Composting 101: Ins & Outs [Quick Start to Composting Part 1]

[@CABedard1]

Recently retired and want to save $$, eat well, spend time in the yard in bare feet with the sun shining on me. Thank you so much for this series. Much LOVE to you and your family.

[@lisakruger5289]

I want to compost for all the same reasons you do...to reduce waste, do my part to be a good environmental steward, grow healthier and strong plants, etc. I currently have a compost tumbler and just harvested my first batch of finished compost from it. I also have a couple of worm bins, but what led me to your videos is a need to keep critters out of some open bins I started. Thanks for all the info you share!

[@kuredumas7164]

I have become a "compost maniac". I just love it, cannot explain how much my garden has improved with it.

[@juliedavid6256]

Thank you for this video! This will be my first compost project. I want to compost for all the wonderful reasons you mention in the video. Really to be kind and gentle to Mother Earth. Thank you for all your help!!

[@logicalson]

After the great informative intro, the greater bit that helped me starts at 12:00

[@joser.castillo1218]

I just started to watch your videos and I love the info and super cool voice. Best of luck for you guys!

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thanks Jose. Best of luck to you too.

[@irenesiw]

#3: Have moved many times and have had many gardens, but now I'm out of town and on a brand new farm. So now: no trees, no grass, no garden. Planted a shop, then a house, a laneway, and grass. Now hopefully this next summer I can plant again whatever and wherever, as well as a very much missed (I've used this for 50+ years of marriage) outdoor clothesline! I grew up using a clothesline and my daughter and her daughters are doing the same! Nothing so fresh as sheets and towels dried and bleached white in the sun and fresh air! Love it!

[@djsolarguy2639]

Love you all!

[@philipstapert3517]

As a novice gardener I'm enjoying your videos. I think they are well-done and informative. I recently moved into an apartment above a book store in Escanaba, Michigan where I have have a very small back yard. My landlords, who are good friends, are very supportive of me starting a garden here.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Excellent Phillip. Happy your landlords are supportive. Living above a bookstore sounds exciting. I think I would probably be spending a lot of time downstairs. Do they have any gardening books? How can we help and support you? Have you checked out any of our intro gardening courses on our website? They are free right now until the end of April. We are trying to support aspiring gardeners during this crazy time when we all have much more time at home. If you haven't seen them and are interested, here's a link to our class page on our website. gardensthatmatter.com/shop Use code GROWJOY at checkout for free access. All our courses are multimedia but mostly video in same style as our youtube videos. In fact, Quick Start To Composting video series was our first paid course before we decided to put it on youtube for free. If one of our classes isn't right for you, let us know any other way we can support you. We will do our best to send you in the right direction. Hope you are safe and healthy during this crazy time and we look forward to hearing about your new backyard garden next to the bookstore in Escanaba. Happy Gardening.

[@lavernmignott-henry3527]

I am fascinated with gardening and have been experimenting with organic composting.

[@jamesbrechin2899]

Great video. Just found you today and I will be watching your videos until I go to bed. Trying to get back to doing things with less environmental damage. Started “raising’ monarch butterflies 3 years ago and am hoping to improve my flower garden with natural fertilizing. Will also grow a few vegetables as well. Last year I used compost tea and microbes as the only fertilizer for my yard and garden with good results. Hoping to learn more from you. Thanks for sharing.

[@malibu405]

Beautiful 🧡 My reasons. Reduce waste. Bountiful garden.

[@Tamunett]

Wonderfully done

[@lisalangston7965]

My husband died of cancer and I had all of these PLANTS! I am working to keep them alive since I've always wanted to begin gardening. My indoor garden could be healthier and I want to expand to an outdoor garden but have not had as much success with that, so I did my research and found out about composting.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Oh Lisa, sending a virtual hug your way.

[@dirkmoolman]

The health benefit from it, is for me the most important. Food grown in clean dark soil, is much healthier. But I just do it because I enjoy it. I love nature and plants. Working in the garden is so soothing, therapy.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Agreed. Working in the garden is therapy. Can hardly call it work. Thanks for watching.

[@mkerby6306]

I have a home right next to a land trust so looking at food forest development on their land and mine as well as attempting to close the loop as I learn and get my church garden going. I really want to prioritize the vegetables, fruits and herbs to help those in our community who are not so healthy, that is medicinal triage prioritization. Getting others to collect their kitchen scraps is proving difficult. I need to be there or it doesn’t happen, it seems. If I get a lovely scalp bucket like the two I saw in this video-the green one was gorgeous-they May just get to collecting. I’ll dump. I bought a by-hand tumbler. But I may just bury directly in trenches predug for winter additions. Thank you for such a well organized video. I may use it to send to the people who are willing kitchen collectors but just forgetful or just doing what they usually do, when I’m not around. I’m not giving up on it or them. They’re just not as motivated as I am.

[@GardensThatMatter]

You are doing a good thing. It's amazing how many communities do not have access to fresh, healthy food. One thing that has worked for us in collecting other peoples scraps is to share the bounty with them. A few tomatoes here. A pint of strawberries there. When they see (and taste) the treasure, they often remember to save their scraps. Good luck. Glad to be part of your journey.

[@sharonsala49]

I don’t like the waste of the soul bags I buy, I don’t like the cost of them either. But didn’t want pests like raccoons in my yard. Got a tumbling style composter and giving it my first try! Love this video!! I am learning so much. Great job.

