He is right on the money. When we lived in the Finger Lakes of NYS we were in a rural area where our neighbors all gardened and composted. Our compost pile was hot, even in 20F temperature snow melted on top. If you have a good compost pile, it's pure gold.We even harvested potatoes (threw in the eyes we trimmed off in the kitchen) in mid winter that grew in the compost. Don't forget to add your coffee grounds and tea leavings!
December 2018--HI my name is Angie, I AM A COMPOST ADDICT...lol...after watching your videos on HOW EASY composting is, what started out as ONE compost pile, has now become "5" compost piles (first pile was about 2 months ago) ...I even got energetic enough to eventually make four compost bins out of wood pallets (that I got FREE at Home Depot). ..So far, ALL of my compost has cost me NOTHING ($0.00)...I even get FREE coffee grounds from Starbucks and from a cafe that is about a block from my house! Oh did I mention that I am almost 67 years old :-) Needless to say, if I can successfully make good compost, than ANYONE can. My first pile is now done cooking and waiting to use come spring...the other FOUR, I have kept building them up and turning them every couple of days . As soon as our Northwest Winter hits (late coming this year), I will probably let them all cool down and restart them in the spring, much of which is going to be used in a couple of RAISED GARDEN BEDS that I will be building out of the "8" FREE pallets that I just got today (from Home Depot again). I am hoping to purchase some seeds from you as well (as soon as I am able)...THANK YOU FOR YOUR VERY "EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND" instructions and for explaining the Hows, Whats, Whens, Wheres and HOW MUCH in all of your videos...BLESSINGS TO YOU.
Encouraging! Thank you! Although, last I checked, Home Depot reuses their pallets, especially since they are charged kind of a hefty deposit by some of their block vendors on certain ones (at the North Seattle location anyways). They were charging $15 a pallet the last time I checked, but not to discourage anyone, there are plenty of smaller businesses around that would love you to take them!
Hey Angie are you single. This is an attempt to say im love people like you. You go girl. SERIOUSLY THERE IS A PLANT NAME COMFREY WHICH HELPS IN COMPOSTING FOR SOME WHO DONT HAVE MANURES. BLOCK 14 IS NOT INVASIVE, BUT HEIRLOOM IS. FOR FUN GO TO EDIBLACRES SIGHT. HE HAS SOME FUN TO WATCH COMPOSTING VIDEOS. CHEERS. BEST TO YA.
I have 2 piles. My sister used to take care of them, but it took a year to make compost. I hope, with the knowledge I gained from you, to make it much faster.
I have been farming for 11 years and we make big piles of compost for the three acre farm, your video covers all the necessary points on composting, it is a great video, simple and complete!
I keep a good waste bin in my kitchen (fruits, veg, peels etc) and I throw them in a blender with some water before I put them in my compost bed. Takes days to break down instead of months and it waters my plants
I finally understand surface area and other terms. Other videos use these terms or tell us to do these things, like "shredding your paper", for example but not WHY! So THANK YOU for helping me Understand the mechanics of composting
I know this video is like several years old but I am just starting out with this stuff!! I like the fact he doesn't make it feel like rocket science!!! Thank you!!!!
Yes I agree. I am using a tumbler composter and am definitely worried about the brown to green ratio but figure if I get it wrong I’m not doing more harm than the junk yard 🤨
If I am using a tumbler, at the end you said to leave it to cool down so the critters come back in, what would be the equivalent in a tumbler situation? I’m going to see if I can find a video specific to tumblers .
Great, simple video. I just wanted to add one thing that might help someone out there. A few years ago, I messed around with raising red wigglers in my basement. In the spring of the 1st year, after about 9 months I decided to put the wigglers into my huge active compost piles out back because I was going to be away for a while. To my surprise they loved it. They loved it so much the compost pile worked much better for the rest of the year. I left them there in the fall with the addition of leaves, thinking they'd be dead in the Spring. To my shock, they had stayed together in a ball throughout the Winter and multiplied greatly. Now I just leave them permanently there, They love it. They are constantly devouring everything I dump in there, without any effort from me whatsoever. Do they leave? Nope
I was told by a family that they were putting their potato peals in their compost bin. When spring came and they were pulling the compost out to put on the garden They discovered 50 pounds of potatoes had been growing all winter. I also talked to people that are planting climbing plants like squash and beans in the corners and letting them climb down the sides. The worms also help to break down the compost faster. Did anyone ever hear about pouring milk over the compost to increase the microbes in the soil. Thanks again for sharing everyone and thank you for another great video.
It's called a vermicompost and it is amazingly efficient. The end result is a compost that is actually richer than normal compost, because the worms excrete their waste (called worm castings) which are their own rich fertilizer being added to the compost
I’m curious because at 12 min I think he’s explaining that worms and other bacteria won’t go in your compost because it’s too hot. Newbie here, can someone explain?
You Are Awesome!!! My first year of really getting serious about gardening and you just cut to the chase and answer all of my questions. And I know it's correct, because you know truth when you hear it, right? You're good at that. Thanks.
I been composting (as a beginner) for three years now. I just learn something today. thank you! Never thought to keep a bit of the previous batch instead of starting fresh. I will implement that on this new batch I just started a few weeks ago.
Thank you, I am a first-year Gardner and composter. I was unaware that my compost needed to rest. I really appreciate all the useful information. I have been watching your channel whenever I can and believe I will have a successful first small raised garden thanks to your channel. Love seeing the whole family from time to time too.
I only recently subscribed to your channel and I must say I'm impressed. I am now following these instructions in my composting and having great success. Thank you.
