Charles, I finished and used my first compost not long ago and I owe it to the confidence you give to beginners like myself. Whenever I learn something from you it happens so easily, as if you were on a pilgrimage and I simply tagged along and followed while others were giving directions in another language. I honestly still pinch myself at how easy your methods are. Thank you thank you thank you thank you.
Wonderful to hear Abid and thanks so much for sharing this. I am on a mission to help people see the simplicity of natural processes and work alongside them, as you are discovering! It is empowering and we all need that.,
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Much thanks to you I have two bags of compost cocking, made from the leaves from my neighbors hedge falling on my tiled terrace. My neighbor doesn't care for anything good at all (it seems from my perspective), but so do I and next year I hope she will accept my compost as a replacement for the chemical fertilizer she terrorizes her neighbors with. :D
Something that has helped me is having a good pair of shears that I use to cut all my greens down to make a nice 'green mulch' that I use for my layers.
A grouse tip I got from a recent episode of Gardening Australia: Bash woody stems (like the sunflower stem) with a hammer or end of an axe. It opens up so much surface area for composting and is a lot easier then slicing them up as you can pile them up and do in bulk 👍🏽
You have made composting so simple...I had been thinking about compost making from many years but everyone out there had made it so complicated...It was only after watching you videos on this topic I finally motivated myself few months back and started a compost heap...thanks Charles 👍
Great video as expected. In our urban home we add everything that is compostable not just from outside in the yard, but inside the house too! My wife and I have gone from 4-5 trash bags being picked up by the garbage truck each week to 1-2 bags after we went 100% into composting. I do believe a big misconception from a lot of people not familiar with compost is that it’s only for gardeners and people with lawns. We started with a plastic tumbler and were able to get 5 gallons of compost every six months. Now we have a 3-bin wood system and between our house waste and yard waste we get 15 gallons every 6 months. For anyone interested in compost just know it’s your house waste included! It’s a game changer.
My love for composting is constantly growing, also thanks to you. I started a garden, some neighbors joined in carefully, but they were mainly afraid of the hard work composting makes. Well, it is a bit of exercise. And I love it. I am not letting anyone take that from me 😁
Dziękuję za wszystkie filmy, to niesamowita kopalnia wiedzy! Swoją przygodę z no dig zaczęłam dwa sezony temu co oznacza że zupełnie inaczej podeszłam do kompostowania. Już nie mam odpadów lecz materiał do kompostowania, dodatkowo od sąsiadów działkowych biorę skoszoną trawę czy zgrabione liście z ich działek. Miesiąc temu gdy koszono przyległy wał przeciwpowodziowy zgrabiłam i przywiozłam 35 upchanych worków zielonej materii😊 Sąsiedzi dziwnie na mnie patrzyli chodzącą przez kilka dni z pełnymi workami na taczce ale ja byłam przeszczęśliwa. W ubiegłym roku wygrabiałam liście z działkowych alejek i wokół ogrodzenia ROD teraz mam piękną ziemię liściową. Zaczęła się jesień więc niedługo znowu zapełnię jeden z kompostowników opadłymi liśćmi 🙂Pozdrawiam z Polski z Wrocławia
I set up a 3 bay system in March based on your videos, the compost is now ready to use on my new beds! Amazed by the speed at which it happened! Thank you for making your videos, Charles!
Compost rocks, thank you Charles for making the process so understandable, removing the mythology and making it an ordinary part of the gardening process.
People put in a PVC pipe in the middle of the compost heap with holes drilled in to allow oxygen to pass through. I think the secondary part of it is that you can add water that will distribute the water around the compost better.
Couple of tips I learned here .. remove the bottoms of the pallets .. 2 months or less should be the goal for filling the feeder heaps. Brilliant videography, brilliant presentation, priceless information, what a great video. Thank you Charles & Crew for your continued work!
And again, an indeciduous inspiration for all the enthusiastic compost making lovers out there. Thank you very much for your ongoing, encouraging, experienced and calming way of shedding & sharing light upon all the myths, that sometimes clouding the joy of gardening.
As a woman in my 70’s, living rustically in Nova Scotia, I have limited the amount of energy I put into my compost. I use a Humanure system, empty buckets on to one heap, along with kitchen and garden scraps, for a full year, never turning, let it rest for a year, then spread on garden beds in the fall, cover with a mulch of leaves and plant in the Spring. I have absolutely no idea of how “good “ it is, although it has a wholesome smell and feel. It is what I can manage. My garden skills are very hit and miss, but I learn a little every year. From this reassuring video I will add cardboard sides to my new heap since I very rarely detect warmth in it. Thanks Charles!
Charles, I agree air access to the compost is overstated. My compost wooden bays , modelled on yours, have no gaps between the boards. In addition, after a few years, I lined the outside of three bays and one side each of the two inner walls with 3 inch foiled high density polyeaurathane insulation boards. A lid of the same material covers the compost in each bay. Only the front is not insulated , but I do as you advised and line inside the removable boards with a double layer of cardboard . The bays are covered with a tarp to stop excessive moisture. My compost is just black gold. If temperature rises above 60 C I remove the lids for a while.
I’m using a 3 bay system on my property and have learned the basics from Charles. After three years of composting Ive learned time will correct any mistakes you make. So just do it and you will enjoy the process and the compost you made.
Charles I absolutely love how simple and approachable you make gardening in general! It's not confusing or complicated, and makes me excited to do all this stuff, instead of fearing I'll mess up somehow. We moved into a new house about a year ago, and I made a garden from scratch just on our lawn using a lot of principles I learned from your videos, and I'm amazed how well it's been doing! Thank you!
I made my first compost heap by just making a pile that wasn't even contained and just covering with cardboard. I let it sit for 4 months wetting it occasionally if dry. It turned into a pretty nice pile of compost in the end.
