18-Day Fast Compost [PDC Preview]

Geoff's Permaculture Design Course - PDC 2.0 is now LIVE. To register, head here:
www.discoverpermaculture.com/...
Soil rehabilitation is a major subject in the Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course. Here’s a sample animation from the course covering the 18-Day Berkeley method of composting. Blackboard sections of the course are followed by animations like this one to go deeper into the specifics of the topics being covered.
Video Overview:
The tools necessary include a pitchfork, a hard rake, and a water-proof cover. The materials to be composted are things that have lived before, assembled in a carbon to nitrogen ratio of ideally 25-30 parts carbon to one part nitrogen. Anything with a carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of 30-50 to one is high carbon and slow to break down. These items should be shredded to increase surface area. Anything less than 30:1 doesn’t need to be shredded and will break down quickly.
Piles should be composed of one-third shredded high carbon material, one-third powdered manure, and one-third finely cut green material, with a total of one cubic meter at a minimum. It should be pitchforked together one material at a time while being watered. An activator, one to two liters in size, can be placed in the middle of the heap, and this can include chopped up comfrey, fish, an animal body, urine, and/or good compost. It should be covered and left for four days, at which time the pile will just be warming.
Then, it should be turned and covered with the moisture level such that, when squeezed very firmly, it will just drip. It can then be turned every other day, with days six to eight being the hottest. At this time, it should be uncomfortable to hold a hand inside it. 55-60 degrees Celsius is the ideal temperature. When cooler on the outside, it means its too dry, or when hotter on the outside, it is too wet. From day eight, it will begin to cool, and at day 18, it should be warm, dark brown, and the same size, and it should have an earthy smell and fine particles.
If the compost doesn't get hot, first check if it is big enough: one-cubic meter, 1.5 meters high. If it is big enough, the moisture level should be checked next. If this is okay, it might be that the carbon material isn’t cut up finely enough. If all is well with these things, add more nitrogen and allow for two more days. If it heats up too quickly, loses volume, smells bad, and has white threads and powder through it, then the nitrogen content is too high, so carbon material should be added, along with two more days.
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About Geoff:
Geoff is a world-renowned permaculture consultant, designer and teacher. He has established permaculture demonstration sites that function as education centres in all the world’s major climates - information on the success of these systems is networked through the Permaculture Research Institute and the www.permaculturenews.org website.
About Permaculture:
Permaculture (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permacu...) integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies - imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems. Permaculture applies holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts and at any scale. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics and community development.
#compost #sustainable #permaculture

[@pauldelapena456]

Amazing tutorial!!! No trevias, no adds, no dramas, just pure, clear, straightforward tutorial goodness. With precise details and trobleshoot instructions. You are amazing.

[@sharonhoffer3599]

WOW, amazing video, thank you. A masterclass from GL, what a gift. And done in such a clear and concise way. Definitely saving this one 🤩

[@TheWeedyGarden]

You explainations are the best I have seen on KZbin🙏

[@thereseeksteen1290]

I agree! Precise.

[@essenelight6361]

2 of my favorite. Also Plant abundance & Green Dreams.

[@MaxIQ77]

So incredibly satisfied after turning my compost for the first time today. 😊

[@mrdeanvincent]

I've watched dozens of videos on composting and this is by far the most informative one I've found. Thanks again Geoff! Always a wealth of useful knowledge!

[@paulnewtonshandle]

Bloody fantastic tutorial mate, clear, concise, and screenshotable info for my forgetful memory. Just earned a new sub bud. Thank you.

[@okitasan]

Most straightforward and legible guide I’ve seen. Keep up the good work on these well produced videos! They work wonders for accessibility and getting the message out!

[@rogerbeck5704]

Just what I've been looking for. Straight forward and simplified. Thank you!

[@user-yi7tb5vm5r]

Thank you Geoff for all your amazing work! Kind regards from Aegina island - Greece!!

[@thegr8stm8m8]

Thanks m8!...wonderful. Very clear and concise... Good luck with all your programs...

