Composting for Beginners | A Market Gardener's Guide
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- Опубликовано: 25 мар 2023
- Today's video is all about a simple recipe for compost making.
This video addresses: compost simplified, compost making for beginners, carbon and nitrogen, carbonaceous materials and nitrogenous materials, leaves, wood chips, compost temperatures, compost turning,how to start a compost bin, and more.
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For easy gardening composting I’ve turned people on to using a large garbage can with a ton of air holes on the sides. Flip upside down and cut a hole in the bottom and add from there. Once filled, you can lift the can to free the pile up. Mix it as you reload the can, repeat or leave in place til finished. It’s like a sand castle mold, and keeps it easy and light lifting for elderly or physically limited people.
I tried this method as well. All I did was add things as I had them and once the garbage can was full I left it alone, watering occasionally because I'm in a dry area. Just a few months later I wanted to start another pile so I dumped it upside down and was so happy and surprised it smelled so earthy and so wonderful! The only thing left was a few sticks that weren't small enough that I had put in the bottom to help with drainage.
Do you have a pic for us to see what can looks like?
@@angp8558 nah, sorry. Just an upside down can with the bottom cut out (which becomes the top hole you fill through), fill the sides with air holes.
Wow so happy I caught this message! Thankyou!
NCNow: thank you so much for this advice especially for the last few words, light lifting can also get kids to have their project, yes?
You all may already know this , but Starbucks will give you used coffee grounds that you can add to your compost, for extra nitrogen etc. might be helpful to someone.
My father was an avid gardener and allotment owner. He used to have 5 6ft x6ftx6ft areas for compost. Fill one with whatever you have then when full go to next carry on. Until all full and I mean full. If done properly it will take 5 years. His plats and food was the best every one wanted to know how he did it.
I have never had success making compost. Now with my back pain I can't do all that turning, so I just throw everything in a pile, and maybe move it around once in awhile, but mostly it just sits there and rots. After several years I begin another pile. In time, I start planting where the old pile was. The soil is usually much better there than anywhere else around the yard. :)
Holding your fork like a paddle and rowing the pile from one spot to another is easier on your back ❤
Jus laid 5 yards of mulch the other day...its an investment for the future
I love when the tree guys ask if they can come dump. It has really helped my formally cotton land hard packed clay become workable. Plus free chicken run flooring that makes for super hot compost as soon as its piled.
As an older lady I have found a way to compost that does not tax me. I have three five foot high/wide/long compost bays. The middle bay has removable slats to allow access to the two outer bays so that I cab pull the bottom compost into the middle. I leave my compost for a couple of years because I put my chicken waist into the outer piles, as well as grass clippings, and household non-meat food waste. I don't turn, but I do layer and I have wonderful compost with lots of worms and good microbes.
Dude that's the most notes I've ever taken in a RUclips video. WOW that's a ton of helpful info. Thank you! (My notes below with some added worm stuff, because I like them too.)
Simple Composting Guide:
Start composting by making a pile of your kitchen waste and yard trimmings. Choose a place that drains well so water doesn't pool under your pile. If the area doesn't drain well, put down a layer of woodchips first.
You'll need a pitchfork to turn your compost pile and a long thermometer to check its temperature. Try to turn your pile a few times each year to help it break down.
Your compost pile needs a mix of carbon-rich stuff (brown things like wood chips and dried leaves) and nitrogen-rich stuff (green things like fresh grass clippings, vegetable scraps, and animal waste - but not too much animal fat because it breaks down slowly). Try to keep a 30:1 ratio of carbon to nitrogen, but don't worry too much about it. If the pile smells bad, add more carbon. If it's too dry, add water. If it's not getting hot, add more nitrogen or water.
When you add new nitrogen-rich stuff, cover it with dry carbon-rich stuff. If you've done it right, your pile won't smell bad. If your pile isn't getting hot enough, add more nitrogen-rich stuff.
Your compost pile needs to be about 3-4 feet high to work well. At this height, you can turn it effectively, and it will heat up properly. Smaller piles might not get hot enough.
Composting is slower in winter than in the warmer seasons of spring, summer, and fall. Keep checking the pile's temperature. If it gets above 137 degrees, turn it. Make sure your pile is moist - if you can squeeze a drop of water out of a handful of compost, it's moist enough. If it's dry, add water, but avoid using city water because it has chlorine in it.
After you add water, cover the pile with a tarp that lets air through and keep checking the temperature. Aim for over 131 degrees. If it's not heating up, add more nitrogen. If it gets hotter than 165 degrees, spread the pile out, add water, or make it taller. Putting wet, green stuff in the middle of the pile can help it heat up.