For your newer compost pile, how long can you add new matter (clippings, egg shells ect) until you have to stop in order for everything to finish breaking down? If you can't keep adding new matter, how would you suggest keeping kitchen scraps for future composting to prevent waste? Thanks for all your hard work! Your videos are very helpful for beginners like me.
solid tip for the viewers with shredding the leaves and other brown materials to get a faster breakdown. I also use shredded leaves for my mulch on my garden beds. i've found that the leaves compost in the garden rather quickly and turn into compost right in the beds! I'm experimenting with making compost right in the beds by taking my juicer scraps, some leaves and some fertilizer (very light amount), and laying the materials about 2" thick and covering it with a piece of panda film (white facing up, black down). The amount of life under the plastic is amazing! worms, pill bugs, centipedes, all kinds of stuff. after a month or so, i had a nice layer of broken down organic matter right in the garden bed!!!! TRY IT! it's working great so far. you can leave it where it is, or harvest it and put it around the plants that need it! optimal thermophilic ratio is very easy, 5 parts browns, the high carbon to nitrogen ratio (cardboard, mulched leaves, anything organic and browns), 4 parts greens, anything from the lawn really, and 1 part high N (coffee grounds, blood meal, anything with high N values). a very special note, when the pile hits 155 deg, it should be turned to get air back into the pile. when the microbes are going crazy they are depleting oxygen levels really really quickly and the pile needs turned often!!! optimum moisture levels are achieved when you squeeze a sample of the pile and you just get enough water for only one or two drops to fall away from your hand. also, adding biochar to the compost will charge the biochar and really hold onto nutrients and not let too much get leached away if you don't have the pile covered during a heavy rain! also if you have a worm farm.... THEY LOVE COMPOST. compost your compost!!! hope this helps viewers!
Thanks! I also have done some of that as well with juicer scraps from time to time. I figure it works similar to putting the materials under the plastic.
Most composting instructional videos can be SO confusing and complicated but you made this seem easy-peasy. I'm about to start composting in my garden and have saved this video for future reference. Thanks so much!
Thank you! I have been trying to plan out my compost bin/pile/system for weeks now, and you just took me from intimidated and confused, to fantasizing about what I am going to do with "too much" finished compost! I have a family of 4, and own a cheesecake business, so there are always fruit and vegetable scraps, and hundreds of egg shells each week, I can't wait to turn them all into something useful for my raised beds.
My husband is laughing at me because I walked around the field next to the house with a bucket collecting deer manure for my compost. I got four buckets in one day and I used a shovel and only got what the shovel could get at. Tells you how bad the deer are here in central PA. Like your compost bin and I will do one like it, thank you!
Thank you for the detailed and well thought out explanation of composting (without getting to hung up on just one aspect). Don't listen to all the negative comments your videos are perfect for people who want information and not just the highlights.
Thank you so much. I am using many of your ideas. Thank you for being so generous with all the great information you share with others. Your experience shines through.
Thanks for the great tips to handle leaves, grass clippings, and the large amounts of garden waste. For kitchen scraps, I've had great luck just burying them in a free spot in the garden. Seems to take only a couple weeks when the gardening season is in full swing. Bonus: the soil fills with worms too!
I totally agree with not worrying about the carbon to nitrogen ratio. I have 3 compost bins (the black plastic ones). I don't have a bagging lawn mower so I rarely have enough grass trimming, which really ups the heat, but I save tons of bagged leaves from my neighbourhood in the fall. I throw all my plant prunings into the compost and whatever grass I've trimmed from the edges of my lawn (the old-fashioned way, with garden scissors, lol), but I just switch off the layers between the leaves (which I run through my mulching leaf vac to chop them up) and kitchen scraps, trimmings & weeds. I also try to layer through some soil that is not great. I only put weeds without the seeds, because there is no way the compost bins get hot enough to kill them -- those black prefab compost bins are too small to get hot enough, because according to experts, it has to be a certain area, and because the dimensions of a heap inside a bin are smaller, and the outsides of the bin stay cool which transfers inside the bin. I pinch out the flowers & any tap-roots of dandelions, because dandelion flowers will still grow into seeds once pulled off the plant. but I put all possible plant-based organics into my bins, because there is never enough compost, as far as I'm concerned. I have some trees to remove, and once they're gone I want to build a big 2 or 3-part bin with pallets. In winter I make sure to cover the whole top layer with snow and keep a bag of chopped dead leaves beside each bin to ensure that I still layer kitchen scraps with dead leaves. Even with 3 bins, I have another one that is an ex rain barrel that is also full of plant based stuff, but it's the one I put the stems of tomato plants into. ALSO -- trench composting is a fabulous thing for those of us with really cold winters (average temps -15C from October through March, with occasional cold snaps into -35C and occasional warm spells of near-freezing or just above) ... I did it 2 years ago with everything I couldn't fit into the bins -- everything from whole tomato plants, any small unusable tomatoes that were left on the plants, I threw some grass clippings and coffee grounds in, shredded newspaper (worms LOVE shredded newspaper! I bought a shredder specifically for my garden!) and dead leaves, stirred it I watered it all, then buried it. I was shocked in spring to discover that EVERYTHING had broken down &/or been eaten by worms over the winter, tucked under a foot or two of snow! YAY! Anyway -- thanks for the great videos about composting -- everyone should be composting their kitchen scraps (veggie-based only, of course), because none of that breaks down in landfills. My municipality in Canada has separate "garbage" pickup for all organics- based waste to ensure it's composted at their huge facilities and used in municipal gardens & sports fields. It's awesome, but it still requires gas & huge trucks to pick it all up & take it to the facility. We're able to put meat, grease & pet waste into the bins but I still hold back my plant-based waste for my own compost.
Luke, I'll bet you are stronger than a lot of bodybuilders. All that manual labor builds steel-like strength. Thank you. The one important detail that is missing is how often one has to turn the pile? The turning itself needs to be emphasized.
Thanks Luke! You’re awesome! I’m at the very beginning of starting a compost for my future garden. Your video explained the process perfectly! Your excitement and positivity is refreshing and encouraging in all your videos.
I like your ideas Luke. There are so many videos out there where people just try to over think the process. It happens naturally in the forest so why should we make it so complicated. Keep up the great videos.
We have surpassed nature in so many ways. Best question to ask ourselves now is how to use the new technology morally and in even better ways! Try it for yourself, don't take our word for it, yet let us know how you do! :)
The first year we composted, I watched so many videos and in the end, I just threw the browns and greens in as I got them. I didn't measure. I keep it moist and aerated. The inner temperature got up to 150°. One winter night I wrapped 3 uncooked eggs in foil then in double zip lock bags and stuck it all down in the middle of the pile. The next morning my wife and I had hard cooked eggs for breakfast.
