8 years ago I knew nothing about compost except it wad a place to throw my kitchen scraps. I started throwing garden waste and maple leaves in there and never did a thing with it. 6 years ago I decided to at least enclose it with old pallets, but still didn't do much except toss stuff in. 2 years ago I started taking an interest in what I was throwing in, breaking it down before tossing it in, making sure to "stir" it and watered it more frequently. Last year I really kept an eye on it and this spring I have the most beautiful black compost anyone has ever seen. I'm going to put it in my raised bed and really start paying more attention.
If you have a pick up truck, you can get compost by the cubic yard for about $30-$50 per cu. yard. A full sized pick up can haul 2 cubic yards. They load you up and off you go. It is so worth it. If you want it delivered expect about $100 delivery fee. Also, chip drop is fresh wood chips for free that you can compost into mulch. Bagged is just pointlessly expensive. I have a large depleted property we just bought and I just got 3 cu yards delivered and it is what I need for my sandy, mistreated lot to even get started. I recommend it. Oh, it is just lovely.
I have been composting and I leave leaves in my garden. It has been 27 years now. I am really seeing how beautiful garden soil is now. Beautiful, black. Not the clay I started with😁
I’ve got black soil after only a year of composting on top of clay (we live on a clay hill. Just clay and rock). Dug down today to plant a few things, and I was able to turn that soil so easily. Funny what can happen in a year- my neighbors are cursing the ground they walk on, I’m planting in mine!
I’m even lazier....we just put chopped fall leaves directly on our garden beds and they decompose right where they land, over the years we have developed wonderful soil! Love compost! Years ago I actually just buried my kitchen scraps between my plants.....a little to lazy now! 😄🤭😉
I always get as many leaves in the fall from my yard and the neighbors. I mulch them up into tiny bits with my mower. Then pile it on deep on all my flower beds. Saves my perennials over winter and usually lasts well into the summer fir mulch until the foliage shades the ground. My soil is now so awesome after many years of this. Tons of worms.
I am really enjoying the start of my compost journey in gardening. I let all of the 'rules' overwhelm me in previous years and last year I started by going to our fence line at the back of our property and raked up what nature had already placed there for me. No money spent and I have developed a nice pile with yard clippings, kitchen scraps, shredded paper from my office, newspapers, etc.. It is a rewarding process that I'm glad I started. Like you said, there is more we can add to our compost pile than what we might think in the beginning of the process.
Love the lazy man's composting method. The best, and fastest, compost pile I ever had was a retired wooden sand box in the back yard that I just started throwing kitchen scraps and yard waste on it and giving it a flip with a pitch fork every once in a while. I never covered it or watered it and it was a real power house. I hear you regarding how much compost you could use in your garden, it's so true!
Thank you, Erin. I usually find that I learn new things from you even when I think that I already know the topic. Now, I have to call the stables nearby...
I agree with your "lazy"philosophy on composting. I do Lasagna Gardening because I don't have to ever turn the compost. The only trick is finding more leaves and cardboard to meet your garden's needs. Love watching your videos.
I have 2 bins about the size of yours with mostly chopped leaves. I drove around last fall picking up bags off neighboring curbsides, then ran over them several times with the mower. I added grass clippings and kitchen scraps and they heated up ok at first, but then cooled down and just sat there. Not wanting to spend money I poured several gallons of urine into the piles, also water, stirred them...and voila...they heated up and turned into beautiful compost!
Last summer was my first season with my own compost, and I loved it! I only have a small site in an allotmentgarden, so I composted in my raised beds, growing my vegetables at the same time.
I have tons of leaves, but don’t have a lawnmower to shred. Last year I figures out I can put the leaves in a huge garbage can and use a weed whacker to shred it up. Worked great. You need to wear a dust mask because fine shredded leaves get suspended in the air around you (and eye protection) but it shreds them super fine, almost a powder. I also ask neighbors for grass clippings because I never have enough green. Also, starbucks near me always has loads of free grounds for me. I guess there’s not so many gardeners around me. A yard waste chipper/shredder is on my wishlist for the future. Another tip is using not quite finished compost as mulch around the garden. Let it finish in place. I also search out rabbit poop/bedding from local bunny owners.
I started to compost last year and asked my neighbour for his grass clippings. What he delivered smelled like manure but was apparently a huge garbage can of anaerobic grass. I found any cardboard i could, swept my husband’s workshop for sawdust, and layered it all in. I ended up with the absolute most lovely compost by the end of the summer. Just turned it once or twice, threw in some water when I thought to check it (not often) and added some coffee grounds eventually. Hoping he saves me some more this year. So much fun to see when it’s done!