Rules for Certified Compost Managers:
In the first fifteen days, you need to turn the compost pile five times and keep the temperature between 131 and 170 degrees. This is to meet the rules of the NOP Regulations and Food Safety Modernization Act.
Adding Worm Bins:
Besides regular composting, you can also use worm bins, which is called vermicomposting. In this method, earthworms eat the organic waste and make nutrient-rich worm poop, which is great for your garden. You can keep worm bins inside or outside, depending on the weather, and they're great for composting kitchen scraps. Don't add citrus, onions, and meat or dairy products because they can hurt the worms. Keep the bin in a dark, airy place and keep it as moist and warm as a regular compost pile. Every 2-3 months, collect the worm poop and use it to enrich your garden soil.
I live in an apartment so no compost pile for me. I use a worm bag. It takes care of most of my green food scraps and a good amount of card board too. And worms are just fun!
Agreed! Worms are the best 🪱 They also really really love wood chips if you have access to them and will breakdown surprisingly large chunks (within reason)
You could also build up some branches under your pile in damp areas.
The worms here are so abundant! When I move compost to a bed I'm also moving a colony of worms .
I have watched two videos where You're cards or links aren't even showing 😮 but your videos are informative and interesting. Love the joke's 😂😅
Small but important addition: Don't build your compost pile up against any wooden (or otherwise flammable) structure. On hot summer days, compost can get hot enough for spontaneous combustion; & every summer there are a few people who burn their shed- or house- through using it for one side of their compost bin.
This is a great reminder. I was unaware this could happen until a family in my town nearly lost their home after a pile of mulch located against the garage spontaneously combust.
I saw a video where a young man was composting 3 ft up the really nice wooden fence. His pile was about 40 ft long and he was showing it off because he was really proud of his hard work. I was pretty sure he didn't pay for that fence and I was really hoping it wasn't his neighbors fence because it's destroying a perfectly good fence. It would cost a lot less to have an entire dump truck load of finished compost delivered than to replace that fence. 🙃
We had a big pile of horse manure mixed with wooddust/chips. The pile was about 2 meters tall and 6m2. At some point in a hot summer i noticed it smoking quite alot. It was actually burning and smoldering. Took me about a day to extinguish it. Some of it was straight up ash afterwards...
I saw someone composting inside wood pallets, could I do the same or no?
@@Aburuqayyah225 if you don't put the pallets next to some wooden structure. At least that would be a precaution I would take
I used to build my compost year around and had to tarp it in the most extreme of the rainy season so it wouldn't go anaerobic. 4 years ago I ended up with a serious injury to my rib cage and even though I kept trying found I couldn't turn a pile anymore. So now I let the worms do it for me. Not kidding. I used to use large totes until I found myself feeding into 32 totes. Now I use flow through systems. Last year I was tossing 3 households worth of kitchen scraps into my bins. I ended up with too many egg shells which kind of jammed the system. I cleared it but I loved making my compost/worm tea within 10 minutes. input water at the top and receive tea at the bottom. Sooooo easy and effective. The only thing you really have to worry about with the worms is the temps. You don't want to heat the pile up or you'll kill your little helpers. When I get too many worms for the bins I usually let them loose in my gardens around September so they can find where they want to over winter. All my raised beds have a 6 inch round by 4 ft tall black pvc pipe in the center of the beds to continue to feed scraps directly to the source making it even easier to get fertilizer and aeration to my beds with as little work as possible on my part. Happy composting everyone!
Can you share a bit more about the flow-thru system? I need something low-cost and can't physically do the work of turning a pile anymore. Don't have tons of waste but hopefully I'd have enough?
I throw all food, straw, and wood chips in my chicken run. My ladies will scratch and dig up all the yummy bits and break it down over time. Then once a year I add the new compost to the top of my garden beds about a month before I plant!
Jesse, I super duper appreciate all that you have taught me. I am new to organic/regenerative practices and would be lost without the No I’ll team. Also, your dad jokes get me every time.😁
Cheers to another year of No tilling. Thanks for the lesson!
Great video. I needed this right now. About to get serious about this whole composting situation!
Great information and as always! Appreciate it! ❤
Excellent video, Jesse. This is exactly the common-sense instructions and advice I've been looking for, to make a compost pile about the size you demonstrated. Well done and thank you!