Yes it happens naturally, but the time it takes, could be longer. What people try to do is to decrease that time. That's where all the different ideas come in. There are videos about getting compost in 1 year, 6 months, 3 months, and even 1 month.
Hey Luke, I've never seen a compost Corral like this before, but I've decided I'm going to make this today!! I found some old pallettes and I'm going to take my afternoon and make this and begin my composting journey!!!
Great info! Seems like so many gardeners make it more difficult than it should be, but you explained it in such a way that is understandable. Thanks Luke.
Thank you! 1. If I don't have compost to start a new pile, since I am just starting, what would I use? 2. How often do you turn the pile? Thank you for such helpful videos.
Luke, I haven't had a garden in decades, but your videos are so inspiring! I spend all my spare time binge watching. I planted my seeds along with you and am cold stratifying. I just started my compost pile but am very unsure as to HOW OFTEN DO I TURN MY COMPOST PILE. Could you please give me some guideline? I had my husband make out compost corral exactly like yours! It's beautiful. I know I'm suppose to keep the compost turned but I don't know if that is every day, every week, or what. PLEASE ADVISE! Thanks for your wonderful videos and keep them coming!
Love the fever analogy; excellent teaching strategy! I’ve wondered how to do an aerobic compost that heated enough to kill seeds. I have a much higher ratio of small pin oak??? leaves and twigs and weeds pulled than grass clippings (those are usually mulched back into the grass), but I’m gonna give it a shot! I look forward to not worrying about the poor neighbors staring at my odd black plastic lumps in the yard!😆
This is seriously a fantastic video. Your newest video talks about the importance of compost for amending soil for the fall, but I read the carbon/nitrogen thing elsewhere and it really freaked me out. Thank you for making this information so accessible and easy to understand. This has been my first year growing my own food and I've done okay so far considering I'm so new at it, but you've empowered me to try composting and make it even better next year! I wouldn't have been brave enough without this good information :)
Reminds me of how my Grandfather showed me. Thank you for the refresher for my Daughter and I. She is so into gardening that I have 2 relearn most of this. Great Job sir
Great explanation on the surface area stuff for composting Luke. Many don't understand a lot of the ways of composting. You did a good job. No idea why folks are thumbing down the video, that's ridiculous! Silly bums. Thanks for the information Luke! 🌱Be Blessed ღ 🌼
Since I am getting ready to make a set up just like this I needed a refresher. Now in about a month the grass in this area should be ready for mowing and off I go !
Great vid!! Im looking forward to starting a compost pile today. I've got a aged pike of maple shreds, sawdust and 17 bags of expired green salads i got for free a week ago. They perish fast unfortunately. But yay for my compost!!=)
I'd like to make a suggestion. I use five to six 1.5 inch pvc pipe with a lot of holes drilled into it and have them inside the pile. They add oxygen to the center of the pile to use as needed. When I turn the pile I pull them out, but lay them back in throughout as I put the pile back together. It works amazingly.
Thank you for making these videos, making it happen. I'm really glad there are so many youtubers putting up good content for people to grow their own useful plants.
Thank u so much.... I'm a new gardener starting out and well it can be supper scarry venturing in to this deep dark scarry world that is gardening. Your videos are amazing easy to follow understand and honestly you are making me feel more comfortable and confident starting out. Thank u thank u thank u You rock
Thank you for breaking this down in a quick and simple method. I’m excited to take this idea and try something that will work in my backyard and not be a nuisance to my neighbors. 👍🏻😁
This is really enlightening as to how disconnected we are from our ancestors and from nature in general. So many people thing that bugs and bacteria are their enemy, but they are so useful in the process of creating food!
I've put grass clippings in lawn bags and in a few days I opened one of them and the temperature of the clippings was really hot, that turned out to be a pretty good start to my compost pile.
Thank you so much for your guidance, it has been so valuable to me as a beginning gardener taking on a large and life changing endeavor!! So grateful for your hard work!
Thanks for reminding me to leave it for an extra week. I am avid about microbes, in my soil as well as food I eat. They are so beneficial to the Human organism, and I don't know why I had never thought of that! And thanks for all your other great videos too =)
I prefer two year old compost, for its fineness quality. So i maintain three piles, this year's, last year's, and the year befores which i add to the garden at the begining of the season
6 weeks or 12 months for something that's meant to add value to your soil? I'd rather get it into my garden every 6 weeks rather than once a year. But that's me.
I really love this video! Thank you Luke!! I am an indoor organic gardener and look forward to the day i can move outdoors!! Wish i saw less grass and more alternative ground cover. Grass is one of the most harmful crops that humanity cutivates, in my opinion. Just about ANY other growth has a higher water to photosynthesis ratio. I find it disappointing that so many intelligent gardeners fall into the green "lawn games" feilds of useless grass. We dont spend days playing lawn games in 40lb dresses and corsets anymore. Why are we perpetuating a virtually visual crop that wastes literal lakes of water yearly? Responsible gardening starts with education. Thanks so much for the compost how-too's, except the whole grass clippings... not smart
Thanks for the info. I have one main compost bin, and now I know exactly what to do to make our compost piles better so we can use them for our raised beds next year.
Hey Luke, I would love to see you try my very quick compost method and show your results on a future video. It is really easy. I let my grass go an extra couple days to get tall and then mow it (over an acre). I empty the bags in a large garbage container that has had about 40-50 holes drilled in it for drainage and air (and to let worms in). I then fill up the container in layers with grass, kitchen waste, alfalfa meal, unsulphured molasses, nutritional yeast, and finished compost and water it (un-chlorinated) until spongy. I then repeat the layers until it totally fills the container, and then I place the top on it and put a couple bricks over it so wind or raccoons will not open it. After about 6 days, I begin turning it every 2 days, making sure it is still spongy. Usually by day 15, I have finished compost ready to use directly or in compost tea. It can heat up over 140 degrees. I bet you can improve upon this method.