[@odnewdylee]

Thank you for sharing all that you do.

[@bethatz252]

Thanks for explaining the compost process in easy to understand manner. It was perfect.

[@hughstinnette1771]

Excellent! The best explanation I’ve ever heard.

[@jpblitz2104]

This is insane. Just getting the bins ready at the allotment and will try this one with existing materials. Many thanks for this tutorial!

[@dhiman047]

Thank You, its simple, descriptive and worth sharing

[@luciferenbach5075]

It’s amazing quality! I have to watch a few times and take class notes, thank you so much for the teaching! It saves so much time and mistakes…

[@gee3883]

You'r a diamond mate, I so need this at the moment.

[@Su-du7pm]

I met you just today and I am impressed. So clear and useful. Thank you very much. Greetings from the south of Chile

[@fionahenry4592]

Fantastic, so glad I found this thank you!

[@MarlonVanderLinde]

Awesome primer on fast compost. I am dumbstruck. Thanks so much Geoff.

[@internetcitizen4289]

this is gold. ty so much for making it public! :)) actually better than gold when i think about it :o

[@jacobopstad5483]

Cool! I'm gonna try this straightaway.

[@DJ-uk5mm]

Brilliant summary

[@cumbrianhomestead]

What a great video!👍. thank you so much for sharing this

[@Sm0k4dee]

THANK YOU! NOW i get it...i never understood how this 25:1 ratio goes...the next part with 1/3 of...is all i need to know :)

[@thejezjourney]

Can't get any clearer than that really. Great video

[@lululangford]

Brilliant 101! Great job.

[@FaisalKhan-jg6kg]

Clearest compost video so far

[@kiaszanfarm9256]

Thanks for the tips, would try.

[@vlc9513]

God bless you man! Such clear and precise information. A big thank you! Even though i don't have a garden yet...😅

[@TSis76]

Thank you!!

[@1rstjames]

I've taken your pdc and am nearing completion of my pdc submission. I'm also finishing up Dr. Elaine Ingham's sfw course. Both of your messages call out to me. I'd like to experiment with both your teachings on the 'composting' topic, with a control, on my site. I'm sorting out total sqft for this project, and locations (to run similar trials throughout the landscape, at varying slope angles and elevations). Can't wait to have an infrastructure on site to capitalize off of volunteers. 😁 It's been difficult to maintain either of your teachings on this, due to the variables at play on my site since acquisition this past fall. I'm almost at the point where we can start etching out landscaping on/off level/off level contours (with permeable roads), carving out a descending/ascending labyrinths amidst edible, drought and fire resistant vegetation and gourmet mushroom bundles (with gravity and solar powered aquaculture, and all of the vegetation intertwined with aquaculture systems). At heart, I love your designs and 18-day compost pile guidelines. Interspersing compost piles on-site, parallel and perpendicular to contours, via earthworks, stacked with 4 dimensional potential...you're the obvious winner vs Dr. Elaine, 😂. But, then comes the Dr. It takes alot to earn the title Dr., and loads of repetitive tasks to write papers and have verifiable results based on variable conditions that are scientifically documented, and proven accurate, via repeatable microscopy results. It also takes alot to just 'do' it and not 'worry' so much. Under a microscope, Dr. Elaine appears to be the winner, though? Actinomycetes? I'm not sure which of you wins. Her arguments that they are non-beneficial microbes, on the grounds that they favor anaerobic conditions, with anaerobic microbes being the protagonist of 'THE' breeding ground bad bugs for bad homo sapien pathogens. You once told me that I should aim to eat my compost. I understand what you meant. Dr. Elaine mentions aiming to drink your compost tea. You both have valid points. If I let nature take the draconian aspects out of the beginning stages of composting, then control the pile better once 18-day composting starts, is that not what the Dr. professes? That fresh manure should be aged prior to applying to a biocomplete compost pile. That any manure can transit pathogens to you, your pets, livestock, and native habitats? Is 'that' what nature 'does'? Doesn't nature just shit anywhere it wants?