[@joysanders9315]

I will be a first time composter. Just put in my first raised bed garden 3'x6' and am very excited to add another. I'm looking at beginning a self sustainable system so that when I retire I can not only enjoy gardening but also benefit from this. The soil in my yard is depleted and hard as a rock, grass is hard to grow. So I'm also hoping that by composting and adding this to my existing soil I can slowly turn things around. I know, this will take a while, but I have to start somewhere. Loved the video and getting ready to watch the next one. Thanks.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Hi Joy. Glad to hear you are starting to compost and have begun gardening in your raised beds. Love also that you are working toward a self-sustainable system. Compost will definitely help your depleted soil, but yes, it will take some time to turn it around. Another thing you might consider is cover crops. We like to use cover crops when starting a new bed or growing area. We usually plant them in fall, let them grow until winter comes, they go dormant, then they resume growing in spring. But I think I read in one of your other comments that you live in CA. Is that right? Irregardless, if your winters are mild, cover crops will keep growing until you terminate them. You can mow them down which shreds them nicely or you can cut them by hand, (which is what we do in our beds) and lay the material down as mulch. We use a cover crop mix that has several different species in it that serve different purposes. Daikon radishes and tillage turnips break up hard pan soil, clover and winter peas are legumes so they fix the nitrogen, and the rye grass and tridicale add tons of organic matter, all which will improve your soil. Then we add compost for planting to add nutrients, microorganisms, and additional organic matter. Sometimes when you have hard pan, depleted soil, it takes a lot of work and a lot of compost, and cover crops will do a lot of the work for you. When you are finished with our compost videos, I invite you to check out our cover crop playlist. Here's a link. kzbin.info/aero/PLSGk426DySd-wU5FXi83BHeAC8Jl181a4 Cover crops are a great addition to a system with compost (and mulch). After you watch, let me know what you think and if I can help you further. Happy Gardening.

[@SuzieBindiRealtor]

I screenshot your list of what to add and what to use caution with. I am beginning to collect kitchen scraps as of yesterday. So far I've stopped short from going into my other kitchen trash to "save" scraps recently thrown there. But I might just put on my kitchen gloves and go for it! I want to build a fairly good size garden. I'd like to grow vegetables (zucchini, lettuce, carrots, green beans, etc) and I'd love some herbs as well (thyme, rosemary, mint, etc). I have a mature pineapple guava fruit tree with nice fruit on it now and I just planted a cherry and plum tree. I have an apricot tree that still needs planting. I'm a rooky and don't yet know how to do this right but I just started a horticulture class last week so I'll be learning some good things there I'm sure in addition to your videos. Thank you!

[@williamkelley158]

Thanks for the video. We recently started composing our kitchen scraps after taking a break for a few years. I'd like to get into composting leaves and creating even more soil for my garden and lawn.

[@joyceenright8123]

We have been composting since we moved into this house in 1982 and get great vegetables as a result. Its recycling as nature intended and of course it reduces waste that has to be collected by the municipal authority.... But I still enjoyed you video and learnned something new...using old cotton and woollen garments.

[@rhondabain2160]

I have a black composting bun that I have never used. Now that we started a garden, we need to start composting to help the garden

[@jeffreypikul6402]

Very good video, very in depth. I've seen a few videos online about composting and none are this good! 👍👍

[@spudbud8697]

love the way you describe in details . Very enlightening. I'm subscribing.

[@irenec1840]

This was great!! Great teaching ability and patient voice for children. This is my first experience with composting. I am interested d/t life style changes. Thank you again and be blessed.

[@copdoc520]

My wife and I are beginner gardeners. I didn't know how complex starting a garden could be. I am a little skeptical as to how it's all going to turn out but my wife and I are willing to try. I love the idea of composting and we will give it a good college try. Thanks for making this video and giving us hope that it actually can be done.

[@GardensThatMatter]

I love that you and your wife are starting to garden together. It's a great activity to do together. Yes, it can be complex in the beginning, but like everything in life, experience will make it easier moving forward. Glad you enjoyed our video. If you are interested in little more guidance with gardening (and composting), our beginning gardening classes are free right now. Being quarantined sparked a lot of interest in people taking up gardening for the first time, and we decided we wanted to do what we can to support this interest. We have 3 beginning level courses (Start Your First Garden, How to Grow a Pollinator Cafe, and Gardening with Kids) all free until the end of the month. My e-book (Happy Garden Guide to Composting) is free too. If you and your wife would like to try one of the courses out, here is a link to our course page. gardensthatmatter.com/shop At check out, use the code GROWJOY. The only thing it will cost you is an email address so you can get a log in password. In full disclosure, you will be signing up for our email updates when you enroll with your email, but you can always unsubscribe after the course, if you wish to no longer receive email from me. However, I would love to have you and your wife as part of our online gardening community. We have over 4000 other gardeners (most of them beginners like you) in our community and we are doing whatever we can to teach, support, and nurture them through their gardening journey. In fact, in the next week or two, we will be introducing a membership site designed specifically for beginners who want to learn how to garden in an ecologically friendly, sustainable, and beyond organic way. You will learn more about this soon if you are on our email list. Sorry about the long comment, I just get so excited when new gardeners begin their journey and I want to help them in any way I can. Happy Gardening.

[@juliushernadi4421]

There is a mystic pleasure from even the tiniest piece of land that is yours alone and can produce things you can eat without any fear of chemicals like pesticides.

[@rayalexander9578]

Thanks a lot for a wonderful and knowledgeable videos you shared it 's easy to follow and manage

[@drendas5721]

Small healthy garden with delicious seasonal vegetables.