How do you take care of your lawn (fertilizer, soil amendments, etc)? I've always been nervous adding grass clippings to compost pile because of chemicals found in common lawn treatments. I've been looking to switch to healthier options, which may render grass clippings better compost material.
thank you for explaining when a compost pile is actually finished--I composted in a closed container to keep away field mice and rats--I live in a desert and don't have grass clippings--i will have to try to find some other organic material other than kitchen scraps to get a better mixture
Hi Luke. Thanks for the tips. My question, and maybe you've answered this in another video, is how to make compost if you don't have any to start with? The soil where I moved to has a lot of clay, so I'm finding for the first time that compost is a must. I've started a bin with table scraps and I'm o.k. with waiting until the spring if that's what needs to happen.
My dad raised rabbits, and used grass trimmings and rabbit droppings to make compost in just a few weeks. The extra nitrogen helped it break down really fast. That and the river bottom soil he had grew some amazing vegetables.
I do the same, but use thin branches & thicker/longer breaking down limbs to separate the levels of lawn clippings to let air in. I actually end up using the branches & limbs several times before they break down. Vines & limbs take forever to break down compared to leaves & grass clippings.
My crosscut shredder takes care of all the junk mail (no glassine window envelopes) and the result provides all the "brown" I need for wonderful compost.
Simple Compost primary ingredients 1. Bail of straw(Wilco) $10 bucks 2. Lawn clippings Layer it , and of course kitchen scraps mixed I also bought pine shavings for $8 bucks
to help with oxygen and not having to turn it over, I just drill holes in PVC pipe and as I add material I put the pipe in and have layers of pipe creating a highway of oxygen for my compost pile. saves time with turning and allows good drainage when I water it.
Chris Anastaspoulos I had my compost tested to see what it's content was and was shown to be as close to organic without certification. and I've been doing this for a few years now with no verifiable issues with it. but I say that if it makes someone uncomfortable to do it, I don't say they're wrong. when it comes to your soil and garden, please do what you feel is best for that. but I haven't seen any residuals in there. I don't like synthetic material in my garden so I don't actually use herbicides or pesticides and wouldn't like petroleum in it either but the test I did through the county extension office said there was just organic material in good balance. so I have decided to keep doing it.
I have been thinking about using PVC pipes with holes but can that totally replace turning? Because if it can't then the pipes would make it harder or impossible to turn. How densely do you put them and what diameter pipe do you use?
Botond Kis Kovacs I use 1/2-1 inch pipes with a bunch of small holes perforating them. I lay them every foot or so as I do my layering. it doesn't require turning at all which is why I do it. I have not turned my compost in a few years and only water it when necessary. the cool thing about it also is that as it composts it sinks down and the top starts to mix as it passes the pipes. I have a ten foot long four foot wide compost bin of pallets and I just slide the pipes through the pallets and remove them when it's finished composting. make sure to sand the pipes when you drill them so the plastic shavings don't get into your compost
I just came across your channel and I love it!! I sent the growing potatoes video to my mother in law and hopefully she can grow potatoes now heh. I find you very informative. I'm pretty new at my veggie garden so more info I know better!!! Thank you
Hi there, Love your videos! My q on composting: I don't really have a lot of extra space in my yard, but still want to have a compost pile for its benefits. Can I put a compost pile in the shade or should it be in the sun? Also, is it better to have some kind of bottom on it, like bricks (still allowing for drainage) or does it have to be on bare ground? Thanks, in advance,
Regarding the carbon to nitrogen ratio. I find that when I dump my lawn clippings into the compost heap, a couple days later it starts to smell. I live in a fairly, tightly packed suburban settings, and I try hard to not upset my neighbours. I find that dumping an equal amount of shredded paper, newspapers, etc, completely neutralizes any scent coming from the pile. In fact, it makes it smell green and fresh.. really nice.
He is right on the money. When we lived in the Finger Lakes of NYS we were in a rural area where our neighbors all gardened and composted. Our compost pile was hot, even in 20F temperature snow melted on top. If you have a good compost pile, it's pure gold.We even harvested potatoes (threw in the eyes we trimmed off in the kitchen) in mid winter that grew in the compost. Don't forget to add your coffee grounds and tea leavings!
December 2018--HI my name is Angie, I AM A COMPOST ADDICT...lol...after watching your videos on HOW EASY composting is, what started out as ONE compost pile, has now become "5" compost piles (first pile was about 2 months ago) ...I even got energetic enough to eventually make four compost bins out of wood pallets (that I got FREE at Home Depot). ..So far, ALL of my compost has cost me NOTHING ($0.00)...I even get FREE coffee grounds from Starbucks and from a cafe that is about a block from my house! Oh did I mention that I am almost 67 years old :-) Needless to say, if I can successfully make good compost, than ANYONE can. My first pile is now done cooking and waiting to use come spring...the other FOUR, I have kept building them up and turning them every couple of days . As soon as our Northwest Winter hits (late coming this year), I will probably let them all cool down and restart them in the spring, much of which is going to be used in a couple of RAISED GARDEN BEDS that I will be building out of the "8" FREE pallets that I just got today (from Home Depot again). I am hoping to purchase some seeds from you as well (as soon as I am able)...THANK YOU FOR YOUR VERY "EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND" instructions and for explaining the Hows, Whats, Whens, Wheres and HOW MUCH in all of your videos...BLESSINGS TO YOU.
thanks for sharing your experience, Angie. You're motivating me to set up a composting area myself.
Encouraging! Thank you! Although, last I checked, Home Depot reuses their pallets, especially since they are charged kind of a hefty deposit by some of their block vendors on certain ones (at the North Seattle location anyways). They were charging $15 a pallet the last time I checked, but not to discourage anyone, there are plenty of smaller businesses around that would love you to take them!
So awesome! I bet you have a beautiful garden!
ooooooooooh
Hey Angie are you single. This is an attempt to say im love people like you. You go girl.
SERIOUSLY THERE IS A PLANT NAME COMFREY WHICH HELPS IN COMPOSTING FOR SOME WHO DONT HAVE MANURES. BLOCK 14 IS NOT INVASIVE, BUT HEIRLOOM IS.
FOR FUN GO TO EDIBLACRES SIGHT. HE HAS SOME FUN TO WATCH COMPOSTING VIDEOS. CHEERS.
