy project.
Use these plans to create a mini-habitat for some of North America's most misunderstood—yet valuable—creatures.
I live in the desert. How will i be able to make money with this?
Sorry Eagle44, a lot of stuff like this is only for special parts of the U.S. I’m a lone scout and no one fishes with worms as bait here, I think. I want to raise money but this is no help.
If the boards are 7in. wide. How do you cover the inside 3ft wall of the hole?
nice idea i like to fish now i dont have to pay for worms
how do you sell them i know nobody who wants worms
there are all kinds of convenient stores, local gas stations, and bait stores that would gladly buy your worms for the right price. U have to remember that most stores buy worms from a wholesaler who must make a profit in order to continue business. But if your are just looking for a little extra income then u can easily make a more profitable offer to the stores.
I’m no worm expert, but buying worms from a store is a waste of money. Unless you’re intent on growing worms rare in your area, you should go outside when it’s sort of foggy or dark after raining. Get all the worms you can find, and keep the biggest ones to breed. Concrete also probably isn’t a good material to make a worm cage out of. Just turn up the dirt in a area regularly and sprinkle decomposing kitchen leftovers into it, then when it rains worms will go crawling in.
..I am sooo psyched!! I love to fish and camp; and always need worms. So this is such a cool idea, as well as profitable. Now all I need is someone to get my fish off the hook!!Ha! Ha!
I had three worm beds, open ground with frames, all flooded. I have to try to think this over and decide what will be better. Perhaps the concrete around the frame with no breaks will stop the water rush from Texas storms.
Candin
built mine using a large black container that was used for cow protien. I drilled a hole in the bottom and covered it with screeen. It is hot here in Texas so I pour a pitcher of cold water on them every other day. They seem to be doing ok!
First for poor ol Sparky..Most worms hang at @ 18″ deepths well within the authors 36″. like the gardners I’m in it for da poop. What I grow loves it and needs the natural “pest controll” Best organic I can raise for my self. Any overage of worms don’t have too escape I give them their freedom willingly, in my yard and flower beds. Go green baby!
My family has a worm bed we use the worms for fishing and composting.
I dug a worm bed & used tin sheets for the side, do you think that it would be ok to use the tin for the bottom to or not nessasery The hole is about 6 foot wideby 6 foot long by about 2 & a half foot deep,& also does it matter what type of dirt you use
definatly going to try,i live near lakes and people need worms as bait
try feeding your worms a mixture of protein powder that you get at any health food store and whole grain wheat bread. it makes your worms BIG AND STRONG!!!
There are many boxes, this one really works. It has provided enough worms for the season and has been profitable. Thanks for the cool idea. The best thing is the profit makes it’s self. Word of mouth and just being at your local lakes at the right time of the day. Most people run out of worms around noon or 2pm. All I do is have plenty of worms to go around.
We have a much smaller version, I caulked a screen onto the bottom of a larger planter with pre-drilled holes. Filled it with a mixture of soil and peat moss to a little more than half full, then added both nite crawlers and red worms that I found while gardening. I place the planter inside a window well on the northeast side of the house which is very shady. I occasionally water & feed them small amounts of egg shells, coffee grounds, shredded paper, dried plants/leaves, whatever natural scraps I have. No cover on it. They multiply quickly and we always have our fishing bait. We release them (if there are any left) late fall as they would freeze in our Wisconsin winters.
Built 2 last year, Did wonderful, now I have 8 more making 10. Worms are 3.50 a box at the store, I get 2.00 a box and can’t keep up. Thanks a million……
I have found that as long as the worms are happy they stay, even without a bottom. Even so, I added a wire and screen bottom to mine.
Once again, Thank you……… )
this sounds like a great idea but i think waater will collect at the bottom!!!!
i think that you r right and that the worms will bring lots of money!!!
Have you ever wished you could dig money out of the ground? In a way you can. Raising worms in a small worm farm can make you extra money during the summer.
Be sure to check local laws collecting rain water is actually illegal in some areas.
LOL:>
Where do you get the barrels?
any where they sell barrels
I goggled….Where to buy food grade rain barrels in my state and found a great source less than two blocks from my work!
I made one of these two years ago and I cannot use the water fast enough! I love it and have yet to have problems with Mosquitos. I use the water on my flower beds, vegetable garden, and have a bottle of camp soap on it to wash my hands too!
If you gather rain off your roof, be aware the water that runs over any shingles or tar will be full of nastiness not recommended for food growing. grass, probably ok.
Great project – wish we’d thought of it – we bought a commercially built water barrel. Standing water may allow mosquitoes to breed – get some beneficial bacteria mosquito control rings at your garden or home improvement center. The bacteria eat the mosquito larvae. The screening alone may not prevent mosquitoes … and you don’t want to potentially spread disease like West Nile.
hey to prevent that stuff getting in the baRREL PUT AFEW layers of tightly woven screen over the hole then it will filter out the bad stuff so the you can use it for growing
is it ok for flowers?
yeah just put a screen on it and some fertilizer in and good water but you should use a bucket to water the flowers
add a tablespoon or two of salad oil to the barrel. The oil provides a barrier to the mosquitos and won’t hurt the barrel or the plants.
wouldent you think it would rust if it was metal
dear sparky, it wouldnt rust if it were staneless steal
Use Brass Fittings they don’t rust
many food grade barrels are made of plastic.
this is great!My MoM and DaD are going to make this this summer.
One problem, Mission Viejo dosen’t get much rain!
This sounds like a great way to go green!
to sniper: LoL!!
Wow! Neat Idea!
cool i will talk to my faimly about it
mine got zapped by lighting!!!!!!!!
Mabye you can try again
lol *:}