Great video with great information, Tyler! Thank you! I'm doing pretty much the exact same thing as you, except I have two turned upside down trashcans that I have cut out their bottoms and secured to an outdoor location just beyond the garden. I have introduced red wiggler worms into these two upside down trashcans and have found over the last year that they pretty much turn the entire volume of food and yard waste material into amazing compost. I hope to make a video similar to yours soon to demonstrate the system I am using. I live in Central CA so this may not work for colder climates, but could be tweaked maybe for the colder months in more northern latitudes. Thank you for the inspiration, and for what you are doing! Happy composting!
This is great, thanks. For those who want compost tea from this type of composter, I suggest placing the trash can in a kiddie pool (or something similar) and let that catch the liquid run off (compost tea).
Keep in mind that the liquid you collect will be "leachate". I would dump that back on top of the pile. For best tea results, place a handful of finished compost in a 5 gallon bucket and fill with water, stir and let sit.
hey k_0590, for some reason I don't have the option to reply to your youtube comment on this video. Odor is absolutely not an issue. Here's the secret: every time you add food scraps to the compost pile, cover them with a fresh layer of brown materials such as leaves, cardboard, shredded paper, dead plants, straw, etc. That's it! Let me know if you have any questions as you go along. keep it dirty! -tyler
thanks - great video. just made my 1st compost bin here at my home in Thailand - your message is spreading! 1 question; you don't turn the bin or mix up the inside at all?
Nope- no turning or mixing! It might help slightly, but it takes a ton of effort and it'll kill the thermophilic momentum going on inside the middle...
Great videos, thanks for sharing your knowledge, time and passion. I was wondering if cardboard boxes of all sorts can be used (with color/ink - pasta or cereal boxes?) no leaves or grass here, just palm trees and sand...
+Sara Bouchard You're welcome! Regarding cardboard, ensure there's no packing tape on what you use, and I'd suggest keeping it simple by sticking with corrugated non-coated cardboard and paper products certified as compostable. More and more paper products are getting invaded by plastic liners which should be kept out of the compost. Otherwise, I'd place what's left in recycling. I could use some palm trees and sand right now... how about dead, shredded palm leaves? That could make a good brown material.
This will be my next try after the bag I used just ripped apart. Dumb me should have realized a good bag is the first to micro composting. When buying a trash can, I'm going to want a lid with a very tight fit for rolling and mixing. Not sure which language retailers use to describe this, maybe lock seal... Thanks for vid
I recommend the trash can, but not the rolling! as long as you're adding twice as much browns as greens and covering every food scrap deposit with browns, you'll be fine.
Hey dude long time no see. I might mention if you do not use worms, you do need to add a little nitrogen, sawdust was working for me big time for the garden till it robbed me of the nitrogen right out of the soil. Compost is a winner to grow in. Get out here more often. Cheers.
MrMac5150 My main nitrogen contribution goes to my compost toilet system :) the trash can system is for my weekly food scrap deposits (minus food scraps for the worms).
Your videos are so informative! I have a question: does odor become an issue when composting? and how do you control that? I have never composted before but I want to, but I live with a small yard space in close proximity to my neighbors and don't want it to bother them.
The key is cover materials... for every amount of food scraps you add to the center of your pile, add 2-3 times that amount in shredded leaves on top. No odors, no problems!
I started adding worms to my outdoor composting systems and they definitely make it a little easier to break down material in a trash can... they're especially useful in a trash can setup because of size limitations. A cubic yard or greater is an ideal size for a compost pile, and a trash can is a fraction of that. The worms help compensate and will extend the life of your trash can composter... it will also extend the weight of it!
My wife wants to start composting and I saw your one video on the envirocycle and recommend making your own with this. With all the holes drilled what is to keep bugs out? Is that even a valid concern/question of mine? Next would be the smell? Since you are watering it, where does the water go? I plan on putting whatever I get by my shed and would prefer that bugs aren't around or near the shed. But more importantly when putting water in it, wouldn't want it to run out and along the shed...etc.composting looks fun though so I've excited to start it!
Yes, your concerns are valid! Here's how to handle it: Bugs are not an issue with composting as long as you add twice as much brown materials as you do food scraps, and keep the food scraps covered. The holes are drilled in order to maintain airflow, and keep the tumbler contents from becoming a soggy mess. Food is mostly comprised of water, so you will rarely if ever need to add water to a tumbler. The shredded leaves/cardboard/straw/dead plants will help absorb the moisture- you can never have enough of this material. Any water collected in the tumbler base can be either dumped out or dumped back into the tumbler at your discretion. It's easy to over-dampen compost tumblers, which is why I don't always recommend them, but if you're aware of that issue, it's not a big deal and you will have a successful composting system. Thanks for watching, and let me know if you have any more questions.