BEST TO YA.
I have 2 piles. My sister used to take care of them, but it took a year to make compost. I hope, with the knowledge I gained from you, to make it much faster.
I have been farming for 11 years and we make big piles of compost for the three acre farm, your video covers all the necessary points on composting, it is a great video, simple and complete!
Best compost video I’ve seen, and I’ve watched a bunch lately.
You’re my fave person to watch on gardening. Thanks for all your videos.
I keep a good waste bin in my kitchen (fruits, veg, peels etc) and I throw them in a blender with some water before I put them in my compost bed. Takes days to break down instead of months and it waters my plants
Smart idea!
I will try this. Thank Erin
That is a really great idea! I have a tumbler I'm going to try this with
Totally going to start this.
Thank you for this comment!!
I finally understand surface area and other terms. Other videos use these terms or tell us to do these things, like "shredding your paper", for example but not WHY! So THANK YOU for helping me Understand the mechanics of composting
I know this video is like several years old but I am just starting out with this stuff!! I like the fact he doesn't make it feel like rocket science!!! Thank you!!!!
This guy is a good example of really smart people turning intimidating problems into common sense things.
Yes I agree. I am using a tumbler composter and am definitely worried about the brown to green ratio but figure if I get it wrong I’m not doing more harm than the junk yard 🤨
If I am using a tumbler, at the end you said to leave it to cool down so the critters come back in, what would be the equivalent in a tumbler situation? I’m going to see if I can find a video specific to tumblers .
I totally agree
Yes!!
If you can’t explain it simply
You don’t understand it well enough
Great, simple video. I just wanted to add one thing that might help someone out there. A few years ago, I messed around with raising red wigglers in my basement. In the spring of the 1st year, after about 9 months I decided to put the wigglers into my huge active compost piles out back because I was going to be away for a while. To my surprise they loved it. They loved it so much the compost pile worked much better for the rest of the year. I left them there in the fall with the addition of leaves, thinking they'd be dead in the Spring. To my shock, they had stayed together in a ball throughout the Winter and multiplied greatly. Now I just leave them permanently there, They love it. They are constantly devouring everything I dump in there, without any effort from me whatsoever. Do they leave? Nope
Great idea! I will throw some red wiggler worms I find in my garden in my compost bin!
I was told by a family that they were putting their potato peals in their compost bin. When spring came and they were pulling the compost out to put on the garden They discovered 50 pounds of potatoes had been growing all winter. I also talked to people that are planting climbing plants like squash and beans in the corners and letting them climb down the sides. The worms also help to break down the compost faster. Did anyone ever hear about pouring milk over the compost to increase the microbes in the soil. Thanks again for sharing everyone and thank you for another great video.
It's called a vermicompost and it is amazingly efficient. The end result is a compost that is actually richer than normal compost, because the worms excrete their waste (called worm castings) which are their own rich fertilizer being added to the compost
@@rebeccashetter8389 It is my understanding that dairy will increase the likelihood of pests (rats, etc).
I’m curious because at 12 min I think he’s explaining that worms and other bacteria won’t go in your compost because it’s too hot. Newbie here, can someone explain?
You Are Awesome!!! My first year of really getting serious about gardening and you just cut to the chase and answer all of my questions. And I know it's correct, because you know truth when you hear it, right? You're good at that. Thanks.
I been composting (as a beginner) for three years now. I just learn something today. thank you! Never thought to keep a bit of the previous batch instead of starting fresh. I will implement that on this new batch I just started a few weeks ago.
Thank you, I am a first-year Gardner and composter. I was unaware that my compost needed to rest. I really appreciate all the useful information. I have been watching your channel whenever I can and believe I will have a successful first small raised garden thanks to your channel. Love seeing the whole family from time to time too.
I only recently subscribed to your channel and I must say I'm impressed. I am now following these instructions in my composting and having great success. Thank you.
Thanks for the simple reminder how to care for simple compost.
Once again - you've saved me a tonne of work. Finally I understand what I'm doing, and feel confident. Thanks Luke
Great way to compost. Good to see it's not as difficult as others have made it seem
For your newer compost pile, how long can you add new matter (clippings, egg shells ect) until you have to stop in order for everything to finish breaking down? If you can't keep adding new matter, how would you suggest keeping kitchen scraps for future composting to prevent waste?
Thanks for all your hard work! Your videos are very helpful for beginners like me.
Quarantining! This is something I've wanted to do. Now I have the time! I'm a beginning gardener. This is a great site. Thanks.
were you sick?
solid tip for the viewers with shredding the leaves and other brown materials to get a faster breakdown. I also use shredded leaves for my mulch on my garden beds. i've found that the leaves compost in the garden rather quickly and turn into compost right in the beds! I'm experimenting with making compost right in the beds by taking my juicer scraps, some leaves and some fertilizer (very light amount), and laying the materials about 2" thick and covering it with a piece of panda film (white facing up, black down). The amount of life under the plastic is amazing! worms, pill bugs, centipedes, all kinds of stuff. after a month or so, i had a nice layer of broken down organic matter right in the garden bed!!!! TRY IT! it's working great so far. you can leave it where it is, or harvest it and put it around the plants that need it!
optimal thermophilic ratio is very easy, 5 parts browns, the high carbon to nitrogen ratio (cardboard, mulched leaves, anything organic and browns), 4 parts greens, anything from the lawn really, and 1 part high N (coffee grounds, blood meal, anything with high N values).
a very special note, when the pile hits 155 deg, it should be turned to get air back into the pile. when the microbes are going crazy they are depleting oxygen levels really really quickly and the pile needs turned often!!!
optimum moisture levels are achieved when you squeeze a sample of the pile and you just get enough water for only one or two drops to fall away from your hand.
also, adding biochar to the compost will charge the biochar and really hold onto nutrients and not let too much get leached away if you don't have the pile covered during a heavy rain!
also if you have a worm farm.... THEY LOVE COMPOST. compost your compost!!!
hope this helps viewers!
You can also try trench composting, where you bury your materials right into your garden.
