this year we have been actively collecting our maple leaves and used coffee grounds from stores (in addition to garden waste) and making leaf mould lasagna. lol. never had a compost pile heat up, but the piles seem happy so far. so cute to see your son helping you in the garden.
I guess I'm an opportunity loving gardener...i was given a plastic 55 gallon barrel and a huge garden style bathtub that a senior citizen gave it to me just to haul it away after her bathroom remodel. I use the tub as a soil mixing platform. I'm making compost in the barrel but it takes a while...i layer green plant material horse manure more green material then a layer of rabbit manure then straw....wet it down and let it sit. I throw in some dry dog food and let it soak awhile before I add a lot of worms. I have worms all over beneath my rabbit cages...i start that in April and by October I have black crumbly material.
Great video. Sometimes the local big box stores will let me the plants they are discarding. They go straight to my compost as does any leaves, wood chips , grass clipping, kitchen veggie scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells and the occasional goat or rabbit manure. I never thought of using the spend brewers grain. That was a great/ helpful tip. We have a few here in north Texas. I have to check them out. Thanks for the video👏🏾
This is so exciting for me :D we brew our own beer and I've been trying to use the spent grains wisely - will certainly be using them in our compost pile! Thank you for the informative videos.
I've been watching your garden videos and I've noticed that you've lost a lot of weight! Thumbs up for gardening 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼thanks for sharing, very inspiring 😁
I am learning how to make good soil my soil is 100 per cent clay need to work it to make to vegies soil hard to get the things you put on it I only put kitchen left overs Thank you for the video
Did you add all of your dead garden plants to your compost pile? I am cleaning my garden this weekend, zone 6b and I do have some PM, will that kill off or should I put in trash? Thanks and great video as always!
Reading comments and got couple of my questions answered. I have couple of questions: How is bentonite earth or clay beneficial for garden, I was reading about it and it says this clay contains 60 minerals. How true is this and if yes, how to to use it. Secondly cat litter containing Diatomaceous clay is same as DE or different and how effective it is. On the other hand, I got good supply of fall leaves, it's foggy mix with rain and snow mix at 10:30 pm.
There is limited need to mix clay in. The leaves have all the minerals your plants need. Although people claim more is better your plants will only use around 20 of them. Clay will also make a soil that does not have the best structure. I would avoid any store bought produce like cat litter. It's not regulated for that type of use and may release something harmful. I don't have any research but I would avoid it. Once your compost is in contact with the native earth earth worms will bring minerals up too. Hope this helped
Alberta Urban Garden Simple Organic and Sustainable Thank you Steve, I have got 9 bags of 5 year old composted horse manure and fall leaves. Cat litter is scented with chemicals and includes unspecified amount of baking powder, I was not going to use it anyway.
What's your opinion on colored paper clippings added and/or other chemicals that could get into the pile? like BPA(bisphenol A) or benzoates... and how do you think does it influence the worms?
I noticed the cedars in the background, can you use the dry leaves ( bows) in composting. We have a number of them in our yard in Edmonton and would like to utilize this resource if possible. Thank you
Love the video. Thanks. Almost all recipes I've seen including turning the compost (for getting oxygen in that is low in middle of pile, and so the outside edges get included). I don't think you mentioned turning the compost. Is that right that you don't turn at all? But the whole pile ends up composted?
I love how the title of the video is "make easy compost" and like half the video youre all winded from the very hard not easy work you are doing. hahaha. :) I really enjoy your videos I've come across recently in researching how to make my own compost for my plants. Appreciate all the science and studies that go into what to use and why it actually works. Looking forward to starting my own! Thanks for the great info!
I need more leaves!!!!!!! What are your thoughts on composting paper waste (specifically, Newspapers and Office copy paper with laser and inkjet print)?
Shannon Reis Newspaper is fine but I would avoid copy paper with ink. Unprinted copy paper is fine but I recommend newspaper as it is more natural ink and paper.