[@elizabethabebe9735]

Thank you so much for detailed information. Last year I started growing tomatoes and peppers and it did well. Since I learned so much from you, I’ll try my own composting pile as soon as tomorrow 🌺 God bless 🙏

[@leilanimariemapili8828]

Quarantine has made me appreciate my garden more but with shops closed, no fertilizers can be bought. And With everone eating at home and garbage piling up faster then usual, I thought that composting will solve these two problems. I’ve started a pile but I want to make sure that I’m doing it right.

[@THLauren]

I believe Amazon sells organic soil products, might be helpful if you're doing it organically

[@Victoria-pt6ll]

great video for us beginners! so much great information.

[@bobbiallison1117]

Composting is the next step in my recycling plan. My soil needs the help!

[@keelyaustin5333]

Great video, I learned a lot. Thank you! I recently bought a home on some acreage in the mountains of Middle TN. I have already started my compost pile with what little I know about it. I am so excited to reduce my waste in landfills and to repurpose my kitchen, household, and yard scraps. Currently, the pile has lots of browns and greens and soon I'll be regularly adding chicken manure. I am starting a permaculture food forest with some friends plus some smaller gardens. :) Thanks again!

[@swirlyimp]

Just found you today! Oh my goodness, you really are a great teacher, and easy to listen to. Thank you so very much for sharing, from the bottom of my heart.

[@lorraineferguson2716]

I like your info on this video. I tried to compost many years ago and I added too many Greens.

[@sherryslr]

I am working on expanding my vegetable garden. Right now it is composed of four hydroponic towers, but I want to do some raised beds with a nice soil mixture as well, so I'm getting my compost going. I have used your method two times before, and it works beautifully and is SO easy; however, the second time I used it, I lived in town, in Florida, and I got RATS in my compost pile!! Florida has a LOT of rats. I have talked with another gardener who had the same problem. I've bought a heavy, enclosed barrel that has small holes for aeration; I'm hoping that will work. I'm enjoying your videos though; I'm learning all sorts of things about WHY compost is beneficial; I had truly thought it was primarily for the nutrients. Good to know the truth.

[@GardensThatMatter]

RATS! Ugh. I hate rats. We've had a few field mice visit our pile, but luckily no rats. One time I was turning the compost, and a snake slithered out. It scared the "you know what" out of me. I guess it had popped in after a mouse (I guess). Luckily, it was just a black snake, which are harmless, and beneficial for keeping mice in check, but it did make my heart skip a beat or two. You are probably safer using the enclosed barrel you bought. I will include a link below for my video on "keeping rodents out of the compost" that might give you some other tips to go along with your barrel (in case you haven't seen it yet). kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGqtfKqhpceSe9k Good luck with your garden expansion.

[@stephaniedyer2653]

I love working in my yard and growing a few flowers and some tomatoes, but my soil is very clay based, so I need to learn to compost. Plus I throw my scraps in my kitchen garden, and I might as well use those to better the soil for my plants.

[@sandyisabelle9944]

Hello, I am 100%sure you aced your school project you mentioned in the beginning!! Thank you for all this well explained knowledge, very useful and well done. Your a natural teacher and I will follow for more videos!

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thank you Sandy for your kind words. Would love having you as a subscriber (especially because of your encouraging comments) ❤️

[@donnajrobb]

I am trying to start gardening but have always had a brown thumb. I thought I would start small and add more to my garden as I get better at it. One thing though is that I live in SW corner of NC. I have very little level ground. The soil is hard red clay. I had trees removed from the back and far side of my house that were encroaching on it. Now that those trees are gone, I have a sunny place to grow. However, in addition to the sloping ground and clay soil, I live in an arboreal rain forest. To start, I have bought 2 Greenstalks, one a 5 level original, the other a 7 level leaf. I intend to grow these on my uncovered deck, then at night or during bad rain storms, roll them under my covered, screen porch. I will probably also start a few plastic totes for some root vegetables. Additional complication, wildlife, all kinds from bears, to mountain lions, panthers, bobcats, boars, lots of deer, rabbits, possums, raccoons, snakes, etc. I would like to create composting areas on my slopes, so that in the next year, I could hopefully use the ground there to garden. Could you please give me any advice? I know the locals here say to never plant until after Mother’s Day. It’s zone 7A.

[@tracyjuechter8554]

I bought a box that would supposed aerate the compost and have gotten very little compost over the years. I did better when I just had it on the ground with a screen over it. I don't have a much room in my current yard so I'm collecting ideas. Looking forward to video 2. Thanks for helping!

[@GardensThatMatter]

Hi Tracy. Not sure which box you purchased, but I do know that many of the products sold out there that claim to make better compost are not very good. Gardening (supplies) is a multi-million dollar a year industry and companies are always looking to tap into the market with gadgets. We agree that just a simple pile on the ground is usually better than some of the products out there. Simple is usually better in all things in life, right? After you watch Video 2, let us know what you think of the wire bins we use and show you how to make. We have had great success with wire bins and we like them because they are cheap (we can make 8 bins with one 100 ft roll). Since you don't have much space, you wouldn't need a big roll, but one bin would be cheap and it only takes up about 9-10 square feet ( a little more because you need room to maneuver around it). We also like wire because it allows for plenty of air and when it's life span is finished, it can be recycled with other metals. And wire can be found at almost any big box store, some feed stores and garden centers, or ordered online. Let us know what you think. If you don't think it will work, we can help you brainstorm other ideas for your space.

[@jewellgalligani693]

just starting to learn how to compose,anxious

[@GardensThatMatter]

No need for anxiety Jewell. You can do it.