Thanks! I also have done some of that as well with juicer scraps from time to time. I figure it works similar to putting the materials under the plastic.
MichiganShroom
I have wanted to start a compost pile, something more than just a pile in the weeds. I like your set up.
Most composting instructional videos can be SO confusing and complicated but you made this seem easy-peasy. I'm about to start composting in my garden and have saved this video for future reference. Thanks so much!
Thank you! I have been trying to plan out my compost bin/pile/system for weeks now, and you just took me from intimidated and confused, to fantasizing about what I am going to do with "too much" finished compost! I have a family of 4, and own a cheesecake business, so there are always fruit and vegetable scraps, and hundreds of egg shells each week, I can't wait to turn them all into something useful for my raised beds.
My husband is laughing at me because I walked around the field next to the house with a bucket collecting deer manure for my compost. I got four buckets in one day and I used a shovel and only got what the shovel could get at. Tells you how bad the deer are here in central PA. Like your compost bin and I will do one like it, thank you!
I'm assuming poo is "brown" material
Thank you for the detailed and well thought out explanation of composting (without getting to hung up on just one aspect). Don't listen to all the negative comments your videos are perfect for people who want information and not just the highlights.
Thank you so much. I am using many of your ideas. Thank you for being so generous with all the great information you share with others. Your experience shines through.
Thanks Luke! Great info. We have 6 hens and I'm going to include their hay and droppings in my compost.
Thanks for the great tips to handle leaves, grass clippings, and the large amounts of garden waste. For kitchen scraps, I've had great luck just burying them in a free spot in the garden. Seems to take only a couple weeks when the gardening season is in full swing. Bonus: the soil fills with worms too!
I totally agree with not worrying about the carbon to nitrogen ratio. I have 3 compost bins (the black plastic ones). I don't have a bagging lawn mower so I rarely have enough grass trimming, which really ups the heat, but I save tons of bagged leaves from my neighbourhood in the fall. I throw all my plant prunings into the compost and whatever grass I've trimmed from the edges of my lawn (the old-fashioned way, with garden scissors, lol), but I just switch off the layers between the leaves (which I run through my mulching leaf vac to chop them up) and kitchen scraps, trimmings & weeds. I also try to layer through some soil that is not great.
I only put weeds without the seeds, because there is no way the compost bins get hot enough to kill them -- those black prefab compost bins are too small to get hot enough, because according to experts, it has to be a certain area, and because the dimensions of a heap inside a bin are smaller, and the outsides of the bin stay cool which transfers inside the bin. I pinch out the flowers & any tap-roots of dandelions, because dandelion flowers will still grow into seeds once pulled off the plant. but I put all possible plant-based organics into my bins, because there is never enough compost, as far as I'm concerned. I have some trees to remove, and once they're gone I want to build a big 2 or 3-part bin with pallets.
In winter I make sure to cover the whole top layer with snow and keep a bag of chopped dead leaves beside each bin to ensure that I still layer kitchen scraps with dead leaves. Even with 3 bins, I have another one that is an ex rain barrel that is also full of plant based stuff, but it's the one I put the stems of tomato plants into.
ALSO -- trench composting is a fabulous thing for those of us with really cold winters (average temps -15C from October through March, with occasional cold snaps into -35C and occasional warm spells of near-freezing or just above) ... I did it 2 years ago with everything I couldn't fit into the bins -- everything from whole tomato plants, any small unusable tomatoes that were left on the plants, I threw some grass clippings and coffee grounds in, shredded newspaper (worms LOVE shredded newspaper! I bought a shredder specifically for my garden!) and dead leaves, stirred it I watered it all, then buried it. I was shocked in spring to discover that EVERYTHING had broken down &/or been eaten by worms over the winter, tucked under a foot or two of snow! YAY!
Anyway -- thanks for the great videos about composting -- everyone should be composting their kitchen scraps (veggie-based only, of course), because none of that breaks down in landfills. My municipality in Canada has separate "garbage" pickup for all organics- based waste to ensure it's composted at their huge facilities and used in municipal gardens & sports fields. It's awesome, but it still requires gas & huge trucks to pick it all up & take it to the facility. We're able to put meat, grease & pet waste into the bins but I still hold back my plant-based waste for my own compost.
Luke, I'll bet you are stronger than a lot of bodybuilders. All that manual labor builds steel-like strength.
Thank you. The one important detail that is missing is how often one has to turn the pile? The turning itself needs to be emphasized.
Thanks Luke! You’re awesome! I’m at the very beginning of starting a compost for my future garden. Your video explained the process perfectly! Your excitement and positivity is refreshing and encouraging in all your videos.
Thanks Luke for your continuing support.
I like your ideas Luke. There are so many videos out there where people just try to over think the process. It happens naturally in the forest so why should we make it so complicated. Keep up the great videos.
We have surpassed nature in so many ways. Best question to ask ourselves now is how to use the new technology morally and in even better ways! Try it for yourself, don't take our word for it, yet let us know how you do! :)
I mean, we're not COMPLICATING nature, we're SIMPLIFYING it!
CinemaSasquatch I know, right? Just follow Nature!
The first year we composted, I watched so many videos and in the end, I just threw the browns and greens in as I got them. I didn't measure. I keep it moist and aerated. The inner temperature got up to 150°.
One winter night I wrapped 3 uncooked eggs in foil then in double zip lock bags and stuck it all down in the middle of the pile. The next morning my wife and I had hard cooked eggs for breakfast.
Yes it happens naturally, but the time it takes, could be longer. What people try to do is to decrease that time. That's where all the different ideas come in. There are videos about getting compost in 1 year, 6 months, 3 months, and even 1 month.
Hey Luke, I've never seen a compost Corral like this before, but I've decided I'm going to make this today!! I found some old pallettes and I'm going to take my afternoon and make this and begin my composting journey!!!
We really enjoy the information and how you present it.
Great info! Seems like so many gardeners make it more difficult than it should be, but you explained it in such a way that is understandable. Thanks Luke.
Thank you!
1. If I don't have compost to start a new pile, since I am just starting, what would I use?
2. How often do you turn the pile?
Thank you for such helpful videos.
