Composting 101: Stupid-Easy Compost Making in Piles & Bins

[priayief]

I've been composting for years. And I believe I've viewed/read 100's of videos/articles on composting. I've come to these conclusions: you can turn your compost or not; it can take a month or a year to be ready; if it smells, add leaves; if it gets dry, add water; you can add beer or something else to accelerate your compost (if you want to waste $); you can add mature compost to new compost to accelerate decomposition; you can build it in a pile using chicken wire, wire fencing, pallets or just free-standing; you can make it cold or hot (hot takes more effort and precision); you can make it simply by burying organic matter into your garden beds; you can make it (judging by YouTube tag-lines, in as little as 18 or 19 days) or you can just pile it up, do nothing more than that and it will be ready in one season. Its not an exact science but its fun, useful and you can put as much effort into it as you wish. Cheers.

"Analysis paralysis" that's exactly the thing. One wants to learn more to do stuff correctly and ends up feeling like "can't do it, too complicated". Thanks for your simple approach contribution!

[grannyanniesfarm]

Nice video! I had a friend once (passed away a long time ago) that was a great doctor and an excellent gardener. His "rule of thumb" for his compost pile was... "Anything that was once living goes into the compost pile." He had the most beautiful roses and the most beautiful and productive veggies I ever saw!

[applenaut]

Great compost primer vid! Most people never realize how imperative it is to look down first. For many years I worked for a gentleman named Archie Byatt, straight up the coast in Victoria, BC. He was in his late 80's at the time and he spent at least 80 of them gardening in a time when organic was the only way. He was a great teacher and I'm grateful for all the things he took the time to teach me. Each layering, he had me add peat moss/manure/soil/compost with the leaves and the grass. No turning. He was in the camp of "turning compost disrupts the heat process that breaks things down". Each spring, after a year of layering, I would take the compost and add it to his raised beds. I called this soil "fluff" because once in the raised bed, I could stick my arm into the soil as deep as my elbow. The root growth and water retention properties of this fluff would blow your mind.

[stevenmccallan]

I love your attitude of, "Just get started..." That is half the battle. Great vid and well articulated.

[elizabethjohnson]

Thank you for this post. I found it to be the most practical video on composting I have come across - it answered questions other videos did not. Your philosophy of just getting started with something to avoid analysis paralysis is inspiring.

[danielmocsny]

Free tip: you can make the fresh pile decay much faster by sprinkling in shovel-fulls of the old brown compost from the "finished" pile as you build the new pile. Then cap the new pile with a continuous layer a few inches thick of old compost. The old compost provides several benefits as a compost starter:
1. It is highly porous and absorbs rainwater that can otherwise run off fresh leaves and straw.
2. The compost cap prevents the fresher organic matter below from drying out as quickly when the weather clears.
3. As water percolates through the old compost, it picks up hungry microbes looking for their next meal.

[sapulpaorganics]

May I add a suggestion? I use pallets for my compost bins too, but I cut one in half to use on the front. This helps to hold the compost inside and it's easy to turn everything every few weeks.
Enjoy your videos and thanks for sharing

[yesyes]

Nice vid with good info and hints. Last year I didnt get my pile hot enough to kill weed seeds but this year made a slight change I got a roll of 3' welding wire and cut it to a 4' circle putting in leaves, sawdust, yard trimmings, coffee grounds from starbust. After the first turn which had reached 130F I closed the wire circle to 3' which allowed the reduced pile to be taller once again. Then after a couple of days the pile heated up to 155F which is what I wanted. Using that system it is much easier to turn the pile as I would just remove the wire from the pile and re toss the debris back into the wire tower which I watered and it also allowed for the air mixture by turning. Turning the pile every few days is key for hot composting. For those not interested in hot compost the pile will still compost over winter providing you turn it a few times during.

[lennyf]

Excellent composting video. I live in suburbia, South Florida, And have been composting for many years. I've watched many composting videos on YouTube and some of them simply get too crazy technical. Mother nature is wonderful in its simplicity and efficiency. If you put organic material in a pile, give it time and water, it will rot. Rot = Compost, simple as that.

[kalpic]

I like how sincere and practical and easy this advice is. Makes me not as scared to get things wrong and just start.

[gabevieira]

A couple of words of advice. The steer manure one gets at any store is neutral and will aid in helping break down the pile faster. Also a wide pitch fork works way better than a shovel for turning the pile.

[kellishinn]

"analysis paralysis" Boy, you nailed it. I needed to hear that phrase. That's going on the fridge! Time to get going!

[sundancer]

Great primer vid !
Don't forget the wood ash; it breaks down and becomes similar in composition to lime, which then breaks down the remaining compost faster. It will also sweeten the pile, allowing you
to add even more kitchen scraps if you want!

[tilday]

Well, I came here with many questions and my biggest question is finally answered. I was ignorant to this whole process. After watching, I feel confident that I can make this happen. THANK YOU! May your adventure be a success!

[spacerag]

Analysis Paralysis... How have I never heard this term before? I feel like that perfectly describes what happens to me on every project. lol. Great video, great info! Thanks for sharing this with us.

[petebachman]

Another great video, Alyssa. Stuff just decays anyway- composting makes it decay in such a manner as to enrich a chunk of soil so green stuff can grow.

Your descriptions are concise without lots of fluff, and get to the point with your trademark humor (something I always look forward to). Cheers!

[dhamby]

using branches on the bottom helps keep the flow of oxygen moving through the pile.

[davidmichaelvara]

Awesome and truly simple. Yes, I agree that some videos out there suffer from analysis paralysis (something one of my high school teachers always said as well) and yours is just plain simple. Thanks for posting so my brain could comprehend just how easy this can be. 👏😁

[pauld]

I was inspired by the video, so I rounded up some pallets and two hours later TA DA Great compost bin! Thanks for the idea