[@art4freak795]

What your thoughts on adding wood or grass ashes

[@js4540]

Thanks much Geoff good on you, always look forward to your videos and what you teach us.

[@tobysydney1411]

Hi Geoff, love your videos, just getting into Permaculture it has blown my min. What are your thoughts on Johnson Su Bioreactor to make fungally dominant compost? Does turning chicken compost disrupt bacteria and fungi? Cheers Toby

[@spaideman7850]

gold information.

[@joem1629]

should it be covered for the first 4 days only then left uncovered after that?

[@marianoalippi5226]

You are fun with a lot of talent, this is an incredible big inspiration, i would really like to see a lot of Clean Tech, all the industrial process has to be sustantiable, it is perfect if you can use a lot of motion graphics audiovisual art, animation traditional animation and digital too.

[@pichalko01]

Hi. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I'm about to buy some tarps. I don't have enough money to waste them. So my question is. What's the best size of tarp for 1m³ of compost. Thank you for any response.

[@CITYBORNDESERTBRED]

Great infographic Geoff! 👍🏾

[@sanwinchester8700]

Hello, I have a shelter for dogs and the poop is something I want to compost, do you recommend using this method or should I foresee something? My dogs have a diet of 70% vegetables, greetings from Bolivia.

[@CeEn20metros]

Awesome

[@erin2868]

Can you substitiute anything for manure? I do not have that.

[@madhyapramarta8189]

What is the best compost?? Worm compost, aerobic bac. compost or anaerobic bac. compoat? Thank you for always giving us the knowledge especially for free... god bless u

[@ivan55599]

I don't quite understand the numbers-part (from 0:50->). You've mixed both nitrogen and carbon sources into same numbers, what you are trying to tell us? It is not what is the ratio of those different materials, because next (1:47) you tell, that there must be 1/3 of each three materials (high carbon material, manure and green material). If it is just about "these high materials must be shredded, then why not just tell that, because we don't actually need those numbers?

[@Nerr006]

I'm looking for recommendations on an easy and cost effective way to shred material for composting??

[@ournewbulgarianlife4097]

Love the parts but am highly confused how to calculate the mixes.. First if you say 500:1 .. is this a mix or a thinning ratio? so is the total 501 or 499+1 .. Then, is this part volume or part weight? Do you have an easier ratio calculation that allows the calculation of (for example) how much urin do you need to add to sawdust to make the mix 30:1 .. sorry I am usually quite mathematical but here i am struggling :=)

[@dilipnilakhe5443]

I wish I was in Australia so I could meet you and get trained by you

[@hosoiarchives4858]

I've had success with this method

[@tanjowil9743]

I better run 🏃get bags of horse manure tomorrow to add to my fresh pallet compost I have just put together tonight. 👍

[@sant0sch]

Hey, thank you for that awesome tutorial. I have some questions: First, what means "fine shredded"? I have a shredder and the material I get is of course not like sawdust but like little wood chips. Second question: I have LOTS of plants (Portugal area near the ocean), that are very high in water. One of these plants is a "Aeonium". It looks like brown material, but its actually very soft and full of water. We have quite some of these plants that are high in water and grow on the surface of sand - so no deep roots but I guess, they take a lot of water from the air. Can I use them and would they be "green" material? I am still struggeling a bit with how much of what I have to use. Today I shredded more of the plants and I cannot wait to build that compost - but of course, I wanna do it as perfect as possible. :) Thx again, sant0s

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

I've always thought composting succulents would be great, have yet to try it though. I would chop up your aeoniums and throw 'em in, so their moisture content gets more evenly distributed... might want to look up their carbon to nitrogen ratio if you're following this method

[@sant0sch]

@@TheRealHonestInquiry Hey, thanks for the answer. Already did two hot composts last year with that technique. It took a bit longer than 18 days, but great results. Also with the Aeonimus! :)

[@ChrisJones-hp9ji]

does this method work regardless of the environment? I live where it is 30F or colder for a solid half of the year... can you use this method in winter? Thanks!!

[@joaogabriel3453]

Please, do and share the results with us!