[@irenesiw]

First Story: My "new" gardening story: A few years after being married we finally moved into a stand-alone house with a large backyard area for a garden. Also, there was a strip of garden between garage and sidewalk, and in the front yard a high-walled flower bed. (I'd grown up with "victory gardens" as a kid but knew only basics, ie. lettuce in a flower pot, onions in another, etc.) So I get busy and don't want to waste my scraps so start to compost all by myself.....well, I had fun there: I grew potatoes!! ::)) Beside the garage I had a successful bed of gladioli!! and the front flower bed grew well ---but only any and all Yellow flowers!! but I was okay with it. I felt successful for my very first try and loved the produce from the garden, included the beloved broccoli (the only thing I couldn't seem to be rid of in broccoli was the cutworms!! I even soaked it in brine before cooking, and still there'd be the greenie fellow fall onto the plate.. Ugh!! However, I loved it all.

[@XRanger30X]

amazing. Thanks and God bless

[@irenesiw]

#2: Moved to a trailer park that was placed in an old farm field....hard pan yard, no trees, no dirt, some kind of grass. This home was quite temporary so I planted a very tiny garden in the ditch alongside the trailer park! Was successful in having a small return of potatoes and onions. After we moved I'm sure there was an abundant supply of wild onions!! This ditch was growing nothing when I started..no grass and no weeds, I added nothing but good seed and was pleased with some harvest.

[@takundahellenzvaita3348]

thank you so much. I'm starting my own garden would like to go organic as much as possible. both for food and flowers. Thank you

[@elisegoose]

great info, thanks! we just have a plastic bucket [2-gallon size i think] with a handle and lid, sitting on the kitchen counter for compost. being a family of 2 adults + 2 kids (and we make fresh juice daily plus cook at home), we usually fill it in one day. i don't put any paper products in there, but wetness isn't a problem since it hasn't rained in 2 months, and won't for another 2. yeah, my hubby put one of those 'compostable' containers he got from a restaurant in the compost once... i took one look at it and put it in the trash - i could tell that no way was that going to break down any time soon, lol.

[@samikent5422]

Thanks for this wonderful resource. Very helpful. Much love and respect from Turkey.

[@GardensThatMatter]

You are welcome. Thanks for watching. 💕

[@carrentliyu]

Why do I want to compost? -To save money from buying compost outside -to use all the kitchen scraps,which we have a LOT . Hehe -to have a happy garden=3 What benefits are most important to me? -improve soil structure -adds life to soil - reduces wastes What kind of garden will you grow? -vegetable,fruits ,herbs and flowers. Btw,thank you so much for the tips!:" >

[@SAMMIsLIFE]

Love this video! It was so informative and helpful, i took so many screenshots 😆 lol. I mainly wanna compost so i dont have to waste food (most kitchen scraps ill give to my pet rats, but some stuff like onion skins, banana peels, nut shells, egg shells, etc, they cant eat but i still dont wanna waste those things), and so ill have soil for my garden! I have yet to make a garden because buying soil is expensive, and the soil in my yard isnt nutrient enough to plant straight into the ground. So composting will be an awesome way of adding some nutrients back into the soil! Ive been wanting to start composting, but we have wild rats and mice outside and ive been worried about them feasting on the scraps. Ive also been a little overwhelmed, but this video helps a lot! Thank you!

[@GardensThatMatter]

Great. So glad we could help. We do have another video with tips on how to keep rodents out of your compost system. Here's a link if you haven't seen it yet. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aGqtfKqhpceSe9k Are you sure your yard isn't nutrient enough to plant into? Have you had a soil test? One thing I would do before starting a garden is get a soil test. A soil test will tell you the composition of your soil and what nutrients it is deficient in (and not). Compost is great and will definitely improve your soil, but bringing your soil into nutrient balance first will make compost more effective in the long run. Compost will improve organic matter percentage, add microorganisms, and a whole host of other things, but won't completely solve your soil's problem if it is deficient in certain nutrients or key trace minerals. For example, we were having black spots (hollow hearts) in our potatoes. We thought we did everything right and our soil was good (it had tons of homemade compost). We couldn't figure it out. A friend who farms near us told us that we may have a boron deficiency (soils in our area are known to be boron deficient). A soil test confirmed, and we added plain old household borax (very cheap) and voila, the hollow hearts in potatoes were gone the next year. And it was a very simple trace mineral that couldn't be solved by our awesome compost. By soil test, I do not mean home test kits from garden centers. They tell you very little. I mean a professional test by a lab. Often these are free (or low cost) from your county Ag Extension Service. You can google your county's Ag service and contact info for how to obtain a kit (and instructions on how to send it in). You are right, buying soil is expensive and often when you buy soil from a garden center or big box store, that soil doesn't have nutrients in it either or it is not native soil to your area. If possible, you want to work with your native soil. And often, soil can be transformed by a few inexpensive items. Just a suggestion if you haven't ever done it before. We get a soil test every couple of years just to make sure we aren't deficient in anything (like boron) and that we are not adding anything we don't need and the right amount of things we do need. And, when our soil is in balance, the compost does its magic.

[@joser.castillo1218]

Hi! What kind of flowers are those on your table? And please make videos for how to grow flowers please, I’ve been trying from seedlings with no success.. thank you!

[@GardensThatMatter]

Hi Jose. The flowers are zinnias. There is one purple flower that is a salvia. We are not experts at growing flowers, but maybe we will do a video. We mainly grow them intermixed with our vegetables to provide a little beauty and something to eat for the pollinators and other wildlife. Most of the flowers we grow are best to direct sow rather than transplant seedlings and are native to our area. Sorry you haven't had much success. . .but keep trying. You'll get it. Thanks for watching and for reaching out. Happy Gardening.

