The most common location for a compost pile or bin is in close proximity to your kitchen
or garden. You want it in a convenient location to make it easy and second nature to
bring your food scraps or garden waste to the composter. If you have a large yard, the
yard waste can get quite heavy and you dont want to be transporting the heavy material
be a deterrent to composting.
There are other considerations that need to be taken into account when choosing a
composting site. Keeping all the below suggestions in mind, you also want to make sure
that it is in an area that children or animals will not disturb or get into the compost bin.
The ground should be level and not prone to collecting excessive water (it needs good
drainage). Your compost pile needs to stay moist but you do not want too much water or
it will not work properly. In addition to level ground, make sure you can easily access
the area with a wheelbarrow.
A shady location is best, if the compost pile gets too much sunlight it will get hot and dry
out. Again, the pile needs to stay moist and overheating it with external sources will not
help.
A water source should be close by you can reach the area with your garden hose or
easily carry enough water to moisten the pile if it becomes too dry. Remember you just
want to moisten the pile with a spray of water not drench it.
If you are beginning with a one bin system, you may want to leave enough room for a
second bin down the road. By having two bins side-by-side, you can easily rotate or turn
the pile by moving material from one bin to the next.