Luna Moon

I usually put in a couple extra holes around where I plan to put my planter underneath so the extra water can drain onto the plant underneath. It ends up making a l

 

Step 2 - Pick up sticks

Really easy to do after a storm. This helps fill out the bottom a little bit and imo gives a buffer to keep the drain holes from getting too clogged up with dirt or compost. I just put as much as an even layer as I can, breaking up any bigger branches

Step 3 - Make a compost sandwich

I layer my bin with a thick layer of brown material, a thin layer of green, and then more brown on top. Burying the greens keeps your compost from attracting too many pests. If you aren't too familiar with composting browns = shredded leaves, paper, and cardboard; greens = kitchen scraps (avoiding any meat or dairy). You want to fill up a good chunk of the bin and lightly compact it as you go. However, you also don't want to compact it down so much that water struggles to flow through. As this stuff breaks down it will lose some bulk, but as long as you fill it decently full it shouldn't be an issue.

Step 4 - Dirt time

Dump your dirt on top and you are ready to start planting! If you look at my bins, the dirt doesn't go all the way to the top, and it doesn't need to. As long as about 3/4th of the bin is full from your compost and dirt, you should be good. You can just pour the dirt right on top and even it out, don't mix it into the compost.

After that you can add your plants or seeds. You don't need to worry if the plant is touching the brown parts of your compost a little bit, but if it is digging into the green parts, you probably should add some more browns or dirt. As the summer comes, your compost will break down and you will lose a couple inches of material, but you should still have enough for your plants. At the end of growing season, I remove the dead plants and leave the totes out over winter. By the time spring rolls around next year, most of your compost in your totes should be totally broken down (mine still had some leaves in it, but that was about it). The sticks won't break down much, and can be reused year after year. 

Another way to add some additional compost to your plants is by giving them a weak compost tea that you can continually make right in the planter. This is kinda hard for me to explain, I hope this makes enough sense; You layer your secondary planters. The one on top contains your plant and dirt, and the planter it is stacked in contains some food scraps/compost. When you do water your totes, water the secondary planters first. Once established, when I lift the secondary planters up, they usually have a few buggies or worms underneath :) This unfortunately won't really fertilize your secondary planter itself though, so you still need to make sure it is getting the nutrients it needs to grow too!