[@SuperPatr]

I don’t understand sorry. So if I use urine for the nitrogen part it means that I would use 1 litre of urine and one litre of carbon that would be what ? What could be carbon ? And if I use a rag of sawdust ( sawdust would be the nitrogen??? ) I would use 500 rags of carbon like what ? What could be carbon ? Thanks.

[@DerrynEHahn-ir2jv]

Thanks Geoff. Do I need to change any of this for a compost tumbler? I’m physically challenged so can’t fork a compost pile

[@platypus6523]

Maybe buy a bulldozer

[@angelzapp]

Saludos me gustaría tener el subtítulo en español...como se haría?

[@rickobrien1583]

I take my brown leaves and place my weed eater at the bottom of a good size trash can. I fill the container half way on top of the weed eater head. I have a battery powered one so if you don't obviously have it started. I also afix a sheet of card board on the lid with a cutting to slip the handle in the middle. This prvents it from blowing up at you. Run and shred. I do the same thing with hey. Anything it can weed eat.

[@1caramarie]

I really like your idea of the cardboard, sure does solve a major problem. I will be trying it.

[@dougayers7517]

1) Do it make any sense to compost cow maneur rather than just leave it on the ground? 2) Also does compost need maneur? 3) Which is better compost, maneur, or composted maneur?

[@didier3457]

Estarán los contenidos en español, hola saludos !! Desde mexico

[@deepfuckingabundance]

This is fantastic, thank you! Is it ok to use spoiled produce from a grocery? I'm concerned any pesticide/herbicide residue would end up in my compost as the produce is not organically grown

[@1caramarie]

Okay..... I would be more worried about you buying it and eating the part that did not spoil, (if I were you). lol.

[@jonathanben-ami4116]

Can you recommend any literature on this process? A lot of things are unclear to me. What's the role of the manure here? Are there alternatives to manure? Is the pile always covered or only for the first 8 days? Can the heap get too hot? Why are we turning every 2 days? What changes if we turn it less?

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

The Rodale Book of Composting: Easy Methods for Every Gardener

[@amjadhani8929]

Why one cubic meter? Cant i start trying with a smaller pile?

[@thegr8stm8m8]

Misplaced Aussie from the Bellingen/Thora/Dorrigo region of NSW...

[@user-vr3bl9xc1c]

Можно добавить растительный уголь и получить terra preta?

[@debSilbert]

About how large are the three piles? Trying to gauge what I need to get going.

[@WoutG]

1 cubic meter divided by 3.. = how big one pile is, times three = 1 cubic meter

[@user-zu3rr6hq2c]

А можно добавлять бокаши?

[@mazo9527]

I've started my 1st pile 16 days ago with grass clippings and chopped up mixed of fresh and dried grass. day 4 to 8 seems pretty good as temperature reached abt 60+. But now day 16 it still doest look close to well done as grass pieces still can be seen (some are bright colored like dried grass). Any pointers?

[@migueltigrelazo]

Did you add enough activator?

[@mazo9527]

@@migueltigrelazo i was thinking that the nitrogen contents was pretty high itself as its pure grass and mostly fresh so i did not add in activators. Maybe that made a difference. I've some bottled and aged urine maybe its good time to put it to good use.😁 I'm also trying to moist it up as i suspect that it dried up along the turns without adding water.

[@crpth1]

@@mazo9527 - Black plastic cover does wonders in helping keep the moisture. And allow the worms and other critters come all the way to the surface. Notice in normal conditions they stay well away from the light. Meaning the outer layer is not touched (much).

[@mazo9527]

@@crpth1 i am using black tarp to cover. Indeed at first was single layer, moistures got seeps away through the ground/soil. Then i resorted to top and bottom wrap. Mayb the tarp made it too hot that not much critters spotted in it. Im suspecting the black tarp was too hot for critters and microbs to do their work. I live in Malaysia, where captured rats are killed left under the sun for a day. 😅

[@mazo9527]

It still reaches 60℃ on sunny days after 2months yet decomposition seems slow.

[@CluelessHomesteaders]

I always have problems keeping my moisture levels under control, but I keep trying...