Thank you for the video, very useful! I used to make so much compost using what was said in your book. Now I have ducks and chickens, not so much material for compost left, they eat almost everything! Still have 2 heaps going.
Thank you for breaking it down, no pun intended. I had no idea I could put marigolds or sunflowers with seeds in the heap. I have been throwing away my weeds and big borage plants that were full of seeds. (They grow everywhere!) Time to rethink my strategy!
I think that heap size and temperature are key. I have a smaller pile that rarely gets above 120F and seeds will not reliably decompose below 130, so I cut seed heads off, particularly for problem weeds.
You're absolutely right, I'm obsessed with our compost making. As probably everyone does, I poured over so many videos before I started and I absolutely agree 'now' that it can be made out to be a complicated process, which it really isn't. Everyone starting out in compost making, should watch this video.
That Bosch shredder was a great tip thanks Charles as I’ve now got some good piles of chipped shrub and tree stems for wildlife and composting. before I either took to tip or spent hours cutting them up really small
Peter Chan who brought raised beds to Oregon in the 69s/70s suggested putting a pipe in the center of the heap, and rotating it a bit occasionally for that aeration. He had beautiful mounded beds with stones they removed whilst prepping the beds for the paths. They did use a spading fork, but pretty minimally!
Wonderful video thanks! I am a compost nut for years and have always found drying out is the biggest problem in most heaps I see. I have found placing objects on top help to retain moisture when it's very hot. Heavy rocks or logs help. I never thought of cardboard sides. Thats genius! It will also keep the pile warmer in our freezing winters. For sides I use welded cow panels which in the US are 55" wide and 16' long. So if I cut into 4' lengths I get sides 4' high and 55" wide. One side of these sections will have long spikes which I hammer into the ground about 5" which makes the sides very stable, needing only some ties on the corners for support. My favorite ingredient is fresh green grass clippings which I collect by the bagful at our city compost site. Layering that in is like rocket fuel for the pile, I love to see it heat up to 160 degrees in a couple of days making me very confident to add any weed seeds I have around to make for completely no weeding when I spread on the garden.
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thanks to you, Richard Perkins, and some Aquaponics growers, I’m well on my way to make some changes within the community and expand to the outskirts of numerous cities over the next few years. I can’t thank you all enough for your content and sharing your experience.
My garden allotment is all no-dig and I have a two bay homemade compost area plus a Dalek 😊. I have just turned my heaps and have found too much unchopped stuff so have just separated it to start again but I have some really great compost underneath so I am happy. 😊
Love you compost videos :). I'm fortunate to have a big enough yard that I usually get a lot of grass clippings. Sometimes I even cut my neighbor's lawn for him since he doesn't treat it with any chemicals. I'm much braver after watching your videos than I used to be about putting more woody materials in my heaps now. I put hedgings from my shrubs, perennials, vines from my pole beans, etc. As long I mix in enough grass clippings the pile heats up and everything breaks down and makes great compost. The one thing that I find that makes turning easier is having the bays facing one another. It makes it less awkward getting the material from one bay into another IMO. Thanks Charles.
Thanks for sharing, I hope one day I can buy a copy of your book sir Charles, probably when I come home to my motherland, and apply all your principles in gardening specifically the composting🙏🤗🤗🤗💚🌱💚
When my compost bay is full, i mark the date and continue to fill it up as it goes down. 6 months after that date i marked, i remove the bottom half of the compost that is beautiful and ready to use, and the top half fall to the bottom and i repeat the process. And Ive discovered that adding water makes the process faster. Thanks for sharing, Ive learned a lot from you, and your videos.
I have 6 compost bins running. Packed into thick vegetable transporter boxes. Turned one today. It had gone cold. Made it on the 29th sept . I had a few dead herrings in it along with dry and wet grass. I also put cow manure in with it. Top was dry as a bone. Half way done was still damp and brown. The top half still looked greenish but covered white. Not burnt. At the bottom it was pretty good so I mixed a bit of soil and mixed it. Looks good to use. I have remixed the pile into another box wetting it as I go. Added some fresh soft cow poop. New dry grass to replace the top. Tarp on top. I have two other heaps. 6 x 6 x6 ft roughly. One has been there for 12 months and is only just resembling some form of decomposition. I'm sure I have the mix wrong for quickening it up. But it will get there. The other one I just roll with the tractor every few weeks. All trials as I am a newbie at this. My large piles have never got over 110 f. Not that I can reach the middle. 🙂
Thanks so much Charles. I have a similar system for composting my garden debris. I just wish I had as much garden matter as you to make compost faster. I add a fair amount of coffee grounds from a local coffee shop to add volume. I used to have a horse manure donor…. But they moved on. To prevent rats I also use 2 small compost tumblers where I put most of my my kitchen waste along with any fruits or root vegetables that would attract rodents. I add compost worms to the tumblers (harvested from my heaps when they cool a bit). The tumblers basically become rat-proof worm bins (since the tumblers never got hot enough for me to make compost quickly enough without worms). I add pine pellets to absorb extra water in the worm tumblers. The worms survive the winters well in my climate (maritime temperate like yours, in coastal Washington state, US).
I started practicing some of your methods around two years ago... well I had to move and leave my gardens and compost behind a few months ago. So I started a new compost heap yesterday and it took all of about 45 minutes. Very simple yet effective. It does make good compost and relatively fast.
I've been slowly getting started composting over the past few years. Started with just large bags of fallen leaves. Moved on to a 55 gallon plastic trash can. This month I'll be building my first real 3 bin compost bin. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and willingness to teach what you've learned over the years.
Charles, I would have kept seeds from sunflowers for the birds then compost what was left , very informative video, just started your no dig method this year ready for next year, finding it's harder to dig my garden now at 76 ,
Awesome video! I'm now up to two wood compost bays, two hot bins, one bay for wood chip and will be making a third compost bin. Composting makes the best videos and is one of the most enjoyable parts of gardening, thanks again.
