No-Turn Aerated Compost!

In this video we talk about No-Turn Composting, or Aerated Static Pile Composting (ASP) and how we are doing it this year on our farm.
Ahavah Farm is a permaculture and biodynamic blend of farming where JM Fortier and Elliot Coleman meet Rudolph Steiner and Sepp Holzer. We are a Values-Driven family farm centered around love for local community, regenerative environmental stewardship and pure, wholesome and nutrient dense food. We strive for, and will accept nothing less then, the absolute purest food possible while doing everything we can to protect our earth. We do this in the high-desert at 7,000ft elevation in some of the absolute worst conditions possible.
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[@isabelladavis1363]

Great information thank you for sharing

[@fincaecologicalapilaricagu5999]

J.M. Director 🇨🇷🇨🇷🇨🇷👍

[@chrismartin7579]

Great video! In my setup, I take the PVC pipes out after a few days. If untouched, the material stays put and does not collapse into the voided areas. This greatly increases airflow since air only flows through the holes, and no air penetrates the PVC wall, which is 90%+ of your current setup. See also the Johnson-Su method, where they also remove the PVC pipes after a few days....

[@lubiaylubiay8593]

Wow great compost sir.thank you so much for sharing.thanks from Malaysia

[@jfrog5160]

The drought is horrific this year! Hope you guys get some rain soon. Colorado needs it!

[@JesseGrowsChannel]

Hey thanks for sharing. You have given me a couple ideals to try.

[@ahavahfarmllc]

Awesome! Glad to help!

[@jesuschristislordoflordsan427]

what were your results? thanks

[@noidretlaw]

Great idea. Tks for the share

[@Chris-py3ec]

This looks to be a Johnson-Su Bioreactor. I believe you are supposed to remove the pipes after 24 hours and elevate the compost with something like wood pallets to have the air circulate the pile more efficiently.

[@Ms.Byrd68]

You have to find the time to give an UPDATE if you promise one. This looks like a good idea for those who maybe CAN'T turn their compost: old folks & disabled people, lol! Follow thru, write down when you make this promise and remember to 'film' your results. Be consistent. Not 'hating' just expressing a 'viewer' opinion. Even if it DIDN'T WORK, tell us that too so we don't waste our time.

[@puffalump66]

I agree about the disabled people LOL !!!!!! You laughed at them and you always stick to your promise so there it is.

[@vegadog30]

Good way to scale up 👍🏼🌿

[@luisj.serrano5821]

I have been also doing this and it works better if the air comes from beneath, so I have the vertical pipes connected to horizontal ones which end out of the pile and suck air in, also I close the pipes at the end, in this way as the pile heats up and warm air goes up it will suck fresh air from below through the pipes

[@ronrover6594]

Hi Yosef, thanks for the input! I heard about your farm on the no-till podcast. Can you let us know what you think about the Johnson Su reactor after almost one year? THX

[@songng2081]

Great idea..

[@Suicyco702]

This is similar to the Johnson Su bioreactor compost system from Dr. David Johnson and his wife use in New Mexico. He has lots of testing. His seminar are on KZbin for sure!

[@IowaKim]

the difference is they pull the PVC pipe after the first day and so that the air flows in directly. If you watch their video the pipes are perforated just because that's what they had laying around it's not for transfer of oxygen. This setup may work for a little while but not as well as when pipes were pulled.

[@elguarogozon1]

Excellent!! Do you have any mixing and time parameter (green vs brown)?

[@ianvilla9613]

Very interesting i want to see how this turns out.i didnt see a update for this on your channel. Can you post an update please

[@joeshmoe7789]

Probably no update because it didn't work. Pipes might have helped speed it up a little, but it still probably needed to be turned. Pull the pipes out after it cools down, try to wet and collapse the holes to try to get it to heat up again, then turn the pile after it cools again or wait a year & a half.

[@rufia75]

@@joeshmoe7789 Look into Johnson-Su bioreactor. The idea this youtuber had is solid, but the execution here is not quite what you want probably. Anyways, you can compost aerobically without turning piles.

[@myjunkmail007]

Would love an update. This is exactly what I was thinking of doing next fall. I clean up a ton of leaves every year. I anticipate my long pile being about the size of yours. I had also thought of maybe instead of the PVC pipes, snaking a length of corrugated drain tile about halfway up from the ground and have the ends poke out sides or top of pile. Seems simpler/cheaper and would accomplish same thing. Any thoughts on that idea, anyone?

