Here at Growhampton, we love our upcycling – we’ve managed to upcycle a range of different things as part of our project and one of my favourite things to upcycle is pallets. There are so many wonderful things you can do with pallets including making tables, bookshelves, seats, artwork, garden beds and obviously compost bays.

Building compost bays is an ideal job during the (slightly) less hectic winter months and a great way to set yourself up with the perfect fertiliser for the rest of the growing season.

Making compost is such an important foundational practice for any organic grower so its crucial to have a good compost space in the garden to make this all important nourishing fertiliser.

Making yourself a compost bay from pallets could not be easier. Well you could go all out and make a big fancy one, but I prefer a more low key simple option that anyone can do – no matter your skill set. All you need are three pallets, some shade cloth and either a power drill with screws or a trusty hammer and nails.

Here's my top five tips for success:

Firstly choose a site location. Consider somewhere that is reasonably tucked out of the way but yet also easily accessible. Remember you may be carting plant material there quite regularly through the season so don’t make it a mile away from the growing spaces. Clear and level the ground where you intend to build the bay. A level soil surface will help balance the pallets but is also useful for easy access generally. Source yourself three old natural coloured pallets and stand them up on their sides in a U shape. Line them up as best possible and now quite simply drill in your screws or hammer in your nails anywhere you can see a good spot the screws/nail will go through linking two pallets together. I used the photo above so you could clearly see the use of the pallets, but after building these bays, its ideal to staple on some shade cloth on the inside walls. This stops the compost falling through the large gaps in the slats.

So there it is, three pallets and a few nails and you are ready and roaring to make some beautiful compost this growing season. We’ll discuss the science and art of making good compost another time.

Happy composting,

Joel

Joel Williams is the Grower for the University of Roehampton Students’ Union’s Growhampton project