I used to have a large two chamber composter that laid on its side on a metal frame I turned it every few days to keep it aerated. I used it for kitchen waste. My landscaper takes everything else (grass, fliwers, branches) to municipal composting. But I've gotten older (and lazier) and now use a Lomi countertop composter ($600). I love it, but have moved to my garage because of the grinding noise it makes (for hours) and the odor. It really works and turns everything into a coarse, dried "meal" that I accumulate in a 5-gallon bucket (with a lid). When it gets full, i simply scatter the dried product on my lawn, where it vanishes into the grass. It's amazing.
I manage two 8' x 8' square composting beds in a residential garden where I am a guest gardener. I layer in horse manure & bedding(wood shavings), shredded leaves, grass clippings, shredded paper, kitchen scraps, chopped garden waste, and a bit of finished compost, then periodically turn the pile by tilling it with my small Mantis(20lb) tiller. This mixes all the organic materials and introduces more air. I then use a shovel and rake to mound the pile as high as possible to create the largest mass. It starts heating up right away and I check it with a long stemmed thermometer. After a week, I level the pile out a bit and start the layering process all over again. I may put more work into my compost making than some would care to do, but I love the process and the finished product. It doesn't take long for my piles to mature as I am adding material that is reduced in size to begin with. In the fall when we clear out the raised beds and have lots of whole plants to compost, rather than endure the labor of chopping them up, I just create a large deep hole in the middle of the piles, throw the plants in, then cover with compost. Here in zone 6b Michigan, those plants will decompose nicely through the late fall, winter, and early spring of the coming year and the compost piles will be ready for use by early to mid May. Have been composting this way for years and it works for me. My thanks and appreciation go out to Mother Nature and all the hard work her bacteria, fungi, and macro organisms put in to give me compost. :)
From experience I will add don't start your pile under trees. They will pull the moisture out as fast as you add it in. Great over view! Thanks!
If you have multiple piles or your thermometer is in the shed and you're out near the pile, a 4ft stick of rebar poked in each pile will easily tell you if your pile is hot or not.
How?
@bastionwolf just poke a stick of rebar in each pile. Later, pull it out and feel if it's hot. You won't know the exact temperature, but you're gonna know if it's cooking or not.
I'm so grateful for your efforts. These videos are more than informative,they are enjoyable and uplifting. Thank you so much!
Another fantastic video. Thank you!
I really appreciate the knowledge you drop on these videos. Thanks.
I’m about to inherit an established farm. It hasn’t been used as such for several years though. I am going to attempt to get it back on the rise. Using this channel to gather as much info as I can to help myself through the beginning stages quickly. Hopefully I’ll be able to master the farm 😅
I use mostly Johnson-Su with a worm tower in the middle for kitchen scraps.
I do appreciate the videos and No To Growers book.
Greatful to have encountered you're insight! Mahalo.
Yes! This is serious and a very important thing since it is also written in the Gold Book and the most important book of all times; The Bible. When and as it is already happening, we will be running out of food everywhere. And it´s something that we should take very seriously. As a food it´s going to be very expensive and hard to find but if we already have this working we are going to be something else. Good for us and important for the people that are going to be around us because as it is already known, times are going to be hard.
jess you guys are amazing man thank you for sharing your life with us all !!!!!! your a dam good man !
Oh my god, the comment about the Dad Joke systems update is 100% correct.
We are being blessed with 2 rainy days here in IA. Having fun binge watching your and other's gardening videos. I'm glad I found you.
Love ❤the living soil hand book!!
Your scent of humour makes this subject much more interesting. Thankyou.
I love your videos! Thank you so much!
They are probably called Dad jokes because they are clean and clever. Nice teaching there, fun learning here.
This is amazing. Thank you for sharing your wisdom.
Thank you for helping us
Just getting started. Thanks for the info
Finally a simple composting video that I can handle (which I can handle being a European in a Kenyan village with no power, running water and stores where one can buy all th fancy things in buckets and containers to add) hanks 🙏
Great info, I have 2 Geobins that I use for my 1200 Sq ft. Easy to move, clean, store etc. and good for small scale
Yessss Jesse, thanks so much for this video! 💚🌱💚
Nice sharing
Love the content AND the music. Keep them coming!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks friend. I’m going to rewatch this and learn more about compost. My compost sucks!!!!!!!!
Thanks for the vegan farmer shout out!! Makes me feel so alive!
Me too!
BTW anyone know how I could compost the soy mash left over from soymylk/tofu making? I've heard it's no good to put in the pile but somehow I think it should work - however it's not really a carbon or nitrogen- anyone have experience with this?