@Shannon Reis You can use broken down cardboard and you can also use dryer lint and pet hair, which in my case is 50% lint, 50% pet hair 😄 The cardboard is a fav. food of Red Wiggler worms 👍
Tried to collect everything into a list:1/2 Green Material (nitrogen rich): summer scraps, coffee grounds, spent brewery grains (+Selenium);1/2 Brown Material (nutritional content?): autumn leaves, wood chips;prior years compost (jump starts bacteria population);wood ash (lime substitute- calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, but lacks nitrogen-from "Is wood ash safe to use in a vegetable garden?);egg shells (calcium-from "Build Soil Fertility with Leaf Based Compost Made from Free and Local Resources")
Sounds like you are getting most of the list. Basically any organic you produce in your garden or home can be used. 1:1 leaves:garden scraps and 3:1 leaves:brewery grains
I thought the same but I put them in my garden 3 years ago and they keep surviving. It might be due to the compost piles and their insulation. Who knows though :) they come back and keep doing their good work :)
I was considering loosing some of mine but I was afraid they would just die. There doesn't seem to be any worms in the soil up here. It's too late now (I'm 9 hours north of Edmonton) but maybe I won't lose too much sleep over the ones left in the casting. P.S. My worms are retarded and still in the bottom tray of my worm factory. On the plus side, they've stopped swimming in the worm tea, lol.
nice video and all you content is great. This I'm pretty sure is referred to as cold composting though as from my knowledge in hot composting you're looking at ratio's of 30:1. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.
It depends on what you define as a hot compost. Excess thermal mass or a certain minimum temperature. The reason I put this video out the way I did is to help simplify the process.
i live in the east coast. I tried for the first time, composting in a small styofoam container this past summer. It looks pretty good, but i do not know what to do with it during the winter months where i leave it covered on my balcony. Do i continue to treat it the same way as i have done in this past Summer, or wait till Spring? BTW, the container is almost full.
Nope but my pile does have good drainage to the bed below it. Excess water drains right off. I don't turn the pile either. I just move it like I showed and plant right on top.
The drainage from this pile moves into the lower bed so most won't go anywhere. When it does get there the bacteria of the nutrient cycle and the high humus content of my garden ensure those nutrients have the best possible chance of being retained.
@nervouss I added red wiggler's to my garden compost pile which is uncontained (not in any enclosure or container) and the worms are still here. They haven't left so I guess they like it here lol
I lovw your dog!, how can make sure my soil has enougj minerals///?I've found a ton of soil testing kits, but not one hat tests for more than PH, potasium, magnesium, or phosphorus?, any help appreciated!, I'm in the US, but mt husband is Canadian
I copied my question off one of your lighting videos..Thought you would def see my question if I posted on your most recent video..Thanks in advance for any help.What do you recommend for a lemon tree that's about 4 ft, a banana tree thats 2 ft and a mandarin tree also 2 ft? I just got the banana tree and mandarin ealier this year and Ive had the lemon for about 4 yrs. they aren't fruiting yet. The lemon flowers but no big lemons as this past summer. I have a shop light I can mount and use.Just need to know which lamps I should get. T-5 will be good for these kinds of trees? Also how far away should the lamp be? The banana doesn't require direct sunlight believe it or not so Im thinking maybe a foot or two above them all and rotate them out and around. Hope to hear from you.Thanks for great videos
Do you add grass clippings from your own lawn? I noticed you have a dog. Are you concerned that you will end up inadvertently adding some dog poop contaminants from the lawn if you do so?
I believe you do if they are fresh egg shells, if they have been sitting in your garden shed for a few months then they should be safe. I have also heard you can heat them in a oven or microwave to kill any pathogens..
No, you do NOT want to add oils or grease to your compost pile. So, for example, don't even add that greasy pizza cardboard box even tho shredded cardboard is a good addition. From everything I've read, the main reason is because it attracts rodents. It also slows down the process. There may be more reasons, but those are what I remember right now. Hope that helps if you haven't already found the reason's why not. God bless and have a great week! 😎🙋♀️
this weird as a dude at it late teens age I feel this is my closet secret that will really hide myself if i heard someone when i was at a garden planning something
this year we have been actively collecting our maple leaves and used coffee grounds from stores (in addition to garden waste) and making leaf mould lasagna. lol. never had a compost pile heat up, but the piles seem happy so far.
so cute to see your son helping you in the garden.
I searched a lot and this is the one what I'm looking for. Thank you!
Glad I could help my friend !
