Lazy Composting: Does it work to pile it and forget it?

I'm a lazy composter, but homemade compost is still a critical ingredient in my organic garden. In 2021, I stayed more hands-off than usual, though, not turning the piles once in 7+ months. Here are the results (and hope if you're a lazy composter, too).

[pmc]

I use last fall's leaves and this years grass clippings for most of my compost. I do 5 foot diameter fence rings and lasagna layer the grass clippings with leaves and partially finished compost. I'll unwrap the ring from my compost muffins and use the unfinished outside layer on the next pile. I then grind the pile core with an electric tiller and use it. I keep one separate pile for garden waste and fall perennial cut back and use more mature compost to layer with that type of fibrous material as it breaks it down faster. I find that segregating the fibrous stuff into just one pile to be easiest way to deal with it. That pile will be the last one opened up next year. Any wood yard waste is fire pit kindling. I quench my bonfires to make charcoal and throw that charcoal with the ash into the compost mix as well. The grass clippings/leaf mix I get off the lawn in early fall is perfect as is for covering my kitchen garden. I'm going to collect and pile more leaves this fall as I ran out of carbon early this year and was forced to use mature compost to layer with my grass clippings. I'll have 4 muffins of about 1.5 - 2 cubic yards each unwrapped and finishing over winter and I'll use at least 6 rings to collect this fall's leaves. The electric tiller and a manure fork work great for working my piles and like you I don't sift finished compost or cover piles anymore. An organized lazy compost is what I would call my operation. My composting gets lazier with a better finished compost product year on year. Funny story, I bought a matched pair of nice used compost tumblers off of Craigslist some years back and It only took one year for me to sell them and move on to the pile it up and let it rot method. One other tip I'd add is capping your built and settled piles with a layer of finished compost makes an uncovered pile heat up and finish up faster.

[Bgraytful]

Even lazier - - I just take the debris (stalks, leaves, plant debris) and lay it down fresh, in between rows or where ever the ground looks like it could use help. No need to move it to a bin and then move it back! I give the more woody material a twist to start the breakdown. The only thing I don't put down are the weed seed heads or prickly vines (blackberry). Immature weeds and even grasses are fine. Voila - composting in the garden on the spot. My neighbors have learned to donate their debris too. No bins, no turning, no sifting, no moving. I have done this for 10 years and its great. The soil loves it. At first it is just mulch and as it dries it becomes a fairly attractive brown layer protecting growing plants. Over the winter its worm and microbe food. By next spring it is mostly gone but the soil where it was is wonderful. Anything left after the winter I rake into a new row of mulch. Compost in place. No work! The few weeds that make it through are very easy to pull up . . . and lay back down for more compost in place.

[jblewis]

I'm a lazy composter as well! I use mostly grass clippings and shredded paper, and we add our kitchen scraps, too. This last fall and winter, I've had the best compost I've ever had, and all I did was add a cheap blue tarp (like $3 from Harbor Freight) on top of my piles. The materials broke down quickly with no turning or watering on my part, and I found a ton of worms in my piles this time, too!

[victorybeginsinthegarden]

In gardening and in life you have to choose your battles

[darrelldunman]

It does fine. I have several. Granted I do turn occasionally. And I do add a good amount of browns to the grass clippings.

[debbiedowers]

We have a compost tumbler that is just too difficult for me to turn. Last fall I started a compost pile in a wire cage with every intention of doing it “right.” That worked for about a month. It sat untouched all winter and spring. A month ago we pulled the cage off and it had turned into nice compost. Now I have several cages set up for passive composting. 👍

[DENNISPS]

I have a couple of lazy compost bins. I add materials constantly and aerate with a compost tool but don’t turn. After 2 seasons I get great compost with little work

[Beaguins]

Most gardeners have lawn clippings, and those are great for balancing the browns and getting the whole to decay quicker. Also, you don't really have to turn the compost; you can mix it with a compost crank. It's easier and kind of fun.

[terrim.]