I bag my grass when I mow for green, add kitchen trimmings and mowed leaves for brown. Makes easy, free compost. Also grass heats up enough I don’t get weeds from compost. 👍🏼😊
Thank you for linking the compost bracket set. I plan on building a system and have been researching the easiest method and I think this is the best system so far.
Hi Erin, I've been watching you for a few years now. I really liked this video. I'm 71, gardening over 50 years and I garden with easy, simple tips. I'm in Windermere, Florida zone 9b 🌞 I have a deep bookshelf, laid down that I layer with grass clippings, shredded brown paper bags, coffee grounds and ground Eggshells. I turn it a few times to distribute and then watch as it go down in volume over a few months. Voila', ready to use. I thought your video was great and explained how easy it is to help our own garden health and help reduce what go to the landfills. Big Thumbs 👍Up!
Thanks for the composting information. I appreciate that you share not just your love of plants, but your experience and knowledge as well. I’m rather certain that I learn something new each time I watch one of your videos.
My go to for nitrogen when I need it is used coffee grounds and my go to for carbon is cardboard, both are readily available to me at no extra cost to me. I am also a lazy composter.
@@treasuresabound0062 the one I got is 3" wide by 24" long so you don't have to bend over when drilling holes in your yard. I bought it for deep core aeration in my lawn but it works great in my compost pile as well....cost around $50 at Lowes but I spent the extra to be able to avoid as much bending as possible
I use a Ross root feeder to moisten my compost piles. The pointed end and good stream spread the moisture quickly and thoroughly. And you can put the moisture right where you need it.
I bought one set of these Lee Valley compost bin brackets after watching this video and I am so happy with the design! Next month I will buy a second set so I can turn my compost. Thanks for featuring these! 💚
Yes, I tried the super lazy method for my third pile which I just started in 2021. I left it alone in 2022 and now I have a decent pile of compost. I did make sure to adjust the brown leaves with green matter, but did t do much else and time and nature did all the work. Super fun!
Great tip! I never flip mine either! Lol! I do water it a little when watering the garden every once in a while but that's it! & ill add blood meal every once in a while if I don't have a lot of greens throughout fall & winter
This was so interesting! And I'm always impressed by the way you garden so laid back and realistic for those of us who don't want to be so over the top on things. I enjoy my gardening in this laid back manner and find it refreshing to have a source in you that embraces it as well. Thank you for your videos!
I drive around my city's big oak and maple neighborhoods, usually the week before and after Thanksgiving here in central NC when the bulk of the leaves fall, right after the first chilly rain. I have a station wagon that I fill up about 6 times, Then empty the bags on the ground and mow over to 'mulch' them, then shovel into a big wire round cage (super cheap and easy to throw together). I let them just sit until spring when I start mowing and weeding so I can get the right brown-green mix :)
The giant leaves from our ancient bigleaf maple would be great to add to a compost bin if they fell before the weather got too wet to shred. The one area where we let them have their way has beautiful soil, but they take forever to break down. They cause big problems if left in the beds in our mild pnw 8b climate.
I would say spend some energy breaking down the really big leaves - I just bought a reasonably priced leaf shredder where I put the big oak leaves. Otherwise run a lawn mower over them a few times. I do not bother with smaller leaves, just add them to the compost pile where they break down. I was happy with the way the leaf shredder easily did the big leaves. In a few minutes I had shredded leaves which were so awesome.
Omg this is the Best compost pile video ever! I'm so thankful for your input! Small gardener here, 1/2 acre out back, but soo wanting to make my own compost!!!
LOL at "Simple and lazy is the way I roll" - need that on a T-shirt! I don't have a sunny enough spot for a compost pile, I finally admitted after trying for about 20 years! Have been having success by digging a pit in my clayey soil and composting in the pit. Never heard about alfalfa for compost piles. Thanks for the tip. Lots of horse farms and feed stores around here so I may try it.
Super helpful video! I was just about to buy a drum just in case it was smelly. Now I know I can just add browns to balance it! Perfect 👌 I’m going to just make a pile in the tree line at the back of the yard. 👍
You give such good commonsense advice! And you're absolutely right about having a lot of either green or brown but hardly ever a perfect mix. I'm on Cape Cod, and have just started the spring raking; my two pallet-made compost bins are filled to the brim with leaves. I'm absolutely giving this a try.