I don't have a backyard
I live in Mumbai. Yet I love your videos
I guess I'm an opportunity loving gardener...i was given a plastic 55 gallon barrel and a huge garden style bathtub that a senior citizen gave it to me just to haul it away after her bathroom remodel. I use the tub as a soil mixing platform. I'm making compost in the barrel but it takes a while...i layer green plant material horse manure more green material then a layer of rabbit manure then straw....wet it down and let it sit. I throw in some dry dog food and let it soak awhile before I add a lot of worms. I have worms all over beneath my rabbit cages...i start that in April and by October I have black crumbly material.
Great video. Sometimes the local big box stores will let me the plants they are discarding. They go straight to my compost as does any leaves, wood chips , grass clipping, kitchen veggie scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells and the occasional goat or rabbit manure. I never thought of using the spend brewers grain. That was a great/ helpful tip. We have a few here in north Texas. I have to check them out. Thanks for the video👏🏾
Glad you found the video helpful !!
This is so exciting for me :D we brew our own beer and I've been trying to use the spent grains wisely - will certainly be using them in our compost pile! Thank you for the informative videos.
You may be able to make bokashi compost possibly make some money selling these kits too.
I've been watching your garden videos and I've noticed that you've lost a lot of weight! Thumbs up for gardening 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼thanks for sharing, very inspiring 😁
I have and thank you very much for noticing :)
Fantastic video! I am very glad to hear about the red wigglers surviving the winter! Best wishes.
I put them in with some wormcastings 3 years ago and they seem to thrive in my yard :)
Great! I never knew squash could grow in unfinished compost.Good tip!
Yup it does quite well on unfinished compost !
I have been watching your videos for some time now, very informative and inspiring. Thank you!
I watched your videos, they are wonderful n very detailed and to the point. thanks for providing such valuable knowledge to others.
Thank you for taking the time to leave such a nice comment. I appreciate it !
man, ive learned alot from you. i appreciate what you do a great bit. i just wanted to say thanks....
Thank you so much my friend !! I appreciate your taking the time to let me know that !
Patience brings man to success!
Awesome update thank you for sharing have a blessed day
I like the way the young lad is busy doing his on thing too..LOL
Great information Stephen. I wish there was a brewery close to me but I do get as much coffee grounds as I need. Best wishes Bob.
As long as you get what you need no worried then !
I am learning how to make good soil my soil is 100 per cent clay need to work it to make to vegies soil hard to get the things you put on it I only put kitchen left overs Thank you for the video
Yup, compost is the BEST thing you can do for the garden! It also helps to make the soil PH neutral and also helps aerate the soil.
I completely agree ;) it is simple and effective!
Can you please do an episode on bokashi composting and confirming/busting the benefits of bokashi tea on plants
Hello! Great video, and love the ideas for free resources. Do you ever turn your compost pile?
Like the new intro music. And your compost process, looks really good!
Thank you my friend! This was kind of half of a Vlog and half Episode ;)
Oh go out
Hi, I think you live close or in my same community and I am about to build my first garden so I appreciate your advice.
I live just outside of Edmonton. Feel free to reach out on our Facebook page an I can try to help.
Really good video, thanks and keep gardening my friend. Have a good day 🍂🍀🌱🍃🌻
Thank you my friend I am glad you enjoyed it!
Your son is so cute, trying to help😍
Haha! Agree. He even had a little shovel with him
Great video! Love your little helper!
Thanks!! The helpers were great!
Great video! Do you have any ideas on deterring raccoons from breaking into my compost bin?
Please do an episode on indoor compost
Thanks! Love compost videos!
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Did you add all of your dead garden plants to your compost pile? I am cleaning my garden this weekend, zone 6b and I do have some PM, will that kill off or should I put in trash? Thanks and great video as always!
I would avoid adding any diseased plants.
Thanks for another awesome video. I love your channel!
Thank you my friend !
What is the plantbehide you against the wall Tell me more about it and how you trained it.
Reading comments and got couple of my questions answered.
I have couple of questions: How is bentonite earth or clay beneficial for garden, I was reading about it and it says this clay contains 60 minerals. How true is this and if yes, how to to use it.
Secondly cat litter containing Diatomaceous clay is same as DE or different and how effective it is.
On the other hand, I got good supply of fall leaves, it's foggy mix with rain and snow mix at 10:30 pm.
There is limited need to mix clay in. The leaves have all the minerals your plants need. Although people claim more is better your plants will only use around 20 of them. Clay will also make a soil that does not have the best structure.
I would avoid any store bought produce like cat litter. It's not regulated for that type of use and may release something harmful. I don't have any research but I would avoid it.