[@janpeterson21]

Thanks for all the valuable information, I want to compost for my garden as well as reduce waste. Im a newby at this so I always end up with questions no matter how much I learn! I live in a condo and asked our landscaper for some yard clippings on the day he came, and he was nice enough to give me a bag full! But now I’m wondering if the weed spray he used on the grass will be bad for my compost. I have a harder time finding the browns than the greens!

[@marytfraser]

I've composted off and on over the years, my Dad taught me as a kid. We've been living in Texas in a city so dealt with little shade, heat and drought. Now we live in central east Virginia and it's a new ballgame. I need the tranquility, health, sustainable benefits of edible gardening with pollinators and natural beauty of the area around the family farm

[@GardensThatMatter]

I love this. My husband is from West Texas, where did you live? We also lived in New Mexico for 10 years before moving to North Carolina. We agree, it's a whole new ballgame. Rain is such a valuable thing, that sometimes we take it for granted. But anyone who has tried gardening in the southwest (or anywhere that suffers drought), knows how difficult it is without water. We feel blessed now to live and garden in a place that provides enough water, which then provides more life. I love that you are thinking about pollinators and sustainable gardening. Warm wishes.

[@marytfraser]

@@GardensThatMatter we lived near Fort Hood, Leander and Pfulgerville for 26 years. I used the keyhole gardening method after a friend from Odessa told me about it.

[@susanwaterworth5622]

I want to build a raised bed and grow sweet potatoes, which aren't available in Uzbekistan where I live. I also want to grow hot peppers that aren't available here, and some herbs. I'm sure I'll think of more! Thank you for your thorough and informative explanations. This is so helpful.

[@shelbygraves8296]

Just found your channel! I also am from WNC!! Love this!

[@RandWFarmstead-TonyWalsh]

I learned a lot from this, thank you for sharing. Now on to video #2.

[@juliaset751]

I’m just starting out, but you seem to have the best advice and least BS that I have seen so far.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thank you Julia for watching and your comment. We agree their is a lot of BS out there. We try our best to deliver info as straight forward and honestly as we can based on our own knowledge and experience. That is not to say that we are perfect and the only ones providing value to those wanting to learn. But we do try to maintain integrity and keep the BS to a minimum. We are happy to have you among our viewer community and we wish you the best in your composting and/or gardening journey. Keep us informed of your progress.

[@brianventura4519]

great video for beginners well done, these days I stop at random places around town to collect materials. the other day I stopped on the side of the road after picking up the kids from school to collect leaves and pine needles!!

[@GardensThatMatter]

Awesome Brian. When we lived in New Mexico before moving to North Carolina, we often had a particular route home from work where we could always find bags of leaves on the side of the road. We also had some friends and neighbors that would call us when there leaves were bagged and ready for pickup. Trash bags full of treasure.

[@alfredjohnson5647]

rhanks for ypur concern for our garden

[@rollotumasi3879]

Gardens That Matter Does it matter what trees the leaves come from?

[@rollotumasi3879]

No-Dig Garden Thank you!

[@GardensThatMatter]

@@rollotumasi3879 For compost for your prized tomatoes, you might want to avoid leaves like walnut and eucalyptus that have allelopathic (plant-growth-suppressing) compounds in them. A "better safe than sorry" precaution. That said, even those compounds and tough, waxy leaves (like pine needles) will break down in your compost pile!

[@louiselknight1012]

just starting out always wanted to see how it is done great video

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thanks.

[@bonniecarlstrom6014]

Great presentation!!

[@twli]

very helpful, thanks

[@hijinx841]

I have a plastic bin with vent holes. I turn it periodically. Yesterday I saw a maggot crawling on the outside of it. Hmm... I am growing a wild garden for butterflies and bees along with tomatoes. I`ve found and transplanted 5 common milkweeds that the Monarchs love , some Goldenrod and Queen Ann`s Lace/wild carrot. I`m very interested in starting a open mesh bin which I think will be easier to turn and get more air. I want to thank you for sharing and I shared this on my Facebook page.

[@Mathc1111]

wow!!!! best video on compost I've seen so far so much work on details and information, thank you so much for creating such a great resource. :)

[@GardensThatMatter]

You're welcome. And thank you. Glad you found it useful. Happy Gardening.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

What a Beautiful video

[@jmsl910]

direct & no-nonsense very good video. ty

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thanks Julia.

[@NCRoots2011]

Awesome video, love the way you explain things, your words are visual. Moved into a new home to us. 1/2 acre flat with zero trees in Central NC. My dream come true. Compost, vegetables, herbs, fruit trees and of course chickens. Hope you make many more videos.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thank you Dianne. We have several video ideas in the works. We also have several video courses on our website. Gardensthatmatter.com Good luck with your new home and garden. You can grow a lot of food on a 1/2 acre!

[@kymgentry-peck6261]

Great video! I currently have one of those barrel-type composting bins, and one side has been going for 5 months. It is super wet, I don't think it is right. Am starting another pile now. I want a garden to feed my family and to be a welcome place to hangout. Just moved to Hawaai and am experimenting...

[@GardensThatMatter]

Great Kym. In your super wet bin, you may just need to add some dry brown material (like leaves) to balance out the moisture. We garden for the same reasons you want to . . . to feed our family and have a good place to hang out. We have 3 young boys and they love helping (and playing) in the garden. Good luck with your gardening in Hawaii. And thanks for watching our video. Hope you get a chance to watch the next 2 in the Quick Start to Composting series. Happy Gardening.

[@irenesiw]

#4: I have started a compost in a hole in some dirt and keep adding scraps. I learned NOT to use manure after observing on animal farms with manure that that is where the thistles grow in abundance!! I have enjoyed your videos, Amy, on compost and now these years with internet there is an abundance of help a 'click' away. THANK YOU!