I am soooo thankful I found this channel! We just bought a new home and we have been killing ourselves trying to boost our soil to start planting next year! I LOVE your realistic method, especially since God has an amazing way of helping the circle of life in the garden! Thank you 😊

[dsws]

I am thrilled to see this video. I started composting this past spring, and I haven’t done anything but pike it. Can’t wait to go see how it worked!

[pmdoit]

Real people composting ❤️ nobody has time for that stuff... Thank you!

[danpozzi]

Great video. I have been a lazy man composter for, wow, since 1978. Nature will do its course. I would try to have it where you can give a little water once in a while. God‘s best

[jimchristensen]

Thanks. Nice overview. I don't turn my compost that often but as I toss in vegetation I try layer if I can and I also just throw on a little dirt or compost which helps hold moisture and provides bacteria and micro organisms.I have used a 3 bin set up before but now I just use one bin, but a larger permanent wood frame type which gives me room to transfer side to side. I really don't have to turn much. I let one side build up for awhile and then gradually transfer to other side as I gradually add vegetation as the summer goes on. This system works very well for me and less time and energy is spent composting.
A side note on watermelon as your watermelon video was great. I have a couple servings of homegrown Carolina Rattlesnake watermelon in the refrigerator to finish off and it's almost November in central Iowa, zone 5. Best year ever for these partly because I learned a little more or perhaps I was lucky?

[ludlowfalls]

Good video! Last year i tried mowing over everything that had not broken down, it made more of a mess than anything.

[edwardhanson]

I am also a lazy composter. I keep a compost pail in the kitchen. After emptying it in the compost pit, I put about 1/4 cup of Bokashi in the pail. Since I started using Bokashi I have noticed that my two big compost bins are breaking down much faster. They are now half the height they were in June, , even with regular contributions.

[Stewart]

Hey I'm new to your channel so I'm just now seeing this video. One thing I'd like to point out and commend you on is that your not worried about getting everything perfect. So many youtubers are constantly telling their viewers that everything needs to be done just so and if it's not then it's just not going to be acceptable. Which in turn is discouraging to beginners. I like the way you put it at the end of your video, yes there are quicker and better ways yet in the end you still got a viable product. It's better to just start gardening the lazy way instead of being afraid of failure. Nobody turns compost in nature yet it somehow finds a way. Good to see others are like me 😂

[chinatownboy]

Aunty, I have no method. I dig a hole. I put stuff in the hole. I cover the hole. Then add more stuff. It becomes a mound. I don't care what they call it. Hot compost. Cold compost. Worm compost. I guess sometimes, it heats up, depending on what's in there. There are worms. It's more or less systemic. I dig the next hole, next to the 1st hole. Repeat the process. Yard scraps. Kitchen scraps. Dead raccoons. Dead skunks. If I have boxes, they go right in the hole. It works. If I start on the left side of the yard, and go to the right side, then go back to the beginning again - Beautiful rich compost, read to grow vegetables.

[brianseybert]

I totally agree on your perception of composting. Composting can be a very specific scientific endeavor, or as you just demonstrated let nature do it's own thing.
The only comment I have is to be careful when it comes to trying to lazy compost a lot of nitrogen rich materials. Last fall I tried saving a bin of grass clippings and kitchen waste to use in my winter compost pile, well by the time I went to use it it turned into an anaerobic stinking, vile mess. I ended up spreading it out over some crappy soil over the winter to kill of the anaerobic bacteria.
No matter how you decide to compost I believe it is a huge benefit for our soils and the environment.

[LiliansGardens]

Good to see. I havent turned my compost since the lockdown started. I actually had spare I used in 2020 and 2021 . I pray to find something nice as yours when I finally turn

[pamwilliams]

I’m so glad you did this!! I feel bad sometimes that I don’t turn or water my piles. (It’s hard to turn!!) I’ve just decided that I’ll wait on it to break down, because like you say, everything breaks down eventually. My hubby did make me 3 bins this year, so this is so much better than my old water troughs that I’d used for years. I do need to be better at chopping up the debris as I know that would make turning easier if I did decide to turn. Again, thanks so much for this excellent video!!