Once your compost is in contact with the native earth earth worms will bring minerals up too.
Hope this helped
Alberta Urban Garden Simple Organic and Sustainable Thank you Steve, I have got 9 bags of 5 year old composted horse manure and fall leaves. Cat litter is scented with chemicals and includes unspecified amount of baking powder, I was not going to use it anyway.
What's your opinion on colored paper clippings added and/or other chemicals that could get into the pile? like BPA(bisphenol A) or benzoates... and how do you think does it influence the worms?
I noticed the cedars in the background, can you use the dry leaves ( bows) in composting. We have a number of them in our yard in Edmonton and would like to utilize this resource if possible.
Thank you
Love the video. Thanks.
Almost all recipes I've seen including turning the compost (for getting oxygen in that is low in middle of pile, and so the outside edges get included). I don't think you mentioned turning the compost. Is that right that you don't turn at all? But the whole pile ends up composted?
I love how the title of the video is "make easy compost" and like half the video youre all winded from the very hard not easy work you are doing. hahaha. :)
I really enjoy your videos I've come across recently in researching how to make my own compost for my plants. Appreciate all the science and studies that go into what to use and why it actually works. Looking forward to starting my own!
Thanks for the great info!
Thank you 4 the video :)
My pleasure
I need more leaves!!!!!!! What are your thoughts on composting paper waste (specifically, Newspapers and Office copy paper with laser and inkjet print)?
It's usually good but I suspect the nutrients are slightly lower than leaves.
I was worried about toxic chemicals from the paper stock or the ink... Maybe a testing garden series with Maxim labs? :)
Shannon Reis Newspaper is fine but I would avoid copy paper with ink. Unprinted copy paper is fine but I recommend newspaper as it is more natural ink and paper.
That's a shame because I have a lot of excess laser and ink jet printed material from work!
@Shannon Reis You can use broken down cardboard and you can also use dryer lint and pet hair, which in my case is 50% lint, 50% pet hair 😄
The cardboard is a fav. food of Red Wiggler worms 👍
Tried to collect everything into a list:1/2 Green Material (nitrogen rich): summer scraps, coffee grounds, spent brewery grains (+Selenium);1/2 Brown Material (nutritional content?): autumn leaves, wood chips;prior years compost (jump starts bacteria population);wood ash (lime substitute- calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, but lacks nitrogen-from "Is wood ash safe to use in a vegetable garden?);egg shells (calcium-from "Build Soil Fertility with Leaf Based Compost Made from Free and Local Resources")
Sounds like you are getting most of the list. Basically any organic you produce in your garden or home can be used. 1:1 leaves:garden scraps and 3:1 leaves:brewery grains
Can red wigglers survive Alberta winters? I thought they were very fragile and prone to cold weather issues.
I thought the same but I put them in my garden 3 years ago and they keep surviving. It might be due to the compost piles and their insulation. Who knows though :) they come back and keep doing their good work :)
I was considering loosing some of mine but I was afraid they would just die. There doesn't seem to be any worms in the soil up here. It's too late now (I'm 9 hours north of Edmonton) but maybe I won't lose too much sleep over the ones left in the casting.
P.S. My worms are retarded and still in the bottom tray of my worm factory. On the plus side, they've stopped swimming in the worm tea, lol.
Love it! From Nova Scotia!!
You are able to overwinter red wrigglers in Edmonton area? How? Thanks
Love your espalier. What kind of tree is that?
It's an apple tree and I love it as well.
Your videos are really informative and encouraging, keep on posting but I hope you are re using those plastic bags now instead of ripping them open.
Good information here. Is freshly fallen pine straw a brown or a green?
Joe Pacholik green
and don't put too much, it will acidify the compost.
They take a long time to decompose
So your red wiggles survives the below freezing weather outside? What do you do to protect them?
nice video and all you content is great. This I'm pretty sure is referred to as cold composting though as from my knowledge in hot composting you're looking at ratio's of 30:1. Please correct me if I'm wrong though.
It depends on what you define as a hot compost. Excess thermal mass or a certain minimum temperature. The reason I put this video out the way I did is to help simplify the process.
i live in the east coast. I tried for the first time, composting in a small styofoam container this past summer. It looks pretty good, but i do not know what to do with it during the winter months where i leave it covered on my balcony. Do i continue to treat it the same way as i have done in this past Summer, or wait till Spring? BTW, the container is almost full.