I've done everything like you said. Green stuff covered with brown and some soil. Now my biggest problem is flies! The bin is attracting lots of insects. I am in a tropical country (Thailand) where the temperature is around 90 F 30 C every day... perhaps this compost bin is not suitable for hot countries??
what brown materials are you adding, and are they shredded? unshredded leaves vs shredded leaves makes a difference. while they don't have to be shredded, shredded leaves/browns will do a better job of covering what's underneath.
Ann Wigmore had a method of composting in 2 laundry-like bins on wheels in her kitchen (the Wheatgrass book) that did not smell. I'm vegan and would love to do the same if possible?
I checked out an excerpt of the book where she describes her composting method... her method is solid, but I strongly suggest doing it outdoors over indoors if possible. I'd also suggest red wigglers over earthworms for faster results and high quality castings.
plan to head out today to collect the leaves, find cardboard boxes, and get two big buckets to start. Can I add to the pile every three days if I collect the greens in a jar in the fridge?
+chicchick13 Done right (12-18" of shredded leaves in the bottom, plus double browns compared to greens), there won't be much of any extra water/leachate. compost piles crave moisture. i'd avoid wood chips at all costs...sawdust is as big as i'd go on that one. wood chips will take forever to break down and just take up space in the pile.
Hi, Another trash can composter locks the lid on his bin and then rolls it around to turn the compost. Do you do that with your composter? Also, do you keep it up on concrete blocks like others do? Why or why not?
+Miriam Hyman Regarding tumbling, I don't do it. I find it to be time and energy consuming, with no real benefits. If you're adding your contents properly, you'll be OK. As for concrete blocks, I don't do it. Usually it's done in conjunction with drilling holes in the base, with the leachate (not tea) being captured in a bowl... I don't really bother with leachate collection so much, so this step doesn't interest me that much.
depends on a few factors... pile size is the most direct factor there. If you maintain a pile that's a cubic yard or greater, it's large enough to insulate itself well against the elements. in a trash can composter setup, it will most likely slow to a crawl at some point...not a make or break issue, though. i have two cubic yard-sized bins and they make it through the year. i also have a vermicomposting setup indoors, which is another year-round solution.
I like this kinda stuff and iv been thinking about composting though I live in apt. Got a question though, how is keeping organic products out of landfills helping anything? Just wondering what the science is.
When organic materials are displaced in landfills, they give off methane. This occurs because landfills are anaerobic (no oxygen present) and so the material breaks down and emits methane (greenhouse gas factor 30+ times more potent than carbon dioxide). If that same organic material was composted, only slight carbon dioxide is naturally emitted, and you end up with a soil amendment to keep the nutrient cycle going.
Yes, you can add all of those items. The smaller the material size, the better. As for leaves, they make the whole process 10x easier...any effort to get leaves, dead plants, hay, straw, grass will be greatly rewarding.
I drilled just two or three holes. The sides being well-drilled is the most important. As long as you add 12" of shredded leaves to create the "biological sponge", you'll be OK.
Thanks for the video, great! i have a compost pile ATM about 1x1x1meter but i am about to build a propper one soon and your video's are giving me some great idea's! I am just starting to do similar projects on my channel -maybe you could pop over and give me some advice? Keep up the good work :)
Have you ever used cardboard when Browns are not available? Considering composting trash because my property does not produce leaves and other similar materials.
Cardboard is a good material to add, but using it solely mixed with food scraps might prove a bit challenging. Dead leaves, straw, grass, hay, any chopped up dead plants are all good complements to the cardboard...
Most of my garden debris gets added to worm bins. My bean vines are chopped up with a lawn mower and buried as green manure.. Thanks for your suggestions.
Planning to build a large worm bin, have torn up cardboard and egg crates as bedding. Considering a trial compost bin in a trash can, if it fails it will go in my worm bins. Thanks for any previous advise. Trying to get garden started at the moment.
I just started a small compost bin 3/9/2017. I noticed a lot of gnats around it. What should I do now? Originally, I didn't put holes at the bottom of the bin but have since put holes at the bottom of the bin.
crazyaboutcompost.com I have been turning my compost every time I add food scraps and leaves. I guess I should put the scraps, leaves and leave it alone.
Yep- In a small system, I'd just have a 12"-18" base of shredded leaves, then alternate layers of weekly food scrap deposits followed by a nice couple inches of leaves.
