Can a WORX Leaf Mulcher Make Composting Faster?

Can a WORX Leaf Mulcher Make Composting Faster? #compost #homestead #gardening
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[@leonafaryna7617]

This is the first time I’ve seen a unit like this leaf shredder. Looks like you have latched onto something really useful, and leave it to you to find it! What a wonderful shot of piggy face you captured……. priceless to make a hanging portrait of🐷!

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

😂 and Billie looked like she was smiling at me

[@BeckyinKC]

Good morning. Well done. Don't forget to add water about once a week if you're not getting rain. Thanks for sharing 🤠

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

That’s one of the things I did wrong, it seemed to be so dry. I’ll water it weekly from now on.

[@Beachtyrants11]

Your videos make my day! So grateful to have found you. My dream has always been to have a farm and we face an uphill battle to make it happen but you remind me of what is possible !! So we trudge on

[@ericpettyfishing]

I love mine. I use it for mulching all the tree leaves on my property. The best thing I did was go to menards and get thicker/stronger cutting strings. Makes it last a lot longer before I have to change out the lines. It is a fantastic mulcher and really makes my life easier. I fall i hmusually wouldnhave 25+ blackc trashbags full of leaves before I learned that i was throwing away gardening gold

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Awesome, I figured the Line won’t hold up well but easy enough to use a thicker line. Glad to know it’s working so well for you. 🤙

[@ericpettyfishing]

Sorry about my comment I promise I didn't have a stroke lol. I have used mine for 2 years now with no issues. I do reccomend trying to get all the sticks you can out of the leaves. It is very satisfying taking 2 large rakes and grabbing a huge bunch of leaves and dropping them through. It's so fun my wife always comes out and helps when she hears me fire up the mulcher. Best wishes man. Enjoy your new free mulch. It's the best

[@SarahLynnLee]

I love this!! You are so inspiring, Chad!!

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

☺️

[@yeagerxp]

Yes it will help compost faster Chad I use one of those Toro vacuum/leaf collectors. It shreds the leaves as it vacuums them. I go to the park, collect leaves in paper bags drop them on the garage floor and the shredder goes to work. Well done . Informative 👍👍👍. Thank you for sharing. Be safe 🇨🇦

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Nice, I bet you always have great compost eh

[@Belief03]

We got pitch forks to use to turn over the pile. A good temperature is 160. Slip in some fruit/vegetable cuttings, smashed egg shell and coffee grounds. We bought a small tiller off Amazon. Works like a charm at the end of the 6 wks. THAT is how we make a rich compost soil in 6 wks. Water it and flip it. 👍🏼

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I’ve only gotten it to 130. How often do u turn it? 6 weeks is amazing, you’re doing it right. 😉

[@doriskuhberger8559]

A very good start on your compost. It will take six months to a year break it down. You also have to give it 50% water. Thank you so much for sharing. Doris, Penrith 🇦🇺🦘

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I definitely need to water it more when it’s not raining, that’s why the first pile was pretty dry. I’ll get it eventually, I’ll keep adding to these pile too. How about aeration? How often should it be turned?

[@doriskuhberger8559]

@@HiddenSpringFarm Usually aerate 2 times a week. The more you water it and turn your compost it is better. Hope this will help :)

[@4helex]

Our property has two giant American Beech trees.They don't drop their leaves in the fall, the leaves get 'pushed' off by the new leaves about 200 days of the year. Also they don't compost fast at all. They are almost like rubber tree leaves. I have leave piles that are two and three years old that are only half composted. I ordered a Worx leaf mulcher today hoping to make leaf mold in one year. The amount of leaves that drop is incredible (and a pain in the arse) Hope this turns the leaves into something useful quicker that I can use in my hugel-based permaculture food forrest.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Well ours are mostly oak, and maple. This pile you see me prepare in the video is looking like it’s ready to use this season, looks very dark organic rich composted soil. Just be sure to do only dry leaves, wet ones clog up. Apart from twigs getting stuck in the machine it mulches up the leaves very well.

[@heatherjolly8389]

I found a compost calculator online that told me the quantity of greens and browns to mix and it was so helpful in getting a hot compost! Good luck mate

[@barefootminis]

A really fun and fast way to mulch your leaves is to get a bagger for your mower. Dad and I used to landscape and we had plenty of experience bagging mulch. Finally, we convinced the homeowners to fertilize their lawns by just mulching the nutrients into their lawns. That was when the leaves were most prevalent in the fall.😊

[@HenrikTorget]

I run my mower with collector over my leafs.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

That’s works. Nice & easy in the fall when you have leaves. How about now in summer? I just go to the woods and bring em to the compost. The mower will mulch em real good too eh.

[@RJH_LIL]

Morning Chad. Glad to see thar you are having success with 'The Mulch Master'. It did a nice job. Have a great weekend. 🍃 🍂 🍁

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Yes I think the big clumps of whole leaves will take way too long to compost. I want this to be ready for next year. You too enjoy the weekend.

[@williamzellars857]

Your bins are probably too wide! I built my bins about 40 - 48" wide and high. The width and height allowed me to fill my bin all at once and they heated up quickly. Stu Campbell's book Let It Rot! 3rd edition is an excellent resource. Thanks for sharing this video!

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

You could be right, I just figured it was all relative to whatever you’re putting into it. I wanted to be able to scoop it and fill it with my tractor bucket and it’s been working fairly well. I just need to work on the green to brown ratio.

[@StratOvation]

Great video, Thanks for sharing! a couple "HOT" pile tips... try to target a 30:1 brown to green ratio, water in each layer as you build the pile and cover with a tarp to trap moisture and retain heat.