[@falsename2285]

i open mine up to the rain 1 time per week if i get it in the forecast, if no rain. i slowly pour 1 five gallon bucket onto it after it hasnt seen rain for a week. once its been wet through like that 5 gal or rain, recover and give it about another week or little less if getting rain

[@n.a.garciafamily]

Can canned fish be used,?

[@mahmoudothmanekhelassi7405]

can I use carpentry wood shavings as brown when making compste

[@sweetvuvuzela4634]

Yes as long as it is not treated

[@falsename2285]

not pressure treated, it has arsenic and the microbes will bioaccumulate that and make it available in the soil for other organisms. for those unfamiliar with it, pressure treated is green tinted like crazy when new, older its harder to tell but it doesnt soften and partially rot the same way non treated does and when it finally does start to rot only the outer layer at a time will

[@przybyla420]

Avoid species with juglone and other allelopathic species, as a general rule

[@jbiliHacker]

10/10

[@TerraFirmaX]

2:14 I thought my eyes were seeing things. lol

[@timtomtheatombomb]

Does anyone have good recommendations for how to get everything chopped up?

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

Another commenter used weed whacker in a trash can filled halfway with a cardboard top

[@handypicker]

But where do I get nitrogen ? Nitrogen is the urine or nettles ? Sorry im an absolute noob !!

[@gillenzfluff8380]

I'm going to do a side by side test of watered down urine and lacto fermented urine as fertilizer, I have been using urine as fertilizer since I grew my first sunflowers as a boy they grew huge so I kept using it.

[@greenwood4020]

hi Gillenz Fluff. How are your comparison trials going ? I would like to hear of your results

[@Veladan]

This is fantastic. I like in a concrete jungle in Seoul with no access to manure, except human and the local government would take griim exception. Alternatives?

[@DiscoverPermaculture]

You can use high nitrogen-rich plants like peas and bean or go the hardware shop and by pelletised chicken manure fertilizer, all these will replace manure in the compost.

[@hosoiarchives4858]

How is comfrey an activator?

[@przybyla420]

Any quickly available “green” material can be an activator. Comfrey is because it rots quickly, thus quickly releasing N into the brown materials surrounding it.

[@bonzothebrown7603]

Old manure can be soaked for a day or two to soften up. But a lot of the N winds up in the soaking water.

[@DiscoverPermaculture]

Bonzo The Brown use the water to wet the pile

[@bonzothebrown7603]

@@DiscoverPermaculture Yes, it also makes a good starter for microbial broths.

[@livefromplanetearth]

+100

[@zachdunn6550]

HELP !! Is lucerne consider a green or brown composting material?

[@0xstev3]

So I should piss on the bed of compost and leaves I put in last autumn?

[@TheDao101]

um...yeah...but more than once, unless your bladder can hold nearly 2 litres! If so, you're a machine

[@DiscoverPermaculture]

Steven urine is a good activator

[@MeanOldLady]

That's what I have the hubby do - go out & pee on the compost from time to time. Don't do this if you're taking a lot of medication that could affect the critters in the pile.

[@1caramarie]

@@TheDao101 um...yeah...IF you are doing a big pile at a time. In that case, you probably have other people helping and producing more urine. Duh!

[@TheDao101]

@@1caramarie ;-)

[@1tempy]

Why don't you put it in a giant barrel shaped container that way you can just turn it to mix it? Would it be too traumatic for the things living in the soil? What if it's turned slowly but constantly? Nice video by the way good info.

[@Change-Maker]

why can't we just use grass clippings and green weeds MINUS the manure/carbon .. since it's already a great ratio of 25:1?

[@falsename2285]

you can.. typically though you wont really have enough for a cubic meter unless you have a TON of it all the time. also you will just have other things around that could be gotten rid by making awesome soil instead of landfill garbage, so mixing your veggie scraps and fruit peels and cores etc and your leaves from the yard + that perfect mix pile you mentioned and now youve got a serious sized pile and a lot more often

[@przybyla420]

You can in theory but careful of it going slimy. And your lawn drying up because you keep stealing all the clippings. The other thing is that they are difficult to store for more than a day before assembling. Bag them and the bottom goes slimy (not ideal), lay them out somewhere and they start losing N (also not ideal).