The best thing for a compost pile is if you can get your hands on some animal bedding preferably chicken or rabbit. That stuff really gets a pile going nice and hot. Also have you thought about growing the alfalfa, then cutting it green in the fall and mixing in with the leaves. Im sure its easy to grow its similar to comfrey, it can get a massive taproot on it
I have three pit composts, all with grass clippings and dead leaves along with some food scraps; Each pit is just under 3X3X3. I have a pvc pipe smack in the middle that I drilled holes into that gives it the required oxygen. I hope to see dark rich composted soil next Spring.
I love your set-up! We used wood pallets (it works) not very nice to look at though- so we keep it in the woods- but very shaddy. I love the Alfafa tip because we have so much "brown" because of all the maple trees. Great video.
I don't call having to dig with a pitchfork to turn everything- lazy! 😬 I have neck injuries and that would kill me. I bought a self-aerating composter- no turning required and quickly gets hot in the sun here in FL. Before this compost bin I had a compost pile in my backyard, but now I have rats living under it- yuck! My aerating compost bin (called Aero-Bin) has no pest problems and works fast. I'm in love with it. I think I might want to be buried with it after I die..😆
If you live in Oregon, you can legally be composted when your days are done. I don't know all the specifics, but at least it's an option for some people.
I put all the things I'm worried have seeds or roots that will grow into a black garbage can with a lid and add water, makes great compost tea, while killing the seeds and roots. Is it stinky? yes but only when you open the can. Once you dilute it and fertilize your garden the smell is gone fairly quickly. Thank you for all of your advice, love your channel!
Another thing to make life easier is get a long piece of rebar. Rather than turning your pile just stab the rebar in the middle and make air holes. This will introduce air into your pile to keep it airated
I got a Vitamix Foodcycler to deal with all my left over scraps and it makes it into compost I put in my beds etc. Its nice because I can use food scraps and it eliminates put food into the trash or outside if you live in a urban area like I do.
Another thing that I have seen people do is run the food scraps through a garage sale blender, add a little water and pour it over the pile and mix it in. It adds nutrients and moisture to the pile.
Thank you!!!!!! This is the video I have been needing! I want to compost but it seems so mysterious and complicated. I'm totally in the lazy camp 🤠 and you have made it seem much more manageable. I'm feeling up to the challenge now!
I subscribed just because of the name, I can identify! Thank you for the content. You put things in a simple easy to understand format. I have 3 compost sites ( a tumbler, a stirrer and a pile) two of which I'm very careful with what we put in. The pile is like yours, out and away. Everything I don't recycle goes in it.
Great vid! I've used alfalfa pellets and they work great, but I've found coffee grounds work better. Alfalfa will get the pile up to 140°, but espresso grounds take it up to 160°, and the pile tends to cool down slower with the coffee grounds. I can get 20 - 50 lbs of espresso grounds a day from my local Starbucks, if I hit it at the right time of day. I dry the grounds out, in the sun, on an old shower curtain, and then walk on it to break up the clods, to dry it out. This makes it easier to spread it on my lawn and sprinkle on the compost pile. If it's dry and powdery, it will settle down into the lower parts of the pile. Coffee grounds supply NPK nutrients as well as many micronutrients slowly, so they're not great as a quick start fertilizer, but they are great as a soil amendment and long term fertilizer. And, no, I'm not being paid by either Starbucks nor Juan Valdez.
My father in law was a farmer and raised cattle and always had a big garden. He would put cow manure right into the garden bed. And my mother-in-law would throw all her food scraps all around the garden bed and he would till it in. Everything that came out of that garden was amazing
I created a few 4x4x4 wired bins, and then layer in grass clippings, then brown leaves, then grass clippings, etc.... then I let it cook (around 160 degrees) then when it drops down enough, I run a mantis tiller to mix things up, and then let it cook again. Rinse and repeat, and then dark brown gold.
I save leaves to add to green stuff. I have a black & decker leaf mulcher/ chopper. In the fall I chop up some leaves & add to my raised bed & a few other spots. And then I chop some up, put them in a large tote in the garage & add them to my compost tumblers as needed thru out the year. Before I got my leaf blower/chopper, I would put dry leaves in a garbage can & put my weed wacker down in there. Kinda like a blender to chop up the leaves.