[@monicaagee2716]

Good video, your pile needs to be 3 foot tall. If you make your pile 3’x3’ layer brown and green and water in thinner layers like lasagna. You have all you need.

[@1258stdavid]

You also put some fresh manure in the 2nd compost pile which will also heat it faster. If you did that in the first box with the big leaves you likely would have had them break down as well. It's the green matter/ nitrogen that provides the heat.

[@1voluntaryist]

#1 question: $? I paid $100, B & D, electric vac/blower, 25 years ago. It reduces 15 x 1, making an immediate useable mulch, better than compost because it is more nutritious, less work. The only drawback: ONLY dry leaves will shred easily. Damp/wet, clog. Turn compost every 3 days, minimum. O2 is essential. Fowl shit is best, but not necessary if you have fresh mown grass to contribute the nitrogen (heat). Suggestion: If you can build/buy a higher capacity (stronger motor?) shredder, you can process more leaves faster, taking advantage of all your neighbor's waste leaves. Seventy years ago, I went from house-house emptying their grass cans, left out for the garbage truck, once/wk. for my compost or straight mulch. I am an organic gardener. I reduced a pile by 95% from green-compost in 2 weeks, turning, misting, every 3 days. If I turned daily, it was 11 days. I used horse dung, but now I wonder if it was necessary. I wish I had tried just grass/water/air. I put a foot/grass, then a light layer of dung, mist, repeating to 10 feet high.

[@kreynolds1123]

Certainly much more surface area to quickly compost, but its also much more compact and that will hold a lot less àir inside. I suspect you'll need to turn the compost pile much more freqently. I dont know how much you turned it, but not getting enough air could easilly be one reason why a pile stalls and doesn't get to full temperature.

[@brushcrawler8612]

My biggest problem is the darn waxy coating on pine needles taking multiple years to break down so I'm searching for tools. I may just start burning them and adding the ash to the pile

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Aww those bloody pine needles clog up my wood chipper too, burning the best bet. Make some biochar while you’re at it 🤙

[@donnanorman340]

Very informative video. 💛 from 🇨🇦

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

😊

[@cozyhomemakingvibes]

Nice! I have a sunjoe green waste shredder and I tend to just shred into an old trusty blue IKEA bag soo I can dump it straight into my compost bay. I like it to cover my kitchen scraps. Keeps the raccoons from finding the compost. 😂. I notice my compost really heats up when it’s at least four feet deep or more. Dunno why ❤ nice video! I struggle editing. I film okay…but I’m soo bad at time management that I don’t get them edited. Appreciate your channel. 😊

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Filming and editing gets easier with time & practice. Important to know what and how you’re gonna film and do it in chronological order with the editing process in mind. All the clips need to be in order already instead of searching for them. Not easy, I’m still figuring it out. You must have some decent compost them eh. I think I saw that model when searching. 😊

[@cozyhomemakingvibes]

@@HiddenSpringFarm I do like to compost. 😂 I appreciate those tips. Very helpful. Thanks 😊

[@topnotchpainters8805]

Good morning I would like to see a episode on your chicken bread and which chicken bread is your favorite keep it up you inspired me I have 38 rodiland chicken 4 month old now can't wait for them to start laying eggs

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

38 birds is a good start, the Rhode Island’s usually begin to lay around the 6 month mark. I’ll probably do an episode like that when the Barred Rock are adults, then I’ll have 4 breeds.

[@AnonUser18]

Why didn't you buy a bladed compost shredder, would have been much better value?

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Cost really, I’m still trying to save up for a sawmill. This was $250 Canadian and the bladed ones are considerably higher in price, at least that’s what I found. This one will do the job though.

[@tjrose5901]

W would add coffee waste as well :)

[@RockinWorms]

Hi! What about the sticks? I have piles of leaves but there’s a fair number of sticks in it. Not branches, but small sticks. It’s one reason I’m hesitant to use the mower. Don’t want to mess the blades up. What do you think? Thanks.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

Unless the sticks are very brittle they just clog up the machine when you get a bunch of sticks. Doesn’t take much to push em down the holes though.

[@RockinWorms]

@@HiddenSpringFarm Thanks for the reply! I’m going to have to give some more thought due to the sticks. Great video!

[@AussiePom]

What's the point of buying a leaf mulching machine when you can just use a garden shredder unless you have tons of money and a big garden shed to store many garden machines in. My garden shredder turns leaves to an almost dust like consistency and it doesn't get clogged up and it's petrol powered too.

[@Wicked_urban_garden]

Perhaps a little more water on the compost

[@ronskotnicki5115]

For the low low price of $179. Use your lawnmower, DONE!

[@nikkistump3480]

Olive 😆 in the coop

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

😂

[@ldrider755]

Why not just run the leaves over with a mower? Done. Might want to move your compost heap out from under the trees and shade ;-)

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

I could but then I’d need to rake up all the little bits to get it to the compost.

[@steveb855]

I'm not feeding two pickup loads of leaves from a small yard into a "shredder" one trickled handful at a time.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

@@steveb855 under normal circumstances I don’t either, it’s only when I wanna make compost. My riding mower just mulches everything as I mow. Way to much work 😂

[@paulbiniasz2278]

This looks like a tedious and inefficient way to mulch a large yard of leaves. Have to add one handful at a time and carefully distribute them evenly so as not to clog the opening. Good video. Poor design of product.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

oh yeah for sure, around the farm area we have 4 acres and most of the leaves I just mulch with the riding mower. This tool is only good for adding a small amount into the compost.

[@CmdrSoCal]

7:15. Putting rotting garbage at the bottom of raised beds is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard.

[@HiddenSpringFarm]

It seems to work well for us, holds in a lot of moisture and our veg is doing amazing. To each their own I guess, whatever works 😉