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thank you irenesiw for your comments. I love your thoughts about clotheslines. We used to use a clothesline when we lived in New Mexico, but haven't got one up since moving to North Carolina. You inspire me to get one up though. It rains a lot here, though, so I have to remember to pull in the clothes. We didn't have to worry about that much in NM. Happy to hear about your new farm, too and hope you get to plant this summer. You sound happy in your new place. Warm wishes.

[@cristinam8600]

This was a wonderful video. Thank you for sharing. I am always trying to learn more about compost (I'm always forgetting some detail) and your delivery of the information was so skilled.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thank you. Don't get too hung up on the details. The important thing is you are making the effort. Good luck and Happy Gardening.

[@MaryKarleeMullen]

We moved from a city that had city composting. Now that we have the space, I’d like to grow a garden.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Hi Mary. Glad you stopped in to our channel. Love that you'd like to grow a garden (and sounds like you'd like to do your own composting). Hope you enjoy our Quick Start to Composting videos. Have you watched all 3 parts yet? If you need more support in composting or growing your first garden, we have a new community platform that hosts all our classes, weekly content and a forum for support and inspiration from other gardeners. Best part, its ad free and focused. We'd love to see you there. We can be found at www.gardensthatmatter.mn.co If a community platform is not for you, no worries. We will still post videos on this channel and you can find lots of great gardening info all across KZbin.

[@roellacandula9297]

Very informative, thanks for sharing.

[@kevinfleharty9393]

Hello, I have been burying horse poop in approx 6 foot + deep trench’s and filling until full then I will cover with dirt, dig my next trench and start the process over. I decided to build a garden and thinking my buried material would be a positive addition to my raised garden beds . So that I am doing this correctly , should I be mixing dirt with my horse waste when I fill my trench? and what kid of timeline should it be before I go to retrieve “ready to use” contents? I have already uncovered a trench , probably 5 years old, and spread into my beds. I find small bugs coming along for the ride to my garden, what do you suggest to eliminate the pests? If there is a utube site that offers specific info on my personal process just let me know. Than you, Kevin

[@GardensThatMatter]

Hi Kevin. Yes, the buried horse poop will be a valuable addition to raised beds, especially if you are leaving them in the soil for 5 years. We don't go the trouble of burying our horse poop. We just make big piles in the pasture and let them sit, turning them every so often (with the tractor). We usually let ours sit in the pasture for a year or two, depending on how long it takes for it to turn to compost. The turning is the key for us (mixes the material, adds a flush of air, and unpacks any compacted material). We have never tried burying horse poop in trenches, but I am confident it will work well. Mixing with soil probably isn't necessary. To make compost, you are trying to mix carbon rich brown material with nitrogen rich green material. Horse poop is nitrogen rich green and the hay that comes out in the poop is carbon rich brown. I would say just keep an eye on how much hay is mixed. In our pasture, we scoop the extra hay left on the ground from the feeding ring and add to the pile with poop so that we have a good mix of green and brown. Here's what you really have to be careful of though with using horse poop compost in your garden. If the horses have been eating hay, the hay always has seeds in it and you really need for your pile to heat up (hot composting) to kill off seeds. It's usually a little better if the horses are only eating fresh grass, but hay is hard to kill off all the seeds. And the seeds will sprout in your garden if the compost is added. Even burying the horse poop in a trench for five years may not kill off the seeds if the material in the trench is getting hot enough. Compost needs to get to temps of around 140 degrees for several consecutive days to kill off seeds. We check our piles in the pasture with a compost thermometer and when the pile cools off, that's when we turn it. When you turn it, it mixes the greens and browns up, adds air (which is essential for the bacteria that is responsible for decomposition to survive), and allows you to check the moisture (the bacteria need water too). Eventually, after several turns, the pile in our pasture will not heat up anymore, and the material starts to look like compost. Now we let it sit and wait, only turning occasionally when it looks like the material is too dry or too wet from rain. The pile will start to shrink to about a 1/3 of its original size. That's when we know its almost ready. But we let our pasture compost sit much longer than our compost in our bins. The next thing you mentioned was about the bugs. The bugs are not pests. They are decomposers too. Worms, beetles, pill bugs, and many other bugs are part of the decomposition process. Once the compost is finished and you move it to the garden, many of the bugs will move on to find food, or they will get eaten by birds. If the bugs were in the soil, they are not harmful to your plants. In fact, many are beneficial because they help break down material in your soil and they leave behind their waste, which is good for your soil. So I wouldn't try to eliminate them. Sorry, such a long comment. It's hard to explain in few words. I do not know of other KZbin videos specifically on this subject. We do have a video on composting horse manure, but it does not involve burying the manure. I will link to it anyway, it might help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jYC3poltZteLhsU Good luck with your garden beds and composting journey. I will reach out if I think of any useful resources for your particular situation.

[@kentucker6429]

Great video. I always wanted to get started with composting but was never sure how to start. My main reason would be that I live in south texas where my yard is mostly sandy loom. Blackjack oaks, pine trees, and walnut trees do great out here. Also, grass spurs. The spurs/stickers are a pain.... However, they do not grow good in good soil. The sandy soil does not hold a lot of nutritions. I would like to put in a yard. I notice on my 3.2 acres we have a lot of trees and we cut up the oak leaves with the mower. The ground is backed more, without so many stickers, about an acre of it out front. I got rid of a lot of the stickers with a chemical in the back yard about half an acre, but it looks like a beach. I call it a war zone. Also, we have cutter ants, but I'm just about got them licked as well. I would like to use the composting for growing more trees and putting is some kind of yard. Composting for about 2 acres. What do you think. No I can't move. lol....