With the Dalek bin this year I used the drill and a long, 3” wide plant auger bit to turn the compost, saving the back, every three days for a month. It rebooted the heat, too. Saved the composting material in old inside out compost bags with a glug each of worm and leaf mould tea and dotted them around the veg beds to dump out when needed. Particularly useful as a light mulch around summer/autumn transplants. Full of earth worms. Didn’t make much this summer due to drought. 🥲
Charles, Thanks for another great video. I suffer from CCS, compulsive composting syndrome and I have been known to go collecting horse and cow droppings from the lanes around us, fallen leaves and collect the debris from woodland fire precaution clearing. Just remember to leave sufficient leaves under trees for their own needs. NB* a word of warning, something that happened to me this autumn, Adders nesting in the warm compost, I won't be wearing sandals around the compost bays! Did you know they give birth to live young! Regards
'Adders nesting in the warm compost' OMG! I've had the odd rat and that was bad enough! Seriously, you have my sympathy along with my best wishes for you to stay safe!
Here in the central U.S., I made a double compost bin from pallets this weekend. I have easy access to as many pallets as I want, and may expand it to three bins, as you have here. Thanks for the valuable information.
Always very informative Charles. While we can't do the same composting system at our current set-up (small, urban garden), we still learn a lot from your composting videos. Thank you!
Another great video. It helps to confirm some of the things I have been doing. Gives me some new info like the coffee grounds are green. One of my go too is the change in smell. I have small flock of chickens put there waste into a barrel along with reg compost items, is the smell once full let it sit then roll the barrel around. There is something about seeing it change from what it was to where it ends up. Even with our climate here in Ontario Canada harsh winters etc it works. Love my compost thermometer. Seeing it warm up also helps me see the process in the works. I can't always produce enough to for my whole garden but still saves me signficant amounts of money in the spring. I will be looking for you book to add to my collection.
We have learned so much from you! We have horses and use shavings for bedding which we now leave out for 6 months rotating every couple weeks. We mix in our green waste from the garden and are amazed how quickly it turns into black gold.
I needed this video at just this time! Thank you so so much for all your hard work and devotion to sharing. It is invaluable to those of us starting out. I greatly appreciate you!
I started doing the 3 pallet bay composting late last year at my allotment (I only had 2 dalek type bins before), I filled my first bay over winter (it has dropped to just under 1/2 full now), I have almost filled my 2nd bay, I am hoping by doing this it will save me a decent amount on shop bought compost, Thank you again for another great vid.
Ty for once again solving a problem for me Charles. I've been tearing up my cardboard, but I also need to line the bin. It's been so dry here my compost has been hard to keep up with. Ty so much.
Glad you noticed! Yes that problem persists but I sound like a broken record if I keep seeing every time and in every video I make, there are a lot more things I wish to say but if I said them all, each video would be an hour!
You have my deepest gratitude, Charles. I started my first compost heap for my small garden last September using your videos as guidance. Many hard lessons were learnt from it (location, balancing green and brown materials, etc) and as I’m working on my third heap, I’m struck by how easy it is now. The compost I made turned out progressively better too. Truly thankful to you for sharing such wonderful knowledge through your videos.
I tried several methods of making compost and for me decomposed cow mature works the best. I found it is relatively low maintenance and i can secure cow manure easily from our local farmers
I have ten “Dalek” style compost bins on my two allotment plots plus two pallet heaps. Our site gets a number of deliveries of wood chips and I fill all my Dalek bins to the top at the beginning of the year and in 12-15 months time that has decomposed to a nice usable compost. I compost everything and all that goes into my pallet heaps. This works well for me.
Thanks for all the tips Charles. You are a mine of information! I love making compost and the sweet smell when it's ready. I had to water both my heaps this summer, they got too dry even though there was a lot of green.
I was unable to construct a hot compost until I managed to get hold of coffee grounds. I don’t know if that was a coincidence, but after sprinkling it in, when I went to turn the heap after a couple of weeks it was steaming. And yes composting is addictive! Thanks for the pointers.
Great video 😊I love composting. My problem is I don’t have a lot of green materials . I have a very small urban garden . I am afraid of using weeds in compost. I am going to start again when the leaves fall . Thank you
Great information. I am going to try the cardboard on the inside of our compost bins. We had a terrible drought, and a three-week long heat wave this season here in the U.S. where we homestead. Using the cardboard as a bin liner would have helped immensely with keeping the compost moist. Thank you for the useful tips.
Thank you sir!! I have a “pile” in two corners of my small garden that I just add too letting nature do it’s thing. But I want to do what you have done to speed up the process for spring. Thank you for your simple instructions. I really want your book.
Thank you Charles for all your videos full of valuable information. It is very beautiful to create our food together and in balance with nature. That keeps us healthy both physically and mentally. Being healthy is always good in this period of mass madness.
The only thing I’d add to your great advice, would be to use a rotary mower to slice up a pile of leafy greens. It would help to accelerate the breakdown and result in less large chunks. Oops I see you mention the mower method!
I enjoyed all your information about composting. I wasn’t sure if I could add flowers to my compost heap? and you have answered my question with this video. Thank you
I have been making my own compost for a very long time, I share your love of the whole process! My way is very much like yours, on a smaller scale for my small garden. The compost pretty much freezes solid in my Canadian winter but that is a good time to slowly add layers that will break down once spring takes hold!
A treasure of a video Charles. I never fail to learn from you - even if it is a reminder of something you told me ages ago. I am one of those you loves making compost, I take great pride in it. I well remember of of my adult daughters being incredulous at the thought that I had made such wonderful comport that I was actually using. So much fun! And yes, get a manure fork, make the turning so much easier I ignored this advice for far to long. Now have one and love it, as does my husband.
