So easy even a child can use it!

Several months ago, like as soon as we moved into the house, before our things had even arrived from Ireland, I decided that I wasn't going to throw away the kitchen veggie and fruit scraps but compost them. So I checked out books from the library, shopped for compost bins, searched for direction on making your own, and generally went gung-ho on getting started with the project.
We decided that we needed an enclosed bin because of the large amount of food scraps we wanted to put in, and the presence of raccoons and squirrels in our neighborhood. Also, I am hoping to have some compost to put on the garden this spring, our soil really needs all the help it can get. The fastest way to get fully rotted compost is to turn it often. But, I'm unlikely to be out there shoveling and stirring the pile around. And the commercially made tumblers are really expensive.
So I read about just drilling some holes in a plastic trash can, lashing the lid on with a bungee cord and rolling it around the yard when you wanted to mix it. But then I found some 55 gallon plastic barrels on craigslist for $20. And Orrin offered to "rig something up."
So, now that the ground has thawed and we borrowed a post hole digger from the neighbors, I finally have my fully operational double barreled compost tumbler.
We decided we needed two separate containers because at some point we'll have to stop adding to one so everything can decompose for a month or so. The first barrel is almost full. We're hoping for a nice weekend so we can clean out the duck pen. Once we throw the duck poo filled straw in there we should have a really nice mix. Then we just have to wait for the blasted weather to warm up so the bacteria can go to work.
I asked Orrin to write this post, so he could tell you more about the construction process, but you'll be waiting till we're harvesting zucchini if I waited for him to write it. It was pretty straight forward except for having to brace the doors so they didn't warp and dump everything out as it turns. Final cost was probably $60 for the barrels and the latches on the doors.
And as an added bonus the barrels were originally used for cream soda syrup so even with 50 pounds of rotting garbage inside they still smell sweet. A little gag inducing when the smell was filling the basement and house, but not unpleasant while giving it a daily crank.