[@GardensThatMatter]

Hi Ken. My husband Colby is from West Texas and we used to live in New Mexico, so we know your pain with stickers. We use to battle goat heads but never could win the war. Our kids couldn't even play outside barefooted and the stickers always hitched a ride into the house on our shoes. Frustrating. We were able to control them a little bit in our garden with sheet mulching, compost, and cover crops, but we did have to do a great bit of hand pulling. You probably can control them with a yard of some sort (thick grass can smother them out somewhat) but in South Texas, thick grass is a challenge because of lack of consistent rain. Compost will help. Adding organic matter to change the composition of your sandy soil will help other species to grow and isn't as desirable for stickers. If you have access to a water source, cover crops might be a great thing to plant first, before putting in a yard. Cover crops help add organic matter, nutrients, and soil structure, and might help drown out the stickers. And cover crops grow fast, and take little hands on management to grow. But goat heads and other stickers are pesky persistent little cusses and getting rid of them for good won't be an easy task. Here is a link to our cover crop video here on youtube in case you haven't seen it. We use cover crops to prepare our garden beds, but it might be a good technique for you to start a yard. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hpmniXaYrbyHppo Good luck to you Ken. And thanks for your story and question.

[@charbella]

What a very informative series! I've always wanted to make my own Compost to use in my red NC dirt to enhance my soil and benefit my flowers. BUT, my husband and I live full time in an RV park. So I'm short on space and want to make sure I can keep whatever I put it in neat and NOT smelly or attracting unwanted critters from visiting. Since I don't really have a 'yard' is this something I can still accomplish? Thanks

[@jenrasmuson4372]

I'm moving to Alaska in May where the soil are typically inert and glacial, requiring complete soil building. I look forward to using your composting techniques to build my garden from scratch. All I have to do now is find the land! ;-D I'm doing my research way in advance so I feel prepared when I get there.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Alaska. Wow. Brrrrr. Let us know how it goes.

[@charleschimfwembe5528]

Good and very explicit.I'll follow your other videos.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thanks Charle. Glad to have you as part of our community. Happy Gardening.

[@lindseyhellwig7887]

We live on clay soil and want to garden. I love garden therapy. Hoping to grow food my family wants to eat, and maybe grow beautiful flowers that I can enjoy, too! I also have three boys (9,10 and 13). I hope to encourage eating more green and colorful things by investing in growing our own.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Good for you Lindsey. Encouraging more green and colorful things does work better when you grow yourself. Everything just tastes better than what you can get at the store. One thing that has worked for us with 3 boys is having their input from the very beginning, letting them choose some of the things we will grow. We even gave each boy their own small growing space. One boy loves cherry tomatoes, so his bed grows those. One boys loves butterflies, so he has milkweed and other pollinator flowers in his, and one boy loves our cat and wanted to grow catnip for the cat. The cat loves that garden bed. Everybody is involved. We too live on clay soil. Sometimes it can be a challenge but it is so worth it. Compost helps a lot. If you are interested, our introduction to gardening classes are free right now. We wanted to help our gardening community during the pandemic, so we offered some classes. It was supposed to end March 31 but we've extended free access. Here's a link to our course page. Use the coupon GROWJOY at checkout. gardensthatmatter.com/shop The only course not available for free is Foundations of A Happy Garden, which is our advanced class on soil building. Let us know how else we can support you (and your garden). Happy Gardening.

[@aliciahunt4619]

I am an architecture student in California. I am researching composting to implement it into a project I am working on this quarter designing a home for the 21st century. I believe that the 21st century is pushing architects in a more sustainable direction. In school we are taught to plan for solar and even water collection yet no one is pushing us to reduce waste. As developers we are responsible for a ton of waste in building materials and carbon emissions i think implementing things like composting into single family homes and making it easier for people to do at home will help reduce emissions and help save our planet!

[@helenaponte3661]

Thank you so very much for creating this such informative video. This so easy video helps beginners like me!!!! I want to compost for my first Wildflower / pollinator garden. Friends are also growing veggies and other flowers... so that would help them as well!

[@GardensThatMatter]

Hi Helen. So glad we could help with your composting journey. In case you are interested, our introductory garden classes are free right now. We have a class called "How to Grow a Pollinator Cafe". It might be right up your alley. Here's a link to our class page. Https://gardensthatmatter.com/shop At checkout, use the code GROWJOY to get free access. Whether or not you take our class, we are so happy to hear that you are starting a wildflower/pollinator garden. Pollinators are in decline and their survival depends on more gardens and places of habitat. Warm wishes from Gardens That Matter.

[@gp8383]

I love this video ❤🎉😊

[@janeyng3785]

Wow ... we are starting composting in our community garden ... very good video guidelines for us tqvm for sharing.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Excellent Janey. Best wishes to all your community gardeners. Let us know how it goes.

[@viviangonzalez177]

hello i am learning since i am stuck at home with this epidemic and making myself busy, my mother has a compost but she does not check it all the time so i figure make my own

[@24get24give]

I would like to know more about permaculture, I don't see a class for his on your site, or a video on youtube, can you provide more info on this?, I am disabled, so I must use a raised garden planters and only have an apartment balcony to garden on for right now, but I am eager to grow as much as possible on it! subscribed and thanks for all the great info on this, can't wait for more

[@GardensThatMatter]

Hi Lisa. Thanks for reaching out. Currently, we do not have a course or any videos on the subject of permaculture. We try to incorporate its principles in our garden and in our videos. We have been thinking about doing a course on it, but it is a big task. But who knows, maybe we will someday. What I can recommend to you today is one of my favorite books on permaculture. It is called Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. As the name implies, it focuses on home scale permaculture and makes the principles of permaculture relatable to backyard growers and those that grow in small areas. Sorry I don't have a link for you but the book is available on Amazon and through other outlets. It is a truly delightful read and it will give you a better introduction to permaculture than I can. Hope this helps. Thank you for watching and subscribing to our channel. We hope you are safe and healthy during this crazy time.