Thanks for the advice Charles. I'm not sure how many of your composting videos I've watched, probably all of them, but I always learn something new. A little trick I've been employing which has very little to do with composting is to use lawn clippings as a sheet mulch in the same way you use cardboard. I've been doing this around my garden beds and fruit trees and have found it clears the underlying grass really well. I can apply a layer of wood chip over the top to create paths too.
Great content as always. Thanks to your tips I am producing two loads of really nice compost from a Dalek-style bin (that name doesn’t really translate in North America). I bought a shredder and it is incredibly useful for shrub and vines clippings, as well as small branches. I also include charcoal, some wood ash and rock dust. I would love access to animal manure but that isn’t an option for me in a city.
Great video as ever, simple and demystifying. I love composting as much as planting TBH. I'm not achieving hot composting uniformly in my system, as a result I get lots of squash and tomato seeds germinating. The fun thing here for me is to let a few of these grow and see what they produce. Its a lucky dip, but some of my most healthy productive tomato and pumpkin plants was from the compost heap of no known provenance. On top of that grass snakes and slow worms lay their eggs in my cold compost heaps which shows how valuable they for wildlife.
6:49 the air hole I do something similar and put in the daleks I take a piece of pvc pipe( can use an old discarded one if you wish approx same diameter as your fence post and have drilled lots of little holes( perforated) . I leave the pipe in the middle of the compost as i build it up. The idea like yours is to draw in air to the middle.
I try to make sure my compost isn't layered, as a homogeneous mix of materials seems to keep its heat linger & break down faster ( I do use a LOT of shredded cardboard but still see consistent temperatures over 60°C). Any woody stems go through the shredder first & believe me, it works, just like Charles says. As for moisture, I use recycled beer... The dumpy bags used by builders for sand, gravel & ballast are great for storing compost prior to use, as they're free & allow a limited amount of air into the material. Be aware though that they are NOT usually UV stabilised & thus at some point become fragile & start shedding plastic fibres. Mine go in the plastic recycling at that point, in the hope they don't end up polluting somewhere in Africa or Asia.
We made a bin out of wire, and have found that, indeed, it dries out to quickly. We've made a space to put in the three-bin pallet, found pallets to use, have cardboard,and it's on the calendar to set up by the end of the month. It's so much better to not have to worry about what dire chemicals may be in the compost acquired from outside.
Charles, I finished and used my first compost not long ago and I owe it to the confidence you give to beginners like myself. Whenever I learn something from you it happens so easily, as if you were on a pilgrimage and I simply tagged along and followed while others were giving directions in another language. I honestly still pinch myself at how easy your methods are. Thank you thank you thank you thank you.
Wonderful to hear Abid and thanks so much for sharing this.
I am on a mission to help people see the simplicity of natural processes and work alongside them, as you are discovering! It is empowering and we all need that.,
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Much thanks to you I have two bags of compost cocking, made from the leaves from my neighbors hedge falling on my tiled terrace. My neighbor doesn't care for anything good at all (it seems from my perspective), but so do I and next year I hope she will accept my compost as a replacement for the chemical fertilizer she terrorizes her neighbors with. :D
@@sjobang So nice!! 😂
Hello Charles, Arnaldo from Sardinia, no dig year 2.
What do you think of compost accelerators sold commercially? Kind regards,
Arnaldo
You are definitely making this world a better place. SAVE SOIL.
Something that has helped me is having a good pair of shears that I use to cut all my greens down to make a nice 'green mulch' that I use for my layers.
Nice and eco 💚
A grouse tip I got from a recent episode of Gardening Australia:
Bash woody stems (like the sunflower stem) with a hammer or end of an axe.
It opens up so much surface area for composting and is a lot easier then slicing them up as you can pile them up and do in bulk 👍🏽
Thanks Dominic, great tip
That is a grouse tip. I knew you were an Aussie before I got to, "episode of Gardening Australia". 🙂
You have made composting so simple...I had been thinking about compost making from many years but everyone out there had made it so complicated...It was only after watching you videos on this topic I finally motivated myself few months back and started a compost heap...thanks Charles 👍
Wow nice comment and great to hear!
Making compost is so much fun, it feels like a magical and alchemical 😁
Great video as expected. In our urban home we add everything that is compostable not just from outside in the yard, but inside the house too! My wife and I have gone from 4-5 trash bags being picked up by the garbage truck each week to 1-2 bags after we went 100% into composting. I do believe a big misconception from a lot of people not familiar with compost is that it’s only for gardeners and people with lawns. We started with a plastic tumbler and were able to get 5 gallons of compost every six months. Now we have a 3-bin wood system and between our house waste and yard waste we get 15 gallons every 6 months. For anyone interested in compost just know it’s your house waste included! It’s a game changer.
Wonderful comment, thanks for sharing!
I get so many 'volunteer' tomato plants from homemade compost!!
My love for composting is constantly growing, also thanks to you. I started a garden, some neighbors joined in carefully, but they were mainly afraid of the hard work composting makes. Well, it is a bit of exercise. And I love it. I am not letting anyone take that from me 😁
Great job Karin, I like your attitude 🏆
Dziękuję za wszystkie filmy, to niesamowita kopalnia wiedzy! Swoją przygodę z no dig zaczęłam dwa sezony temu co oznacza że zupełnie inaczej podeszłam do kompostowania. Już nie mam odpadów lecz materiał do kompostowania, dodatkowo od sąsiadów działkowych biorę skoszoną trawę czy zgrabione liście z ich działek. Miesiąc temu gdy koszono przyległy wał przeciwpowodziowy zgrabiłam i przywiozłam 35 upchanych worków zielonej materii😊 Sąsiedzi dziwnie na mnie patrzyli chodzącą przez kilka dni z pełnymi workami na taczce ale ja byłam przeszczęśliwa. W ubiegłym roku wygrabiałam liście z działkowych alejek i wokół ogrodzenia ROD teraz mam piękną ziemię liściową. Zaczęła się jesień więc niedługo znowu zapełnię jeden z kompostowników opadłymi liśćmi 🙂Pozdrawiam z Polski z Wrocławia
Cześć Krystyna, dziękuję za udostępnienie tego uroczego opisu robienia kompostu i ulepszania gleby!