Luke, I haven't had a garden in decades, but your videos are so inspiring! I spend all my spare time binge watching. I planted my seeds along with you and am cold stratifying. I just started my compost pile but am very unsure as to HOW OFTEN DO I TURN MY COMPOST PILE. Could you please give me some guideline? I had my husband make out compost corral exactly like yours! It's beautiful. I know I'm suppose to keep the compost turned but I don't know if that is every day, every week, or what. PLEASE ADVISE! Thanks for your wonderful videos and keep them coming!
You're an extremely efficient teacher. Well done lad
Love the fever analogy; excellent teaching strategy! I’ve wondered how to do an aerobic compost that heated enough to kill seeds. I have a much higher ratio of small pin oak??? leaves and twigs and weeds pulled than grass clippings (those are usually mulched back into the grass), but I’m gonna give it a shot! I look forward to not worrying about the poor neighbors staring at my odd black plastic lumps in the yard!😆
This is seriously a fantastic video. Your newest video talks about the importance of compost for amending soil for the fall, but I read the carbon/nitrogen thing elsewhere and it really freaked me out. Thank you for making this information so accessible and easy to understand. This has been my first year growing my own food and I've done okay so far considering I'm so new at it, but you've empowered me to try composting and make it even better next year! I wouldn't have been brave enough without this good information :)
Reminds me of how my Grandfather showed me. Thank you for the refresher for my Daughter and I. She is so into gardening that I have 2 relearn most of this. Great Job sir
Great explanation on the surface area stuff for composting Luke. Many don't understand a lot of the ways of composting. You did a good job. No idea why folks are thumbing down the video, that's ridiculous! Silly bums. Thanks for the information Luke!
🌱Be Blessed ღ 🌼
11:42 great analogy with heat and fever, very creative, makes total sense!!
Since I am getting ready to make a set up just like this I needed a refresher. Now in about a month the grass in this area should be ready for mowing and off I go !
Great vid!! Im looking forward to starting a compost pile today. I've got a aged pike of maple shreds, sawdust and 17 bags of expired green salads i got for free a week ago. They perish fast unfortunately. But yay for my compost!!=)
Excellent breakdown 🤣 of making compost
I did not know many of these. Starting my compost bin today, so this was super useful, thanks!
I always really suck at making compost but I've never done half of what you've done in this video so I'm excited to give it a try...
As Always, really very helpful, your explanations. Thanks for being so open and honest Luke. Kudos
I'd like to make a suggestion. I use five to six 1.5 inch pvc pipe with a lot of holes drilled into it and have them inside the pile. They add oxygen to the center of the pile to use as needed. When I turn the pile I pull them out, but lay them back in throughout as I put the pile back together. It works amazingly.
Great tips! Thanks for posting! I started composting last year. I couldn’t have started my garden this year without it!
Thank you for making these videos, making it happen. I'm really glad there are so many youtubers putting up good content for people to grow their own useful plants.
Brilliant video! Many thanks :) I'd never heard of letting the compost rest for a week to allow the temperature to reduce, but it makes so much sense.
Thank u so much....
I'm a new gardener starting out and well it can be supper scarry venturing in to this deep dark scarry world that is gardening.
Your videos are amazing easy to follow understand and honestly you are making me feel more comfortable and confident starting out.
Thank u thank u thank u
You rock
Thank you for breaking this down in a quick and simple method. I’m excited to take this idea and try something that will work in my backyard and not be a nuisance to my neighbors. 👍🏻😁
Thank you Luke! What you suggested is simple and sensible, I definitely would follow your advice
This is really enlightening as to how disconnected we are from our ancestors and from nature in general. So many people thing that bugs and bacteria are their enemy, but they are so useful in the process of creating food!
I've put grass clippings in lawn bags and in a few days I opened one of them and the temperature of the clippings was really hot, that turned out to be a pretty good start to my compost pile.
This is the best video I’ve seen on How-to compost... you’ve explained why you take each step and the purpose of it 👌🏼
Thank you Luke. Very informational and I think Ican compost now except that I don;t have a space in my garden.
Thank you so much for your guidance, it has been so valuable to me as a beginning gardener taking on a large and life changing endeavor!! So grateful for your hard work!
I love this. I've never made my own compost before, but I spend a bunch of money on soil. Can't wait to try this.
Thanks for reminding me to leave it for an extra week. I am avid about microbes, in my soil as well as food I eat. They are so beneficial to the Human organism, and I don't know why I had never thought of that! And thanks for all your other great videos too =)
Excellent video and great explanation on the compost process.
Thanks, Luke! I'm just beginning my compost bin, and your video makes it seem a whole lot less intimidating. :)
I prefer two year old compost, for its fineness quality. So i maintain three piles, this year's, last year's, and the year befores which i add to the garden at the begining of the season
Great idea
Great when you have the space!
6 weeks or 12 months for something that's meant to add value to your soil? I'd rather get it into my garden every 6 weeks rather than once a year. But that's me.
The lazy man's method!
Kelly Morgan You don’t need to top dress your garden with compost more than once a year at the beginning of the growing season.
I really love this video! Thank you Luke!! I am an indoor organic gardener and look forward to the day i can move outdoors!! Wish i saw less grass and more alternative ground cover. Grass is one of the most harmful crops that humanity cutivates, in my opinion. Just about ANY other growth has a higher water to photosynthesis ratio. I find it disappointing that so many intelligent gardeners fall into the green "lawn games" feilds of useless grass. We dont spend days playing lawn games in 40lb dresses and corsets anymore. Why are we perpetuating a virtually visual crop that wastes literal lakes of water yearly?
Responsible gardening starts with education. Thanks so much for the compost how-too's, except the whole grass clippings... not smart
Brilliant! Rolling life cycle = more stable & more productive. Mother Nature works with us if we work with her.
Thanks for the video, very informative, and digestible for new gardeners!
Thanks for the info. I have one main compost bin, and now I know exactly what to do to make our compost piles better so we can use them for our raised beds next year.
What a great video , so easy to understand definitely going to give it a try.
Looks like an easy and effective idea. We will try it.