[@tobyihli9470]

Every other person who put pipes in the pile had to use blowers to either suck a vacuum or blow air pressure for it to work completely.

[@EmuMan44]

Can you please provide an update on this? Even just a comment describing your findings and results?

[@JKLearning]

Waiting for the update; can you share the lab results?

[@loganmiller6392]

Any update? how has the 1 ft intervals seem to perform?

[@richardfeiller4286]

i use drilled pvc spaced horizontally and then layered every foot vertically which allows for air movement when horizontal pipes are put to utilize prevailing winds, worked very well. i don't get how there is a good transfer of gasses in your set up.

[@floydrivera868]

Yes, perporated pipes placed horizontal may be more effective because it will create crossflow.

[@casamia6655]

or just put an L bracket on the top of these pipes and now you have gusts and winds turn vertical as they enter into the L. It will also be at the very top where wind is more likely. Wouldn't that be better? (Also if somehow it could be loose and turn depending on the wind direction that would be really awesome - I am imagining some kind of fin type of system that helps turn the Ls).

[@tribalwind]

How did this work out for you? It's interesting but it's not Active Static Pile, which requires a blower fan to force air throughout the entire pile from underneath. I guess you might call this passive static pile? I wonder if air is truly penetrating a foot in each Direction as you suspect? I would think a drawback of this would be the pile drying out all the time

[@majdouline7930]

i agree

[@Knowoneknows1773]

What if you used chain link fence panels with the privacy fabric to let it air through

[@kirstenclemente7033]

Thanks for taking the time to post this. I have a couple of questions: Do you use pallets on the bottom for air flow, and do you remove the pvc aeration pipes (like the Johnson Su bioreactor)? Much appreciated!

[@maryaddison6706]

Came to this video thinking of doing exactly the same after reading about the Johnson Su bioreactor, be great to have an update and hear how it went. Looks great though

[@jenclark1418]

Did you like this method of composting to keep doing it?

[@az55544]

PVC leaches especially with heat. would dense cardboard tubes give you a few seasons' use?

[@ahavahfarmllc]

azmrl thanks for the comment. There are a number of things to consider here. 1. The type of pvc. There is food grade pvc and non. We are using food grade. 2. Though food grade PVC is designed to be stable and not leach, it can also leach (in extremely. extremely low, barely traceable levels), the pvc will not leach under this type of application and there are no phthalates or BPA. 3. Any possible (unlikely) leaching caused by heat only occurs at temperatures much greater than the 155 degrees we are reaching. 4. The level of potential leaching after 6 weeks is so small that it wouldn't be detectable. Finally, any potential leaching (again, a very small, inconsequential amount - if any at all) will get bound up by the biological process in the compost (which is one of the most important factors in using compost). We wouldn't bury pvc in a garden, but in this application (up right, not buried with plenty of oxygen) there is no concern. At the end of the day, all plastics can be harmful and other materials all break down as well all have chemicals in them even cardboard because it too is made with a chemical process that, in fact would break down at a much greater rate than pvc and have much more noticeable levels of contamination. It's a great point, and thank you for pointing it out, but our research (heavily done before this process) suggests no problems with organic compost and PVC - in this, non-buried method. Thanks and hope that helps!

[@youngredangus6041]

How did the compost turn out?

[@Gcanno]

Taking those pipes out would give you way more oxygen and if the pile was done correctly none of the holes would cave in on themselves.

[@winnipegnick]

In a bioreactor, your supposed to take the pvc pipes out after 1st 24 hours. So you really don’t need to drill holes in the pvc pipe.

[@janellepeotter]

@@winnipegnick I especially would like all the micro plastics going into my compost from drilling them out!

[@larrysiders1]

Not NEARLY enough holes...unless you hank the tubed out after a week or so. Johnson-Su Reactors have the tubed pulled out after only 1 day. Takes a year to mature with no turning.

[@ezegqfouru2018]

It'll reallly be good if that compost pile could inhale/exhale and really get more air

[@joniboulware1436]

That compost looks really dry. It needs a cover.

[@enriquegarciacota3914]

Doesn’t it need shade as well though

[@rickyamsbaugh7397]

Does that kill weed seeds

[@jamesfroggattfr]

If it hits 70dec C yes

[@jeremygrillo7157]

Mate look at the Australia dry lands permaculture, you need to start planting trees my friend.

[@mamahamda906]

Nothing to add. It was a waste to watch.