Faster and Better Compost - Stop Making Slow Compost

Composting tricks that let you make compost faster and better.

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Faster and Better Compost - Stop Making Slow Compost

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[blacksmithden]

Over the summer, I gather up all our kitchen scraps, garden scraps, and anything else organic I can get my hands on and throw it in a pile. In the fall when the garden is done, I throw all the plants in there too. My neighbor has an apple tree that drops a lot of apples before they're ripe. Those go in there too. In the fall, I start pulling the pile apart and one bit at a time, I run it over with my lawnmower unit it's practically a pile of paste. I mix that with the soil from my pots, and grow buckets. 2 or 3 shovel fulls of soil, and a shovel full of compost into the cement mixer. Once it's mixed, I dump it and do another batch. Once there's a big pile of mixed compost mash and soil, I cover it with a plastic tarp. In the spring, I put it back in the pots and buckets, and away we go again. It works VERY well.

[gatehanger]

Thank you for the relaxed presentation. Most you tubers are so desperate to stop people clicking off their videos they max out the energy and speed

[barryc]

I just came across this channel. I absolutely love and appreciate it. No nonsensical music or wannabe production garbage. Just clear, concise information in a format that’s not distracting. I love e how you focus on scientific information as opposed to myth and hype. The continuation of scientific progress is changing gardening, and intelligent people learn as information becomes known and they also change as a result of that information.
This the first year I’ve used cover crops, and I plant seeds all season long even though winter will come before they mature. It’s not always about ‘harvest’. I now ‘garden’ soil, not vegetables and fruit.

[johnsteele]

I really enjoy your segments. For composting, there’re two dangers I encountered that may not affect most people. As a new gardener, I read everything I could find. I built large, expandable piles from rewire and rebar. The wire cuts with a metal blade on my Skill saw, as does the rebar. Then I connect two sections of wire to make a container five feet high and six to eight feet in diameter. I then collected truckloads of people’s bags of leaves and filled my piles. In spring and summer there were bags of grass clippings, too. Once I had enough material I built my pile, watering every six inches or so. It started cooking immediately, heating up to 140-150F in days. I then pulled off the wire, moved it a few feet away, and started turning the pile into the new location, putting the outside of the pile into the middle. And then I got full scale bronchitis and had to take antibiotics to recover. The City of Austin grinds up Christmas trees every year and gives it away to all comers, and they discovered something like ten percent of people are allergic to the biological steam coming off the pile. I tried making hot compost once more, wearing a painter’s mask for turning the pile, but it still got me. So now I’m happy with cool compost. The second danger is imported fire ants. After rainy days they will move into the bags piled by the curb. Not something you want to add to your pile!
49:32

[Katskraftkorner]

We practice chop and drop, have a compost tumbler that gets tumbled once in a while and a compost bin. I'm hoping to pick up a wood chipper to help me add more organic matter to our sandy soil. I'm trying to build a garden from scratch. Loam wasn't built in a day. I do bring in straw from a local farmer and it hasn't harmed anything I've planted so I'll keep using it. I use brown kraft paper as a mulch and it gets replaced every year. It breaks down completely over the season.

Another point in favor of keeping material on your property: no fossil fuels are burned to move it between locations and thus, less air pollution.

[dianaliddelow]

My Scottish grandfather did cut and drop and lots of other things you speak of, Thanks for your content.

[brightnbreezyfelix]

I’m so pleased I found this channel. Thank you Robert for so much precious information. I live in UK and my garden is packed with brambles. They grow to 30ft long easily in one season - I must have ideal conditions!! I thought I’d minimise weed growth by carpeting the whole space in thick weed blanket and covering with decorative flint. Yet the brambles still grow at Olympic rates and I realise I have simply starved the soil of valuable nutrients by sweeping up the fallen leaves ( I live adjacent to woodland) and taking them to the tip. I’m not young and tbh dread gardening because I’m forever clearing the weeds and brambles - I’ve never enough energy left for planting. But at least I’ll stop wasting precious energy on tactics that don’t work. I’m now thinking of removing the weed blankets and planting decorative trees and underplanting with shade and rain loving woodland ferns and other shade tolerant plants. Hopefully I’ll be able to make something of my garden after all.

[kitsurubami]

I'm so happy that after explaining the CN ratio, you brought up the fact that the measurements are by mass. I had a feeling you would because you're a scientist and you're thorough. This is why I love your videos.

[incifisenk]

As a clinical microbiologist I loved the video!💎💚 Thank you for this great content 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼☮️🕊💚🌱🙋🏻‍♀️

[ayeshaamin]

I am making a composter from a plastic drum as I don't have space and much organic matter but our weather in Pakistan is hot and I think it will work, plus its good for the environment.

[stephenmckelvie]

Another very informative video. I've been composting for decades, and experience had taught me not to put certain things in my bin. My compost doesn't get hot enough to kill a lot of the seeds. For example, if I compost tomatoes, I spend time weeding them all over my garden once the weather heats up. Eggshells don't seem to rot down either. I've never layered my compost. I mix it up as I add it to the bin, and I make pretty good compost. Once it gets to a certain stage, I spread it over my beds as a mulch and allow the weather to do it's thing. It cuts down on a lot of weeding.

[jwohrman]

Southern California is so dry that our piles are broken down more by UV degradation than by microbial action. My pile started in 1982. I'm going to pass it on to my children.

[janicejurgensen]

I have no questions because this is absolutely complete ! I thank you very much! 😅

[bobd]

Well done. The Hartford CT municipal mulch pile caught fire one summer when it was not turned enough.

[Johnnysday]

Tremendous video, you touched on all the important concepts and put it in a method that we can all understand. Just tremendous.

[francus]

This is so right. But he isn't right LOUD enough. I barely listened to him because he wasn't emphatic enough. BUT ! I did a 28 day hot compst.... I put it around the base of my trees. It was like MAGIC ! He is correct. Compost is BETTER than fertilizer. In many cases, it can 100% eliminate the need for fertilizers. My tomato plants look amazing....
Let me say this.... HE IS THE BEST !

[kerollo]

I just throw my grass clippings on a heap. I don't have other materials. It is in the open and it does not seem to have a strong smell. I planted on the heap from last year. Everything grows well. You have to wait for a little warmer weather so that heap gets the right moisture level for plants. I move my heap every year. It worked well last year. Doing it again this year.

[marvinbrock]

This is literally what I came on to find! Exactly the info I was searching for.. 😂.. Good job reading minds..

[ImagesOfCountries]

This is the go-to source for good and reliable composting expertise for discerning composters... 👍

[joniboulware]

I spot compost in my garden area. When my kitchen collection bucket is full I just dig a hole and pour it in. I might or might not mix a few mulch handfuls in with it. The worms find it and it disappears in about a month. The soil is nice and loose and perfect for planting. It is small scale but adds up over time.