WE LIVE FOR VIDEOS LIKE THESE !!!!!!! ROCK ON NO DIG COMPOST VIDEOS !!!!!!
your primary reason for living is watching youtube videos about recycling?
"NO DIG" book has been added to my library, it deserves an "honour place" in it. Very, very well done.
Thanks, and what good news!
I set up a 3 bay system in March based on your videos, the compost is now ready to use on my new beds! Amazed by the speed at which it happened! Thank you for making your videos, Charles!
Nice work! 💚
Compost rocks, thank you Charles for making the process so understandable, removing the mythology and making it an ordinary part of the gardening process.
😀
Great video. I describe this system to my friends as 3 Card Monty Composting.
Very cool!
Thank you for another informative video. Your channel has changed my life. I now grow my own vegetables and planted fruit trees.
Wonderful to hear Dee!
People put in a PVC pipe in the middle of the compost heap with holes drilled in to allow oxygen to pass through.
I think the secondary part of it is that you can add water that will distribute the water around the compost better.
Couple of tips I learned here .. remove the bottoms of the pallets .. 2 months or less should be the goal for filling the feeder heaps. Brilliant videography, brilliant presentation, priceless information, what a great video. Thank you Charles & Crew for your continued work!
Thanks from Idaho, USA! I have been wanting to start making compost for awhile now, so this came to me just in time!!
Wonderful!
And again, an indeciduous inspiration for all the enthusiastic compost making lovers out there. Thank you very much for your ongoing, encouraging, experienced and calming way of shedding & sharing light upon all the myths, that sometimes clouding the joy of gardening.
Many thanks Gonzo!
As a woman in my 70’s, living rustically in Nova Scotia, I have limited the amount of energy I put into my compost. I use a Humanure system, empty buckets on to one heap, along with kitchen and garden scraps, for a full year, never turning, let it rest for a year, then spread on garden beds in the fall, cover with a mulch of leaves and plant in the Spring. I have absolutely no idea of how “good “ it is, although it has a wholesome smell and feel. It is what I can manage. My garden skills are very hit and miss, but I learn a little every year. From this reassuring video I will add cardboard sides to my new heap since I very rarely detect warmth in it. Thanks Charles!
So good to see this, the brilliant and appropriate methods you employ 💚
Charles, I agree air access to the compost is overstated. My compost wooden bays , modelled on yours, have no gaps between the boards. In addition, after a few years, I lined the outside of three bays and one side each of the two inner walls with 3 inch foiled high density polyeaurathane insulation boards. A lid of the same material covers the compost in each bay. Only the front is not insulated , but I do as you advised and line inside the removable boards with a double layer of cardboard . The bays are covered with a tarp to stop excessive moisture. My compost is just black gold. If temperature rises above 60 C I remove the lids for a while.
Nice to read this Eileen, great job!
many many thanks for getting back to me 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Very comprehensive! All the information you need to get started in one video!
By the way, I think of my compost as a pet too. My Pile monster 😁
😂 nice to hear!
I’m using a 3 bay system on my property and have learned the basics from Charles. After three years of composting Ive learned time will correct any mistakes you make. So just do it and you will enjoy the process and the compost you made.
Wonderful John
Champion Charles look forward to your book.
Charles I absolutely love how simple and approachable you make gardening in general! It's not confusing or complicated, and makes me excited to do all this stuff, instead of fearing I'll mess up somehow. We moved into a new house about a year ago, and I made a garden from scratch just on our lawn using a lot of principles I learned from your videos, and I'm amazed how well it's been doing! Thank you!
Music to my ears and well done you!
I made my first compost heap by just making a pile that wasn't even contained and just covering with cardboard. I let it sit for 4 months wetting it occasionally if dry. It turned into a pretty nice pile of compost in the end.
🏆
Man, that little knife is super sharp. Thanks for the video! Always amazing 👏
Yes I need to be careful, sharpen it weekly
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I can tell. Thank you for your time and valuable information!
Thank you for the video, very useful!
I used to make so much compost using what was said in your book. Now I have ducks and chickens, not so much material for compost left, they eat almost everything! Still have 2 heaps going.
😂 that is different!!
Thank you for breaking it down, no pun intended. I had no idea I could put marigolds or sunflowers with seeds in the heap. I have been throwing away my weeds and big borage plants that were full of seeds. (They grow everywhere!) Time to rethink my strategy!
I think that heap size and temperature are key. I have a smaller pile that rarely gets above 120F and seeds will not reliably decompose below 130, so I cut seed heads off, particularly for problem weeds.
TY for your video's. Will start collecting pallets, and will expand from one bin to several. Following in your footsteps, keep leading the way!
Wonderful!
You're absolutely right, I'm obsessed with our compost making. As probably everyone does, I poured over so many videos before I started and I absolutely agree 'now' that it can be made out to be a complicated process, which it really isn't. Everyone starting out in compost making, should watch this video.
Nice to hear, that you see the simplicity!
That Bosch shredder was a great tip thanks Charles as I’ve now got some good piles of chipped shrub and tree stems for wildlife and composting. before I either took to tip or spent hours cutting them up really small
Where did u find his Bosch Shredder at? I'm in the Texas
The shredder made a big difference for me as well.
You can find similar ones under different brands, check your big box or local hardware store.
