The Perfect Compost Recipe - How to Get Your Compost Heap Cooking!

Believe it or don't but this was inspired by Robert Frost's lesser known masterpiece titled: Two Tramps In Mud Time.

FALL DUTY

The ice has kissed the pumpkin vine
so late in fall it’s fallen time.
Crystal bridges cross the pond
while diamonds tip the 'sparagus frond.
The grass now speaks beneath my tread
and echos words the brown leaf said.
But my eye is on the garden's end
for I have duties to attend;
where an Etna sits with fires deep -
a beard of smoke now crowns the heap -
that calls attention to a need:
the season’s final deed.
My hands are cold - my face is raw -
but soon my labour will restore
a hearty glow as my cheeks burn.
I sink the tines and turn and turn;
until it's done, as is my back,
but come spring time, both rich and black
and full of worm and what plants need;
I shall be glad I did the deed.
This alchemy in sunwashed frost:
the art and craft of my compost.

{c} Jason Horsler

Can I put my grandfather on the compost heap? He's been dead three weeks now and he's as stiff and a board. He's starting to pong a bit too so maybe now is the time to sling him in. Should I cut him up into pieces or just drag the corpse over and lay it on top?

Thanks for this helpful video, however I am confused re grass clippings, some websites say grass clippings are a no no?

Where is the best location for a compost heap/pile and does it need to have a roof/cover?

Thanks really helpful, I’ve just posted on a local group for small animal waste and been inundated so I’ll have plenty of browns x

Good video

Anyone have rat problems using kitchen waste ?

Great video !
I use a hand made wire mesh cylindrical bin like container

And layer it green -yellow - soil( brown) . I feel newspaper works well in place of soil too .

In summer in India ( 42 deg celcius) a 3-5 feet high wire mesh open air bin can be ready with great compost in as little as 3-4 weeks
We often add raw jaggery and earthworms.

Dear Ben! How do you use the animal manures to the compost? I have two goats and some chickens, they live in a well-strawed shed, so I have very good material from there. But I don't know, how can I use it in my compost.

I'm experimenting with shredded Alfalfa from Tractor Supply. Is that considered brown or green? Michael

Anyone who expects that perfect finished product can expect a LOT OF WORK. Be realistic and use what you produce. Mine is always beneficial to the plants and it does not look perfect. Since I fish A LOT, I dig a hole in my garden 2 shovels deep, add fish remains, cover with finished compost and cover with the soil. As I have been doing this for years, when I dig down, I am turning over finished compost / fish bones.

🥬🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲

Good information, short and concise, thanks. My only suggestion is reduce the background music volume, it is WAY TOO LOUD and is distracting.

909

As always love your videos so informative

Good thing I watched this. I was just about to cut down an evergreen bush I have and put it in my compost!

Excellent explanation!!

Hello

Dear GrowVeg. Thanks for the video! I have a question here: cooked grinded coffee and egg shells are green or grey? Would you recommend them to the compost? Thanks in advance!

Hello. I am new to all of this, and I am doing research so I can start my own compost pile in the near future. I have a question. I heard him say that the compost will cool, and the worms can move in. Does this mean that there is a point in the compost process where one should stop adding any greens and browns, and allow it to sit, cool, and do it's thing? I assume that any time you add stuff, it will continue cooking. If I am correct in my thinking, when should one stop adding stuff, and for how long?

Thanks., to date I've just bunged everything into a store bought plastic composter. It works but has some of the issues you mention so going to build one.
Two questions. 1) what is the process with two compost bins as you appeared to move some from one to the other 2) roughly how long until compost breaks down to be useable.

Hi, I have a small garden, plus I live alone, hence I don't have much brown and green material to use 4 composting. I do put what I've got, but the pile is small. What can I do

Best garden video s..

Good stuff thnx

I made a in ground compost bin, works great, check it out on my channel on how to make one

There is no such thing as a perfect recipe. Do with what you've got and work from there. Some of the best compost is leaf compost from windrows 15 to 20 feet high that only takes about 9 months to add a rich compost rich in minerals that only trees can provide and as these windrows have hit temps exceeding 160 degrees Fahrenheit, no weed seed worries. Worry more about making compost than worrying about the correct ingredients.

Thank you

fallen leaves are considered browns? Maple leaves still orange and red or dried brown ?

I have 2 double composting bins that I used to roll every week. MY fingers have since decided they were too old to be rolling all that heavy material any more. Started thinking about it again because of your video here. That compost has been in there for 3 to 4 years. Does compost ever turn rancid with age? Or as long as it still "smells" OK, maybe I can still use it? Need your thoughts and advice! Thanks!

You can use ash, so in the end, your diseased plants can thus be turned to ash and added.

A very good explanation. Thank you!

Holy crap...hello, eight years ago! Time flies. Have to compliment you on your developing presentation skills. A lot more engaging these days...not that this wasn't awesome, too, mind you. It's true that just dumping a bunch of green in, like lawn clippings, will result in a slimy, matted mess. But I've also found it the best way to get that heat going if that's an issue, as it usually is with my piles. Just get in there and mix it up daily, or as often as possible.

To anyone struggling to find enough browns, you can use your junk mail, newspapers, and cardboard waste as a source of carbon. I've been shredding my paper and cardboard waste for a few years and using it in my compost instead of sending it to the recycling center. Just don't use glossy paper and it will work just fine.

What about wood ashes? I've also seen people add something to the moisture, like beer or urine.

I live in a climate with lots of snow and cold temps in winter. Does a compost pile need to be covered and protected from snow?

T6

You must love Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. You must love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus the anointed is Lord! Repent and be baptized and believe the Gospel.

Omak sus

How do you keep unwanted bugs out of the compost heap?

Very helpful!....short, sweet, simple and easy to follow. I wish more videos were like this.... high five

I wish this was the first composting video I watched…

Great concise info, thank you

A well meaning friend dropped off a load of grass clippings for me to start a compost pile but I have a feeling there may be dog droppings in it because it stinks. Can it be used?

I have lots and lots of chickens.. i take there bedding.. grass clippings.. eggs i dont want and the fish i catch after i flay them.. and have some of the most ridiculous gardens u ever seen.. i add alot of microbes via compost teas

Thanks for this helpful video

Good video. But I think that he got the carbon, nitrogen wrong. Nitrogen is on the greens side and carbon is on the brown side. Checked and re-checked.

Sir, your video, full of details is immensely useful thank you. You have answered many queries. Have few doubts. Would be grateful if you are kind enough to answer to help us to produce compost mostly out of dry leaves with 1/3rd of green leaves.

1. Is it not safe to mix neem leaves with other leaves to get compost? In our place in India, we have lot of neem leaves. How to compost them? What about mixing teak leaves with other leaves? ( In our part of India, we dont consider teak leaves as material for good compost.)

2. 65 degree centigrade is produced by microbes! Microbes initiate compost process and thereby temperature goes up and they kill themselves in the process! Interesting! Again, new microbes come back as you told at the end of the video?

4. Can we use earth worms to speed up compost process? Will they survive 65 degree Celsius temperature?

5. Some people cover the entire mixture is to prevent rain water to get in?

6. Some people say, add little water every day to the mixture to keep it wet, will it not bring down the temperature needed for past composting?

Excellent, simple advice thank you.

Thank you Sir for the useful pointers.