@@trish3580 Why do they say not to use it? I put all sorts of stuff in my compost that a lot of "experts" say not to (orange peels, dog feces, my neighbors' dead chickens, etc), but I never have a problem. I follow the system from the Humanure Handbook, and currently my pile is 94F which I started on January 1st of this year.
Thanks! Your videos have been a great source of knowledge and inspiration while I try and start my farm journey. Thanks
amazing, thank you!
another great video thanks for sharing:) Have a wonderful week.
This was an absolutely wonderful video sir I truly appreciate that you took the time to tell me the things you know about composting. Thanks so much I subscribed to your channel. Y'all have a great day grow some food it's good for you. The crap we it's not good for you. You're basically just killing yourself putting money into a handful of people's pockets. Grow your own food folks it's better for you you'll live to be a hundred. And slowly but surely you'll fix the planet for your children cuz right now they don't got no future. Neither do your grandchildren
I love your channel and love this video! Thank you!
I’m utilizing the last scrap of yard available; the unused dog area right outside our kitchen door. We live on a .10 acre urban farm 😉. Started this spring. No smells yet….. I’m not stressing or measuring. If it works “yeah”, if not, I’ll put more effort into it next year. So far looking good.
Thank you so much I’m learning a lot!!!
Thank you for sharing🙂
This is great indepth information about composting 👍👏✌️
It’s like compost is so easy but so complicated but you made it simple. TY
Great information. Thanks.
We love you farmer Jesse.
I thought you said easy ha mind blown, its sounds like a right science
for those of us with a bad back, fork or shovel will be easier with a long handle, I also use a 'brake' something to brake the shovel/fork over like a 2ft high tressel, or in my case the bottom half of the front side of a pallet bin composting bay make it so much eaiser on my glassback
I'm currently reading through my "Complete Book of Composting" by J.I. Rodale once again. It's close to 1000 pages. It's great hearing young farmers using the basic composting techniques that have been around for decades. Thanks for the hands-on video showing us the steps to making successful compost. 😊
They have been around for millennia not decades, over 6000 years ago composting was a thing
@@shangrilaladedaACKCHULLY
@@crispusattucks4007 what?
@@shangrilaladeda you need me repeat it rather than you just reread it? Ok…
ACKCHULLY
@@crispusattucks4007 I don’t know what that means
Great work Jessie! We follow you from France, if you're ever on tour give us a shout. You have become one of my go-to/mainstays over the last couple of years. High fives all round!
I'm currently constructing a compost barn for static aeration piles. I essentially have used the "pallet method" in the past but just find that I need more production and less turning. I'd love a follow-up video that goes over some of the microbes and things you see in your compost.
Starting with woodchips on the ground to help aerate it is a good idea, I've started doing this as I'm on clay soil and the bottom of the pile can become anaerobic. Also just having a pile might well be the best option in most cases instead of building boxes, it makes it much easier to turn especially if your boxes are smaller.
I Love it that it's all translated to Spanish! Thank you... shared with relatives & friends.
Hello from Ekron, Kentucky 6B zone I make my compost using pallets in a square, food scraps,leaves,grass clippings three pallets bins set in a row middle bin empty when outer 2 bins need turning I just turn both into center bin monitor temp and visually watch center bin when it’s ready I use. happy thanksgiving to everyone y’all
amazing amount of info, thanks......You answered many of my beginner's questions. my wife and I started our raised gardens so we eagerly forge ahead.
you a cool guy with nice informative video's
thanks alot
Thanks!
Thanks🇧🇷😃👍
Fantastic explanation! I practice a similar method and it has proven to be very effective! Thanks for sharing and further confirming the effectiveness and simplicity of composting this way (first method). It's cool to see that others enjoy this stuff as much as I do :)
Your job is great ❤
“Fermented fish liquid” is a staple in Vietnamese cooking. LOL. I do love it, though.
great job love your videos bro!
Not sure how the music ended up being so perfect for compost, twas excellent! Also thanks for making this I have recently started watching your videos and I really appreciate the production quality and the flow.
Super. Thank you.
Great explanation thanks
Excellent thank you so much
I take the lazy rout. I make a pile, about 4’ square give or take of whatever is handy. Maybe I fork it over once, sometimes not. Then I leave it for about a year. Done. What goes in? Leaves, woody stems, trimmings, kitchen scraps…. I keep it in a shaded area and never water it. I just let nature take its course. I’m not farming commercially though. I just use it in the garden each year. I usually have three piles going. One is actively being added to, one is “cooking” and one is usable.