The bottom of my pile turns into a compacted soggy mess. Do you ever turn your pile?
Nope but my pile does have good drainage to the bed below it. Excess water drains right off.
I don't turn the pile either. I just move it like I showed and plant right on top.
if you use branches on the bottom of the pile it will help with oxygen flow
That's a good idea. I'll try it next year :)
What is the smallest compost heap one can make and still generate enough heat needed?
3Umphbywill 3ft. × 3ft.
Nice video!
Thank you my friend.
When it rains, how much nutrients get leached out of the pile to the surrounding lawn?
The drainage from this pile moves into the lower bed so most won't go anywhere. When it does get there the bacteria of the nutrient cycle and the high humus content of my garden ensure those nutrients have the best possible chance of being retained.
I need guidance how to do composed pile
What time of year was this started? Were the wigglers added or they came on their own?
@nervouss I added red wiggler's to my garden compost pile which is uncontained (not in any enclosure or container) and the worms are still here. They haven't left so I guess they like it here lol
I lovw your dog!, how can make sure my soil has enougj minerals///?I've found a ton of soil testing kits, but not one hat tests for more than PH, potasium, magnesium, or phosphorus?, any help appreciated!, I'm in the US, but mt husband is Canadian
I copied my question off one of your lighting videos..Thought you would def see my question if I posted on your most recent video..Thanks in advance for any help.What do you recommend for a lemon tree that's about 4 ft, a banana tree thats 2 ft and a mandarin tree also 2 ft? I just got the banana tree and mandarin ealier this year and Ive had the lemon for about 4 yrs. they aren't fruiting yet. The lemon flowers but no big lemons as this past summer. I have a shop light I can mount and use.Just need to know which lamps I should get. T-5 will be good for these kinds of trees? Also how far away should the lamp be? The banana doesn't require direct sunlight believe it or not so Im thinking maybe a foot or two above them all and rotate them out and around. Hope to hear from you.Thanks for great videos
I live in Massachusetts so want to provide the proper artificial lighting to keep them healthy during the winter months.
I saw it and dropped you a note there :)
do you use grass clippings in your pile?
Some times but only in the Center of the pile so the weed seeds die off
Is your garden on a slope? It looks tiered which is huge in labor saving tactics
Thumbs up
Thank you :)
have you stopped making videos?
Thaks
Tim Horton's for the win!!
It took someone long enough to catch my timmies run lol
Do you add grass clippings from your own lawn? I noticed you have a dog. Are you concerned that you will end up inadvertently adding some dog poop contaminants from the lawn if you do so?
My friend I need your help .
I have Slime Mold in my soil and my Compost pile ; It's a bad signal or not ?
its not great but not bad. You may simply need to dry it out and add more carbon material.
Don't you have to wash the egg shells first ? Cheers
I believe you do if they are fresh egg shells, if they have been sitting in your garden shed for a few months then they should be safe. I have also heard you can heat them in a oven or microwave to kill any pathogens..
How often do you stir your compost piles?
Never :) the method works great.
How long does it take for them to be fully composted?
the hot compost pile usually done by the time i plant in May.
nice, thank you for the response
my pleasure!
Can you add spent cooking oil to a compost?
No, you do NOT want to add oils or grease to your compost pile. So, for example, don't even add that greasy pizza cardboard box even tho shredded cardboard is a good addition. From everything I've read, the main reason is because it attracts rodents. It also slows down the process. There may be more reasons, but those are what I remember right now. Hope that helps if you haven't already found the reason's why not. God bless and have a great week! 😎🙋♀️
@Scott Brasuell NO!!! NEVER put oils or grease or fats or meats in compost
Where in Alberta is this
Edmonton area.
this weird as a dude at it late teens age I feel this is my closet secret that will really hide myself if i heard someone when i was at a garden planning something
is egg yolk good for compost?
asad saeed they are not bad but can attract pests similar to adding meat or dairy
5:58 That tree is crossed like Jesus ... Poor tree . :-)
You used the word Easy...... but you are working to hard....
Well I had a deadline lol. But it can be done easily if you are not rushing :)
tries to do sustainable agriculture... uses plastic trash bags for leaves...
The leaves were not collected by myself rather I rescued them from the dump.
oh gotcha.
Not easy