A Corner for Compost

I really didn't think I was going to get the compost bins built this season, so I was being a little optimistic when I bought the material.
But thanks to my sister, SisX, we got it knocked out in one weekend!

As usual, I have materials for various projects sitting around the house. So when SisX came over this past weekend, she had her choice of activities to help with. One option was sitting on the couch watching a chick-flick, but we decided to be a bit more active.

She picked: Building the compost bin! ... but then we had to wait for the drill to charge, so we blanched and froze tomatoes for a bit...

An hour later... back to the bins!

Here is the general idea. But of course I didn't need mine to be so fancy shmancy. All I was looking to do was have three separate piles for compost.
Why three?

The first one is your "adding pile." It's where you put all your fresh scraps, plants and leaves. It's the only one you are adding fresh material to.
The second pile is the "cooking pile." It is doing it's own thing, working hard to break down all those scraps into garden gold (compost).
The third is your "finished pile." It is for fully composted material that you can use as needed.

So when your adding pile gets full, your finished pile will be empty (because you used all that glorious compost), and your cooking pile will be decomposed and ready to use... your piles naturally cycle themselves.

The nice thing about a compost bin is that it doesn't have to be perfect. There are probably no right-angles, the walls are a different height than the back, it will rot away in a few years (untreated pine instead of cedar), and all that is ok.

We started by making four squares with a diagonal support for rigidity. Then SisX cut and stapled chicken wire to them. (Thank goodness because I kind of hate working with chicken wire!)

We did the same thing for a longer back panel, then put it all together! Not an exact science, and hardly any exact measurements. Perfect!

So here it is placed in the garden. You want a site that has a bit of shade so it doesn't dry out, close to a hose or water source, not too close to the house because of bugs and critters. I also strategically placed it withing "throwing distance" of the deck so I don't have to wander out too far.
The far two slots just got filled with fall leaves and grass clippings. They can start breaking down over winter!


I'm thinking it needs a name. I feel like it's a "she," but the real question is what do you name a compost bin? Compy? Binita?
Do you have any suggestions?