Getting ready to build my house. Then I’ll be starting the garden. Finishing “The Living Soil Handbook”. That’s a keeper. I appreciate the way you present your info. This video is a prime example and makes a great accompaniment after reading the book. Wish me luck. I’m progressing from patio/bucket gardening to a homestead, so I will be reading the ink off your book.
I did everything what you say he never compost
I love the t-post pounder holding the tarp down. That is its normal job around here as well.
This is helpful. I will use this knowledge.
Coffee grounds are full of nitrogen, hence a "green" ingredient. Tea leaves can be both.
It's not a difficult thing, but requires patience, some exercise, and gathering ingredients before piling up the compost. Spring is great, weeds haven't flowered yet, so seeds aren't such an issue.
My neighbor mowed his "lawn" more like a field. I let him dump it on my compost pile because I was quite sure he didn't use any chems on his lawn. When I went back and looked at my pile I swear there were more weed seeds than grass in that pile. I had to cook that one really hot before using it and I cringed because it has taken years to tame the weed infested property I've been gardening for the last 7 years. Some times you just have to roll with it.
Super to best idea
Household device makes a decent pre-compost to gift to a composting friend, or speed up the process of turning kitchen scrap into more a compostable form.
I’ve just bought ur book looking forward to reading it
Tq for good guidence.
You are right about the U2 album
I have a huge compost, and today I saw the first snake of the season. I hate to disturb them, but this year the three year old pile has to be used. It's pure gold for sure.
I use chicken wire just throw stuff in grass clipping kitchen waste dead leaf etc etc I don't turn water or take temps just sit back and wait and using aquafafe to take chloramine out of water works great
I love my compost machine works great!
you sir are a god 🥹ℹ️🫶🏻 thanks for keeping it simple!
(this comment was meant for your composting video, but all these are great so I guess it's fine with me ha but compost in particular I gave up on til your vid)
Awe , thank you! Really really appreciate the support!
Super gracias eres muy inteligente 😊 nos a servido todos tus consejos
Great sharing watching here phillipines
Xin chào bạn, cảm ơn bạn chia sẽ kinh nghiệm, chúc bạn nhiều sức khỏe thành công trong công việc 👍👍👍
Bokashi composting is working really well for my kitchen system. I do a lot of food storage/freeze drying/canning so have lots of scraps. It turns into black gold when buried. Kind of fascinating.
I watched an old video of a man with a small yard in an HOA area that forbid composting or veggie patches in the front yard. So he made a nice wide /thick wood chip pathway and he would freeze his scraps and keep his throw away papers and cardboard boxes and then he'd do all his yardwork. Make a 2 ft round hole about 3 ft deep in the pathway. layer all his scraps, paper, cardboard and yard debris. He'd pack it down tight and fill the top up with chip until packed enough to walk on again. He said that he would dig a new hole every month. By the time he finished burying the 12th pile it was time to dig up the first pile and use the compost in his garden with no one the wiser. He said it never stunk and he put enough wood chip on top that it didn't attract pests.
You mention countertop "composters" at the end of the video. I have one that I use pretty extensively. First, no one should be misled that this makes COMPOST, it doesn't. It grinds and superheats it. Initially, I'd hoped it would break down my scraps into a form I could feed to my worms to finish off. Mistake. It caused a ton of mold and killed a bunch of my worms. When I divide my worms I may try VERY small amounts again, but only when there's nothing at all oily. I live on .06 acres (ZERO SIX!) in Queens, NY on which I have as dense a cottage garden as I can. My paths are all woodchips from branches I collect around the neighborhood. I take the product of this countertop mulcher-gadget and sprinkle it lightly in my paths. Lightly enough that it doesn't smell, it's not visually noticeable, hasn't attracted raccoons or rodents, occasionally a mushroom patch will appear, helps keep everything but heavy bones out of the waste stream, and is hopefully helping build soil where there was asphalt just a couple of years ago. The manufacturer says you can use it as fertilizer, but I'd be suspicious of that. I think of it as a first step to composting stuff (fish bones or fatty or spicy stuff ) that worms don't want and that isn't advisable to add straight into other composting systems. And on a plat this small, it's not feasible to have a 4' compost pile.
I love this info thank you🎉
I made my compost in a container bp safe and i put holes on the bottom and the side and bought organic soil to start it off then added my food scrape and earth worms and it is such amazing black gold ❤
grate stuff
Ok the jam 🎵 is awesome 😂. ❤ y’all, Kristy in Missouri also zone 6b 😃🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