[@ciudadtingson7467]

Thank you maam you are great☺

[@aubreymaxie3446]

Just started composting for about 3 months now. All I have in the my pin are white short worms. No red worms. Is that common? What should I be doing to get the red worms? Thanks for the video!

[@halflife82]

Great video! Question for you. What about all vegetable peelings from the grocery store? Aren’t these covered in pesticides and herbicides that will be transferred to the compost? I’m confused why no one ever mentions this about compost.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Good Question. It is true that fruit and vegetable peelings can transfer pesticides and herbicides into your compost. In fact, some pesticides and herbicides can penetrate the peel or skin of a fruit or vegetable and appear in the flesh that you eat. That is why it is important to buy (or grow) organic produce. But sometimes even organic produce isn't 100% clean. The rules around "grocery store" organics is fuzzy. Even if it is grown organically, fungicides are often sprayed on produce after it is harvested before being shipped and stored to prevent mold. Washing produce thoroughly before peeling will usually remove this residue, but my advice is to buy organic and buy local and, when possible, grow your own.

[@lisawalters5482]

I want to compost for the rich nutrients it will add to my vegetable garden as well as my flower gardens. Tfs. 👏🏼

[@GardensThatMatter]

Us too, Lisa. Rich nutrients and organic matter.

[@tiffany7023]

I read a comment on a completely different channel that said cutting up rotten/old tomatoes and flushing them down the toilet is great for your septic system. As is baking yeast, and good bacteria rich foods like spoiled milk or old yogurt.

[@joysanders9315]

Thank you. And, yes, I do live in Sacramento, CA.

[@hanstimmermans468]

We just hired a garden of 300 m2 close to an old forest. The garden has been left 3 years ago and we are restoring things., So we have a lot of waste that is perfect to compost. We will grow flowers, some vegetables and some fruits. P{art of the garden will be grass / lawn to sit, think and paint.. I started building a thre box compost-system, one of the boxes is now filled with 1 m3 with a compositing mix of earth, grass, kitchen scraps and some wood. Temp is no 58 Celcius and it smells so very good :-)

[@GardensThatMatter]

That sounds great Hans. Good luck with your restoration.

[@unpatonot1]

Great job! Thank you!

[@smu23749]

This is so great thank you !!!!

[@briankane6547]

I got a fair crop of wheat, fed the birds in autumn, from the straw I used while building my raised bed(s).

[@happyfamily8624]

wow I like your Idea my friend

[@lisamachado9230]

Great video! Beginner here! Awesome info.

[@GardensThatMatter]

Thanks Lisa. Beginning composter? or Beginning Gardener? or Both? Actually, how about Aspiring instead of Beginner?

[@rachelospina7212]

I want to start composting because I hate waste and putting grass clippings and leaves into plastic bags to send to a landfill is just unconscionable to me. I also want to grow my own fresh food and herbs for cooking healthy home grown meals and would love to try my hand at flowers, especially those that are beneficial to birds, butterflies, and bees. So many reasons to get started! This video was incredibly helpful and has me energized to get ready for the spring. I may even go nab my neighbors leaves, we only have pine needles in our yard. Can pine cones go into the compost?

[@GardensThatMatter]

Yay Rachel. That is awesome to hear. We agree, leaves in the landfill is just crazy. Go grab your neighbor's leaves. Offer to provide them with bucket, and they might save their veggie peals, egg shells and coffee grounds too. You can reward them this summer with fresh flowers, home grown tomatoes, or fresh herbs from your garden. Win Win. If you are just finding us, I would love to invite you to our website where you can dig in a little deeper. www.gardensthatmatter.com And if you are new to growing, we have just put our beginner gardening class on sale for early spring. It is called "Start Your First Garden". Here is a link to our spring classes. www.gardensthatmatter.com/shop So happy you found our channel, and I wish you the best this spring with your garden. Don't hesitate to reach out if we can be of service. Happy Gardening.

[@robinyasinow2789]

Thank you for this series! It's very well thought out and understandable. I love your vintage photos and passion for sustainable living.

[@ezyjack826]

great series. downloaded your "INS AND OUTS OF COMPOSTING" reference guide. do you have a reference guide showing examples of brown/green items? ty

[@GardensThatMatter]

Actually I do have a brown/green reference and it even shows the C:N ratio of common items. It can be downloaded from our Pinterest Board on composting. Here's a link: www.pinterest.com/gardensthat/composting-for-beginners/ The infographic is called The Characteristics of Compost Ingredients. If you don't have a Pinterest account (and don't want to get one) let me know and I will figure out another way to get it to you. It's not one that we have links to in any of our youtube videos and I don't think it is anywhere on our blog. It is actually an infographic from my ebook The Happy Garden Guide to Composting www.gardensthatmatter.com/happy-garden-guide-composting/ Thanks for asking and for watching our videos.

[@saronsaron7860]

I like she explain everything.thumbs up

[@dannydrummond225]

Is using diversified greens in compost important? If I use 30 different greens in my compost and "Joe" just uses grass clippings, is the end product identical if it were to be tested at a lab?