[@Change-Maker]

@@przybyla420 whats wrong if it goes slimy?

[@przybyla420]

Smelly and slimy means it’s dominated by anaerobes. A bit is fine but you want aerobic organisms because they decompose faster and produce a higher quality compost. Too many anaerobes and you start to get the potential for stinky pathogens (bad for you and your plants)

[@Change-Maker]

@@przybyla420 Thank you so much for clarifying that :)

[@lucyprevisic473]

I'm confused with the ratios at the start of the tutorial.

[@DiscoverPermaculture]

1 is nitrogen the other is carbon

[@albertalbert7958]

ratio is by weight no volume.

[@Dlowr7]

What if you don’t have access to manure?

[@itsasickness4939]

I wouldn’t get hung up on following this method to the letter. The key is C to N mix. However you can make a “Green Manure” by filling a bucket with greens like grass clippings, garden waste, kitchen scraps etc...,fill with water and weigh it down with a brick so the material stays submerged and let it sit. When it smells like crap it’s ready. Also check CL for people selling Rabbit Manure. It’s the safest in regards to herbicide poisoning.

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

Just skip it, not necessary

[@The990990990]

is horse manure good on its own? I have a unlimited supply of it atm

[@LibertyGarden]

As the Mandalorian would say, This is the Way.

[@przybyla420]

So we don’t have to increase surface area of bankers, politicians, business ‘leaders,’ etc.? Ive noticed a trend of them getting really slimy and disgusting.

[@sharonhoffer3599]

Wish we could compost em!

[@chrnb]

Why not just drop the organic material on the ground, between your crops? Will protect the soil against sunlight and weeds. This is how Masanobu Fukuoka does it. Or just dig holes and drop it in.

[@DiscoverPermaculture]

chrnb you can if you want a casual vague broader system. If you want a more intense diversity of specific trees and crops or you want to make high quality potting mix for your nursery then compost. The nutrient in compost is locked onto the carbon and remains available for up to 20 years.

[@thecurrentmoment]

Then you don't get to make a video about it; no one is going to watch it

[@r0br33r]

@@thecurrentmoment Trust a sheepshagger to be bitter he's not a good gardener online

[@archenema677]

David the good just throws a bunch of rubbish in a heap and lets it go anerobic LMAO

[@TheRealHonestInquiry]

Time is a factor... this lets you do it extremely quickly, but each gardener has to ask themselves, with all the turning, how many "set it an forget it piles" could you start instead? It all depends on when you will need the compost and if you prefer aerobic or anaerobic

[@releventhurt]

Can i feed wax paper and receipts to worms

[@Queserasera_LaLaLa]

NO! wax may be a petroleum product and receipt paper is heat sensitive and toxic.

[@craigson5]

Let me just clarify this one thing. An Australian, is recommending that I stick my hand into a pile of compost to check the temperature. This is the 21st century, we can get thermometers for a couple of bucks. That's some dangerous advice, considering we KNOW that compost piles attract snakes.

[@user-tp7uq1cn4v]

"If you insert your hand into the heap...." beware of the ACTIVATOR!!!

[@andrejzalec4512]

😇👍

[@chessman483]

Too much work for me. I just chop and drop, doesn’t take long if you have provided a lot of established plants to get soil full of life.

[@JoeyCarrapichano]

nitrogen to carbon ratio is badly explained! It doesn't make sense to add seven fishes to one fish sized grass clump.

[@platypus6523]

You can even compost a kangaroo :)

[@natureboy6410]

Well, that was about as clear as mud.

[@zarxog]

What about humanure? And why the hurry? Let the microbes work!

[@JohnSmith-zv8km]

this is a monty python scetch is it not

[@cortedemico]

a minute and a half i wonder: could i piss on a bunch of dry leaves and "git-er done"? edit: = troll