@@ritalr15 I got mine on amazon in the UK. not sure about in the states sorry
Peter Chan who brought raised beds to Oregon in the 69s/70s suggested putting a pipe in the center of the heap, and rotating it a bit occasionally for that aeration. He had beautiful mounded beds with stones they removed whilst prepping the beds for the paths. They did use a spading fork, but pretty minimally!
Nice history!
I absolutely love watching your teaching videos. Every time I learn something new. Thank you for taking the time to explain each step.
You are so welcome Dwight
Wonderful video thanks! I am a compost nut for years and have always found drying out is the biggest problem in most heaps I see. I have found placing objects on top help to retain moisture when it's very hot. Heavy rocks or logs help. I never thought of cardboard sides. Thats genius! It will also keep the pile warmer in our freezing winters. For sides I use welded cow panels which in the US are 55" wide and 16' long. So if I cut into 4' lengths I get sides 4' high and 55" wide. One side of these sections will have long spikes which I hammer into the ground about 5" which makes the sides very stable, needing only some ties on the corners for support. My favorite ingredient is fresh green grass clippings which I collect by the bagful at our city compost site. Layering that in is like rocket fuel for the pile, I love to see it heat up to 160 degrees in a couple of days making me very confident to add any weed seeds I have around to make for completely no weeding when I spread on the garden.
Great to hear Brian, what an excellent system you have!
I’ll be needing several copies of that book! It’ll be offered with several others at an upcoming market garden. Thanks for the content.
Great, and I wish you success in your market garden
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thanks to you, Richard Perkins, and some Aquaponics growers, I’m well on my way to make some changes within the community and expand to the outskirts of numerous cities over the next few years. I can’t thank you all enough for your content and sharing your experience.
Very good info Charles, we have pallets, I'm putting ours together this fall, also making a worm bin.
My garden allotment is all no-dig and I have a two bay homemade compost area plus a Dalek 😊. I have just turned my heaps and have found too much unchopped stuff so have just separated it to start again but I have some really great compost underneath so I am happy. 😊
Well done Denise
Love you compost videos :). I'm fortunate to have a big enough yard that I usually get a lot of grass clippings. Sometimes I even cut my neighbor's lawn for him since he doesn't treat it with any chemicals. I'm much braver after watching your videos than I used to be about putting more woody materials in my heaps now. I put hedgings from my shrubs, perennials, vines from my pole beans, etc. As long I mix in enough grass clippings the pile heats up and everything breaks down and makes great compost.
The one thing that I find that makes turning easier is having the bays facing one another. It makes it less awkward getting the material from one bay into another IMO. Thanks Charles.
Cheers Frank and that's a nice tip!
Thanks for sharing, I hope one day I can buy a copy of your book sir Charles, probably when I come home to my motherland, and apply all your principles in gardening specifically the composting🙏🤗🤗🤗💚🌱💚
Sounds good! Hope you get the trip soon :)
@@CharlesDowding1nodig thank you so much sir🤗🙏🙏🙏💚🌱💚
When my compost bay is full, i mark the date and continue to fill it up as it goes down. 6 months after that date i marked, i remove the bottom half of the compost that is beautiful and ready to use, and the top half fall to the bottom and i repeat the process. And Ive discovered that adding water makes the process faster. Thanks for sharing, Ive learned a lot from you, and your videos.
Lovely to read this and well done!
Thank you for showing this! It does indeed make it easier for me, not wanting to make much impact on my landlords property
I have 6 compost bins running. Packed into thick vegetable transporter boxes.
Turned one today. It had gone cold. Made it on the 29th sept . I had a few dead herrings in it along with dry and wet grass. I also put cow manure in with it.
Top was dry as a bone. Half way done was still damp and brown. The top half still looked greenish but covered white. Not burnt.
At the bottom it was pretty good so I mixed a bit of soil and mixed it. Looks good to use.
I have remixed the pile into another box wetting it as I go.
Added some fresh soft cow poop. New dry grass to replace the top. Tarp on top.
I have two other heaps. 6 x 6 x6 ft roughly. One has been there for 12 months and is only just resembling some form of decomposition.
I'm sure I have the mix wrong for quickening it up. But it will get there.
The other one I just roll with the tractor every few weeks. All trials as I am a newbie at this.
My large piles have never got over 110 f. Not that I can reach the middle. 🙂
Yes moisture is key to breakdown, enough but not excessive.
Sounds like you're enjoying that and finding good ways for your situation!
Thanks so much Charles. I have a similar system for composting my garden debris. I just wish I had as much garden matter as you to make compost faster. I add a fair amount of coffee grounds from a local coffee shop to add volume. I used to have a horse manure donor…. But they moved on.
To prevent rats I also use 2 small compost tumblers where I put most of my my kitchen waste along with any fruits or root vegetables that would attract rodents. I add compost worms to the tumblers (harvested from my heaps when they cool a bit). The tumblers basically become rat-proof worm bins (since the tumblers never got hot enough for me to make compost quickly enough without worms). I add pine pellets to absorb extra water in the worm tumblers. The worms survive the winters well in my climate (maritime temperate like yours, in coastal Washington state, US).
Nicely worked out Greg. Hope you find more material!
I started practicing some of your methods around two years ago... well I had to move and leave my gardens and compost behind a few months ago. So I started a new compost heap yesterday and it took all of about 45 minutes. Very simple yet effective. It does make good compost and relatively fast.
Great to hear!
I've been slowly getting started composting over the past few years. Started with just large bags of fallen leaves. Moved on to a 55 gallon plastic trash can. This month I'll be building my first real 3 bin compost bin. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and willingness to teach what you've learned over the years.
It's a pleasure and I wish you well
Love the copper garden tools never rust and have those subtle energies that aid the soil some might say
Yes they are special!