I have a leaf blower that will also suck up the leaves and shred them real fine I do my leaves and as many Neighbors leaves as I can, and spread them out on my beds in the fall and they last most of the following summer. The good news is the rain doesn't wash them away.
Great vid! It's making me wish I could travel back in time and watch it in 2018 ;-) It would have saved me a lot of grief! My method of making compost has evolved into something very similar to yours. I need to collect a minimum of 80 gallons of dry, whole leaves each week to support my mini farm, but the sky is the limit. This week I collected 300! I keep several piles going at once, including one I call my "dirty" pile for weeds, manure that could possibly contain aminopyralids (essentially all manure that's not from free range animals) and anything else that could possibly contain persistent herbicides or anything else that's nasty. I keep adding to the dirty pile until it decomposes to about two yards, then switch to stoking it with clean material to keep it hot. After the switch, it needs to age a minimum of two years. But three is better and four is best.
I think it's easy for able-bodied people that can physically do a lot to complicate things like composting ✌️🍁🍂🌿🌿❤️ thanks for demystifying it for people this is the way I've done it for years and I do a lot of chop and drop because I have days I can't even do anything so I let nature take its course so it's waiting for me on a good mobility day 🌿🍂 I also like that you brought up the fact it's a good way to help the Earth and your garden all in one. I talked to my neighbor into not putting any weed killer and pulling everything by hand for the last 3 years so this year I'm going to ask him for his pine straw and grass clippings that he mows up on his last mow for the season which should be in the next couple of days and that's my green on top of my other stuff. 🍂🍂 💦🌬️💨❄️☃️ Everything will be tucked in 💤 💤 until May 🌱🌷☘️🌳 so much great information without a lot of unnecessary 🤔 yapping 😉✌️🥰❤️
Erin, I love your videos, keep up the good work. I heard of your channel from The southerner’s northern garden, which I heard of from Roots & Refuge which I came across from looking up how to grow tomatoes. (I know how to grow tomatoes, but wanted to know new tips & tricks.) I’m a master gardener & have been an avid gardener all my life. I love your content.
You can make browns into greens by putting some in a bucket, filling with water, sealing and letting it sit in a warm spot for a week or so. When it starts to stink it's ready to add to browns to jump start the compost. You can also add kitchen scraps to it to make it stinky faster.
I have a really gross compost story. Hubby built me a 2 compost bin for my birthday last year in January. Early spring I spread some compost on my asparagus bed, and two weeks later I went to get more compost and it's crawling with maggots! I was completely freaked out! After doing some research I think the middle of my compost was too gooey and the flies laid eggs in it. I sprinkled some lime over it just prior to a rainy day and two days later all sign of them were completely gone. Whew!
Maggots aren’t gross. They do an awesome job of clearing up all the muck. They won’t be there for long if you uncovered them. Birds move in almost immediately to clear them out.
metal corner hinge/brackets are just what I have been looking for - share link?! Thanks for your great info!! I am planning to make raised garden & compost containers so all shared info will be appreciated!
One last lazier thing I do: I let my noxious weeds sit in a wheelbarrow for a day or two & become crispy in the sun - then throw them in the compost. Try to pull them way before they go to seed.
Careful with straw. In the midwest -MO, OK, KS etc almost all the wheat is sprayed with Round up/herbicide just before harvest. This is bad for the wheat, (and all the animals fed the wheat) and there is residual herbicide in the straw - hard on gardens and compost piles. Very hard on worms and in the spring to fall months can take 2 months to break down.
One item that can help with the moisture is to add a piece of (google it) "rigid perforated drain pipe" in the pile when you start building it. I put it a few inches into the ground to slow down how quickly it drains. Now you have an additional way to get water and air to the center of the pile. You can add several lengths of pipe if you want to. If I have items that might attract critters, it goes in the pipe. Heat and worms can still reach it and it will compost too. It is also a one-time purchase and big box stores usually have it.
Great video. Some people make such a production of it. I put a whole stalk of brussel sprouts in mine. Last year was year four. I'm hoping it's gone this year lol. And I flip my compost weekly. May try the alfalfa.
Depending on your situation, it’s possible you’re turning it too often or more often than you need to. I throw huge brassica stalks like biennial kale into my piles and rarely have a problem with them not breaking down. My piles usually sit around 130-160° F when they’re active. If you have space to make your piles bigger, I’ve found that the best way to get larger materials to break down faster since bigger piles tend to get hotter ❤️
