During my growing-up years, my parents had a small garden in our backyard. As a result, we were all in the habit of tossing our fruit and veggie scraps into an empty milk jug, and then taking that jug outside to dump the day’s collection into our compost bin. A routine spreading of the compost on our garden had terrific results! Even in the blazing Arizona heat, we had giant tomatoes, beets, carrots, and other deliciousness gracing our garden.
My parents have since moved, and we are planning on putting in a nice garden for my mom for mothers’ day in their new backyard. A compost bin is a necessary companion to her new garden. A “beehive” container like the one above, (via Tilly’s Nest), would be a beautiful way to disguise it! 
This one is less eye-pleasing, but doubles the composting with a stacking system. I’d say if you are really gung-ho about the whole thing, this would be a snazzy contraption to have. The darker the barrels, the warmer they get, which is what you want with composting. I’d probably rather have black than bright blue in my backyard, what about you?
This square composter by Savvy Housekeeping serves the same spinning purpose as the above stackers, but doesn’t draw so much attention to itself. And, it was only $18.
Here’s one that might appeal to the pallet-lovers out there! This is probably the most common DIY compost container, and it is easy to see why. Cheap, lots of ventilation, and a decent size to boot. The instructions for this are on The Rebuilding Center.
Look how excited this guy is about his new compost bin! Danny Lipford has detailed instructions on how to build this smaller and better-looking container.
Are you without a backyard? You can compost indoors too, and easily. Just keep a bucket under your sink and toss your scraps in with a fresh layer of newspaper. Give the bucket a good shake every few days, and you’ll keep it aerated and ready to help out your indoor plants anytime.
Happy composting!
I have been able to get food grade blue barrels for storing water from the local distillery for $10 each. For composting you might prefer to not have lingering oil or something toxic in it.
why do they need to be able to spin
They do not need to be able to spin but it is definitely a luxury. The compost bin needs to be turned with a pitch fork of sorts every couple of weeks for moisture and oxygen.
I have a rotating compost bin, I was so excited to make my own compost. After about eight weeks all I have is mold. I really don’t want to put that in my garden, how do I prevent mold.
Too much moisture will cause mold.