Charles, I would have kept seeds from sunflowers for the birds then compost what was left , very informative video, just started your no dig method this year ready for next year, finding it's harder to dig my garden now at 76 ,
Good tip! Thanks
Awesome video! I'm now up to two wood compost bays, two hot bins, one bay for wood chip and will be making a third compost bin. Composting makes the best videos and is one of the most enjoyable parts of gardening, thanks again.
That is awesome Rhodri and thanks
With the Dalek bin this year I used the drill and a long, 3” wide plant auger bit to turn the compost, saving the back, every three days for a month. It rebooted the heat, too. Saved the composting material in old inside out compost bags with a glug each of worm and leaf mould tea and dotted them around the veg beds to dump out when needed. Particularly useful as a light mulch around summer/autumn transplants. Full of earth worms. Didn’t make much this summer due to drought. 🥲
💚
Charles, Thanks for another great video.
I suffer from CCS, compulsive composting syndrome and I have been known to go collecting horse and cow droppings from the lanes around us, fallen leaves and collect the debris from woodland fire precaution clearing. Just remember to leave sufficient leaves under trees for their own needs.
NB* a word of warning, something that happened to me this autumn, Adders nesting in the warm compost, I won't be wearing sandals around the compost bays!
Did you know they give birth to live young!
Regards
'Adders nesting in the warm compost' OMG! I've had the odd rat and that was bad enough! Seriously, you have my sympathy along with my best wishes for you to stay safe!
Wow! and cheers Chris
Tak, no dig i kompost to życie w glebie i to widać na każdej rabacie . Cudowne i fascynujące , dziękuję .🤗
💚
Thank you very much for your fantastic work.
Excellent motivation! I appreciate the simplicity.
You are so welcome!
Here in the central U.S., I made a double compost bin from pallets this weekend. I have easy access to as many pallets as I want, and may expand it to three bins, as you have here. Thanks for the valuable information.
Sounds great Dave
Always very informative Charles. While we can't do the same composting system at our current set-up (small, urban garden), we still learn a lot from your composting videos. Thank you!
Thanks so much
hello charles how nice the compus thanks for sharing I send you greetings
Thanks for visiting Bertha!
Another great video. It helps to confirm some of the things I have been doing. Gives me some new info like the coffee grounds are green. One of my go too is the change in smell. I have small flock of chickens put there waste into a barrel along with reg compost items, is the smell once full let it sit then roll the barrel around. There is something about seeing it change from what it was to where it ends up. Even with our climate here in Ontario Canada harsh winters etc it works. Love my compost thermometer. Seeing it warm up also helps me see the process in the works. I can't always produce enough to for my whole garden but still saves me signficant amounts of money in the spring. I will be looking for you book to add to my collection.
That's nice and thanks for sharing
We have learned so much from you! We have horses and use shavings for bedding which we now leave out for 6 months rotating every couple weeks. We mix in our green waste from the garden and are amazed how quickly it turns into black gold.
So cool Cathy!
Thank you so much Charles. Hugs from Uruguay 🇺🇾
Vielen Dank für den Film.🙂👍
Schon!
I needed this video at just this time! Thank you so so much for all your hard work and devotion to sharing. It is invaluable to those of us starting out. I greatly appreciate you!
💚 So glad!
I started doing the 3 pallet bay composting late last year at my allotment (I only had 2 dalek type bins before), I filled my first bay over winter (it has dropped to just under 1/2 full now), I have almost filled my 2nd bay, I am hoping by doing this it will save me a decent amount on shop bought compost, Thank you again for another great vid.
Nice to hear, and you are doing well!
Ty for once again solving a problem for me Charles. I've been tearing up my cardboard, but I also need to line the bin. It's been so dry here my compost has been hard to keep up with. Ty so much.
Glad to help Lisa!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig 🙂
Thanks for not putting too many adverts in this video, much appreciated!
Surprised you didn’t mention the pyralid problem?
Glad you noticed!
Yes that problem persists but I sound like a broken record if I keep seeing every time and in every video I make, there are a lot more things I wish to say but if I said them all, each video would be an hour!
That is always a pleasure to see you, love the simple way of teaching you have! Thank you for helping us along Charles! Blessings! 🤗❤
You are very welcome Cami
You have my deepest gratitude, Charles. I started my first compost heap for my small garden last September using your videos as guidance. Many hard lessons were learnt from it (location, balancing green and brown materials, etc) and as I’m working on my third heap, I’m struck by how easy it is now. The compost I made turned out progressively better too. Truly thankful to you for sharing such wonderful knowledge through your videos.
Fascinating and thanks for sharing that is was hard at first, then you have worked it out, is music to my ears!
lol. Taking care of compost like a pet. Think I'll call one chewy. Thanks for your videos and the editing notes to further explain the process.
😂
I tried several methods of making compost and for me decomposed cow mature works the best.
I found it is relatively low maintenance and i can secure cow manure easily from our local farmers
Thanks for sharing
What a great video, thank you!! It is so helpful when you give pretty specific volume amounts in terms of greens and browns. Thank you!
I have ten “Dalek” style compost bins on my two allotment plots plus two pallet heaps. Our site gets a number of deliveries of wood chips and I fill all my Dalek bins to the top at the beginning of the year and in 12-15 months time that has decomposed to a nice usable compost. I compost everything and all that goes into my pallet heaps. This works well for me.
Sounds like you have a good system going there Mike 🌱
“Like a pet…” In a lot of ways those microbes are like pets we feed. They in turn feed the soil. Amazing!
Thanks for all the tips Charles. You are a mine of information! I love making compost and the sweet smell when it's ready. I had to water both my heaps this summer, they got too dry even though there was a lot of green.
Yes amazing! and thanks
Oh, you are a man after my own heart!
I work at a Community Garden and I also add some worm wee to the mix as I layer things
I was unable to construct a hot compost until I managed to get hold of coffee grounds. I don’t know if that was a coincidence, but after sprinkling it in, when I went to turn the heap after a couple of weeks it was steaming. And yes composting is addictive! Thanks for the pointers.