Very helpful video! I learned I was doing quite a few things wrong! Thanks for sharing Luke
Thanks for the tip on using the lawnmower for the leaves and wood chips.
Hey Luke, I would love to see you try my very quick compost method and show your results on a future video. It is really easy. I let my grass go an extra couple days to get tall and then mow it (over an acre). I empty the bags in a large garbage container that has had about 40-50 holes drilled in it for drainage and air (and to let worms in). I then fill up the container in layers with grass, kitchen waste, alfalfa meal, unsulphured molasses, nutritional yeast, and finished compost and water it (un-chlorinated) until spongy. I then repeat the layers until it totally fills the container, and then I place the top on it and put a couple bricks over it so wind or raccoons will not open it.
After about 6 days, I begin turning it every 2 days, making sure it is still spongy. Usually by day 15, I have finished compost ready to use directly or in compost tea. It can heat up over 140 degrees. I bet you can improve upon this method.
@wi54725just read your comment. sounds good, but tell me how do you get un-chlorinated water? a water filter on the water hose?
We live in a high-humidity area. I use water from the basement dehumidifier. No chlorine. That, plus rain water.
How do you take care of your lawn (fertilizer, soil amendments, etc)? I've always been nervous adding grass clippings to compost pile because of chemicals found in common lawn treatments. I've been looking to switch to healthier options, which may render grass clippings better compost material.
thank you for explaining when a compost pile is actually finished--I composted in a closed container to keep away field mice and rats--I live in a desert and don't have grass clippings--i will have to try to find some other organic material other than kitchen scraps to get a better mixture
Hi Luke. Thanks for the tips. My question, and maybe you've answered this in another video, is how to make compost if you don't have any to start with? The soil where I moved to has a lot of clay, so I'm finding for the first time that compost is a must. I've started a bin with table scraps and I'm o.k. with waiting until the spring if that's what needs to happen.
My dad raised rabbits, and used grass trimmings and rabbit droppings to make compost in just a few weeks. The extra nitrogen helped it break down really fast. That and the river bottom soil he had grew some amazing vegetables.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion. Your tips help me in my gardening projects immensely. God Bless!
I do the same, but use thin branches & thicker/longer breaking down limbs to separate the levels of lawn clippings to let air in. I actually end up using the branches & limbs several times before they break down. Vines & limbs take forever to break down compared to leaves & grass clippings.
Here because of Roots and Refuge Farm (I just found that channel as well). Great vid haus! Thank you!
By the way, I REALLY like your videos. I’m an amateur gardener and want to start grow my own organic veggies and fruit. Plus teach my grandson.
My crosscut shredder takes care of all the junk mail (no glassine window envelopes) and the result provides all the "brown" I need for wonderful compost.
Simple Compost primary ingredients
1. Bail of straw(Wilco) $10 bucks
2. Lawn clippings
Layer it , and of course kitchen scraps mixed
I also bought pine shavings for $8 bucks
Excellent and informative video....very simple instructions for a (seemingly) complicated process...thank you for posting
I like your talking points Luke and your back to back pallet design. I think I'll do two like this, side by side and have a four square!
Fantastic video for a beginner such as myself
Excellent info Luke ,very educational.enjoy watching your channel and will be trying your suggestions.
I really like the idea of using old pallets for your compost bins, strong, large size, lots of good air flow, and CHEAP.
Great advice and sounds not as complicated as some videos make out, I’ll give it a go cheers.
to help with oxygen and not having to turn it over, I just drill holes in PVC pipe and as I add material I put the pipe in and have layers of pipe creating a highway of oxygen for my compost pile. saves time with turning and allows good drainage when I water it.
Christian Wasson - any harm from the pvc pipe? Chemicals, etc.? Isn't pvc petroleum based?
Chris Anastaspoulos I had my compost tested to see what it's content was and was shown to be as close to organic without certification. and I've been doing this for a few years now with no verifiable issues with it. but I say that if it makes someone uncomfortable to do it, I don't say they're wrong. when it comes to your soil and garden, please do what you feel is best for that. but I haven't seen any residuals in there. I don't like synthetic material in my garden so I don't actually use herbicides or pesticides and wouldn't like petroleum in it either but the test I did through the county extension office said there was just organic material in good balance. so I have decided to keep doing it.
I have been thinking about using PVC pipes with holes but can that totally replace turning? Because if it can't then the pipes would make it harder or impossible to turn. How densely do you put them and what diameter pipe do you use?
Botond Kis Kovacs I use 1/2-1 inch pipes with a bunch of small holes perforating them. I lay them every foot or so as I do my layering. it doesn't require turning at all which is why I do it. I have not turned my compost in a few years and only water it when necessary. the cool thing about it also is that as it composts it sinks down and the top starts to mix as it passes the pipes. I have a ten foot long four foot wide compost bin of pallets and I just slide the pipes through the pallets and remove them when it's finished composting. make sure to sand the pipes when you drill them so the plastic shavings don't get into your compost
Shirley G a great option too.
Not so intimidated to try this with your advice. Great job!
I just came across your channel and I love it!! I sent the growing potatoes video to my mother in law and hopefully she can grow potatoes now heh. I find you very informative. I'm pretty new at my veggie garden so more info I know better!!! Thank you
Great information. Thanks for sharing the video. Hope to see more from you.
Hi there, Love your videos! My q on composting: I don't really have a lot of extra space in my yard, but still want to have a compost pile for its benefits. Can I put a compost pile in the shade or should it be in the sun? Also, is it better to have some kind of bottom on it, like bricks (still allowing for drainage) or does it have to be on bare ground? Thanks, in advance,
Regarding the carbon to nitrogen ratio. I find that when I dump my lawn clippings into the compost heap, a couple days later it starts to smell. I live in a fairly, tightly packed suburban settings, and I try hard to not upset my neighbours. I find that dumping an equal amount of shredded paper, newspapers, etc, completely neutralizes any scent coming from the pile. In fact, it makes it smell green and fresh.. really nice.
There's science that covers why that is. It's just hard to find and understand. But it exists.
@@O1OO1O1 There's a scientific explaination for everything!
I enjoyed the video and loved how excited you got about step 7! lol Priceless.