Cheers Martin and you are right that coffee grounds are a green material, therefore contribute to heat
Great video 😊I love composting. My problem is I don’t have a lot of green materials . I have a very small urban garden . I am afraid of using weeds in compost.
I am going to start again when the leaves fall .
Thank you
Great, and weeds + tree leaves = a nice mix!
El mayor trabajo del huerto es para el compost.Buen compost,buenas cosechas 😅👌🏻🥦👏🏻👏🏻👏🥕🌸🐞Saludos desde Tenerife !!
Si si
I have read the compost section of your new book several times already! So good!
Awesome! Thank you!
As always Charles, an excellent video. I got the book you showed too. An excellent bedtime antidote to everyday stresses. Thank you.
That's nice Ian
Its interesting to see how quickly a compost heap reduces in size - a few days and what was filled to the top with material has shrunk considerably.
Yes so true, a slight downside!
Great information. I am going to try the cardboard on the inside of our compost bins. We had a terrible drought, and a three-week long heat wave this season here in the U.S. where we homestead. Using the cardboard as a bin liner would have helped immensely with keeping the compost moist. Thank you for the useful tips.
💚
Thank you sir!! I have a “pile” in two corners of my small garden that I just add too letting nature do it’s thing. But I want to do what you have done to speed up the process for spring. Thank you for your simple instructions. I really want your book.
That is nice Gloria, and I hope you succeed to speed it up!
Thank you Charles for all your videos full of valuable information. It is very beautiful to create our food together and in balance with nature. That keeps us healthy both physically and mentally. Being healthy is always good in this period of mass madness.
So true Robert, health is the corner stone
The only thing I’d add to your great advice, would be to use a rotary mower to slice up a pile of leafy greens. It would help to accelerate the breakdown and result in less large chunks. Oops I see you mention the mower method!
Great idea indeed! 😂
I enjoyed all your information about composting. I wasn’t sure if I could add flowers to my compost heap? and you have answered my question with this video. Thank you
I have been making my own compost for a very long time, I share your love of the whole process! My way is very much like yours, on a smaller scale for my small garden. The compost pretty much freezes solid in my Canadian winter but that is a good time to slowly add layers that will break down once spring takes hold!
Sounds great and thanks for sharing!
A treasure of a video Charles. I never fail to learn from you - even if it is a reminder of something you told me ages ago. I am one of those you loves making compost, I take great pride in it. I well remember of of my adult daughters being incredulous at the thought that I had made such wonderful comport that I was actually using. So much fun! And yes, get a manure fork, make the turning so much easier I ignored this advice for far to long. Now have one and love it, as does my husband.
So nice to hear! Thanks
Me gusta que acabas mitos! Bravo! Por favor un vídeo sobre tierra de diatomeas.
Nice stuff! We have 2 over the allotment. And 2 at home! It’s nice to have homemade compost with all the compost craziness of the last few years
Nice to hear, and it sure is
Thanks for the advice Charles. I'm not sure how many of your composting videos I've watched, probably all of them, but I always learn something new.
A little trick I've been employing which has very little to do with composting is to use lawn clippings as a sheet mulch in the same way you use cardboard. I've been doing this around my garden beds and fruit trees and have found it clears the underlying grass really well. I can apply a layer of wood chip over the top to create paths too.
Nice to hear, great method when you have plenty of mowings :)
Great content as always. Thanks to your tips I am producing two loads of really nice compost from a Dalek-style bin (that name doesn’t really translate in North America). I bought a shredder and it is incredibly useful for shrub and vines clippings, as well as small branches. I also include charcoal, some wood ash and rock dust. I would love access to animal manure but that isn’t an option for me in a city.
That is awesome DK and congratulations
"kreatywność i zabawa" - to jest piękne 👍 pozdrawiam 💚♥️
Great tutorial.
Thank you very much.
Great video as ever, simple and demystifying. I love composting as much as planting TBH. I'm not achieving hot composting uniformly in my system, as a result I get lots of squash and tomato seeds germinating. The fun thing here for me is to let a few of these grow and see what they produce. Its a lucky dip, but some of my most healthy productive tomato and pumpkin plants was from the compost heap of no known provenance. On top of that grass snakes and slow worms lay their eggs in my cold compost heaps which shows how valuable they for wildlife.
Nice comment Andrew, great you and your wildlife are having such fun :)
6:49 the air hole
I do something similar and put in the daleks
I take a piece of pvc pipe( can use an old discarded one if you wish approx same diameter as your fence post and have drilled lots of little holes( perforated) . I leave the pipe in the middle of the compost as i build it up. The idea like yours is to draw in air to the middle.
Nice!
I try to make sure my compost isn't layered, as a homogeneous mix of materials seems to keep its heat linger & break down faster ( I do use a LOT of shredded cardboard but still see consistent temperatures over 60°C).
Any woody stems go through the shredder first & believe me, it works, just like Charles says.
As for moisture, I use recycled beer...
The dumpy bags used by builders for sand, gravel & ballast are great for storing compost prior to use, as they're free & allow a limited amount of air into the material. Be aware though that they are NOT usually UV stabilised & thus at some point become fragile & start shedding plastic fibres.
Mine go in the plastic recycling at that point, in the hope they don't end up polluting somewhere in Africa or Asia.
Nice job!
Recycled beer 😁. Never called it like that! I use recycled coffee for the same purpose.
We made a bin out of wire, and have found that, indeed, it dries out to quickly. We've made a space to put in the three-bin pallet, found pallets to use, have cardboard,and it's on the calendar to set up by the end of the month.
It's so much better to not have to worry about what dire chemicals may be in the compost acquired from outside.
Sounds excellent and may your compost be super good!