NO WORK COMPOST - An Update

Last July I started an experiment to passively compost my chicken bedding and home waste in trash cans. Overall it went pretty well.
Previous Videos on No Work Compost:
1 - • No Work Compost - The ...
2 - • No Work Compost (That ...
My Podcasts:
Farm Small, Farm Smart: bit.ly/2vMUDvX
Grass Fed Life: bit.ly/2uOsLTH
Voices of Change: bit.ly/2vrn81r
Do The Work: apple.co/2ERsLHZ
My Audiobooks:
The Market Gardener by JM Fortier: bit.ly/2uynxvU
The Urban Farmer by Curtis Stone: bit.ly/2uynxvU
My Business:
Paperpot Transplanter: www.paperpot.co
Support content I have created:
www.permacultur...
Support while you shop at Amazon:
amzn.to/2yu1zPj

[@Getawaymoments]

Interesting videos. I too have been playing around with this. ..... small yard. But I have done one thing different. I cut the bottom out of the can and placed it over my garden beds ..... moving it around. So, worms climb up nutrients drip down ..... once the can is full ... let it rest. When it's done spread the contents and start again.

[@alfonsomunoz4424]

I got a large volume of arborist chips that I used as mulch to cover bare ground but also to compost. To add nitrogen I picked up grass clippings from a nearby park where I walk/jog. When the city mows they leave a lot of the clippings behind. It really gets my pile cooking. I also innoculate with a shovel full of native dirt.

[@NaturesImageFarmGregBurns]

Love the approach and re-evaluation. Thanks for unveiling some of the mystery that surrounds compost!

[@StevensFamilyFarms]

Diego, I am all for the lazy method of composting! Given enough time it will all break down. The question is how long are we willing to wait?

[@jasons-jungle]

I've found that when I'm composting manure with sawdust/woodchip bedding it can take a couple of years for the wood to be totally digested. Have you looked at dalek compost bins? Similar to using bins but without a bottom so has a larger area for the worms to get into. You do loose the ability to move them about though. If you were to plant something quick growing with a lot of leaves like comfrey in between the bins the roots of the plant would take up the leachate from the ground and they could be cropped and used as the greens in the bins.

[@carlduffin]

I agree. Your dalek bins could stand together with the Comfrey and Nettles growing all around and benefit from the leachate from the bins. When the bin is ready, just lift off the dalek and shovel the compost into buckets or a wheelbarrow.

[@Dee.C]

I would add some air holes in the can to allow aeration to speed up the breaking down of the materials through aerobic conditions .

[@sandraoconnor5700]

Great info thanks for the update!

[@candidethirtythree4324]

The cans are not big enough to make heat and you need green stuff, garden waste and if you eat fresh veggies there should be lots of peelings, rinds, cores, seeds, pulp, leaves etc. plus egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds even the cardboard tubes out of the paper towels and toilet paper can go in there. There are only 2 of us and we have pounds of stuff every week just from preparing veggies and fruit.

[@DiegoFooter]

The issue is my chickens eat the vegetable waste, so I can't put it into compost. I am going to measure the temperature to see how hot it gets because you make a good point there, so let's check it out.

[@zachknapp7981]

I wonder I you could plant squash in that top layer and give it another summer season to break down. I’ve grown squash in a compost pile before and it worked pretty well. I can’t recall where I read that idea. Multiple places I’m sure.

[@DiegoFooter]

It would probably work pretty well.

[@polavink2184]

I use pumpkin to fertilize place for shade trees I am planning to plant. They have humongous leaves and it do not give space to unwanted staff to grow.

[@howardchung905]

A crank twist compost aerator may be something you find useful. Urea is a synthetically produced organic substance that is 46% nitrogen and cheap if you are looking for cheap nitrogen.

[@R1M1r1m1]

I thought you originally put a pvc pipe with holes in the middle for air flow.

[@ronyerke9250]

Your chicken bedding reminds me of the woodchips that the New Jersey farmer uses in I Am Organic Gardening. Have you seen any of his videos?

[@yeshuaisthewaythetruthandt515]

Good idea. This is something I might do n like. Thanku

[@waltlars3687]

Would perferated 4" PVC pipe inserted into the can vertically to allow more air flow ?

[@DiegoFooter]

Maybe. I had a compost tumbler that I made once with that type of pipe. Not sure if it helped or not.

[@bettyturley54]

Black soldier flies breaks down the chicken bedding really well and you can feed them to the chickens

[@a206h]

You’re a great instructor/teacher Diego. Do you have formal training in public speaking?

[@DiegoFooter]

Thanks, I appreciate that. I have done a lot of talking with over 1000 podcast episodes so it's just been a lot of practice I guess.

[@PANTTERA1959]

Nice to see an original DF vid..So is the terraced garden active this summer.

[@DiegoFooter]

Kind of. I will try to make a video on that. Tight on time and these garden videos take a lot of time.

[@fredvanolphen2953]

Never liked the trashcan method because of the smell and flies. I take my kitchen scraps and chicken poop and bury them about 14 inches layered with the garden soil I just remove,leaving the top 4 inches as soil. I might mix in some leaves or straw. I just move down a garden row, one 8 inch trench at a time planting behind it. The new plantings take off phenomenally and two months later that area is full of big fat earthworms that don't stand a chance if exposed because chickens suddenly appear if I pick up a shovel. One advantage is that if you didn't get around to handling your compost for a couple of days any fly eggs or maggots come to nothing buried in the ground. The process stays aerobic and results in deep soils that give earthworms a place to winter over. My chickies and I do a lot of rocking out in the process.

[@catfunksfabulousfinds]

Grass clippings

[@colorfulplatefarms3327]

Could you add yeast to break the chicken manure down?

[@DiegoFooter]

A yeast could help, but yeast doesn't break down wood which is part of my issue. Yeast could be beneficial though. Once concern I would have is can a added yeast survive in this environment - moist, somewhat anaerobic, with a lot of organisms competing for food.

[@colorfulplatefarms3327]

Diego Footer I believe they use yeast in septic tanks to break solids down, and I would think it’s kind of the same situation. It might not help break down the wood, but I love where this is headed!

[@DiegoFooter]

Yes, I think that yeast may be one component, but a lot of those additives are organisms that can survive in anaerobic conditions like lactic acid bacteria and PNSB.

[@winstongumangan6641]

@@DiegoFooter.

[@philcoppa]

if the chicken manure isn't breaking down the wood chips you may be keeping them cleaner than need be

[@luisj.serrano5821]

to increase N for your chicken bedding ask in your nearest cafeteria for the coffee rests... free and high N

[@thaifreeburma]

Looks like aeration is a critical issue

[@dylnthmsn420]

`Pee more. Slide the barrels aside and throw a fresh scoop of the under blackness on top...

[@cldlsolshinegrowing4366]

Unfortunately it looks like it just didn't work

[@DiegoFooter]

Too much bedding, not enough time.

[@carlduffin]

@@DiegoFooter - not enough urine?

[@chantallachance4905]

With the hole at the bottom you lose compost tea

[@DiegoFooter]

Maybe, some, but that's not a big concern.

[@chantallachance4905]

I have a compost in my house with worm in 4 months I collect 6 liters of compost tea.....a lot of money man :) I like your vidéos 🌈❤️

[@DiegoFooter]

Thanks. I am not adding that much water to the bins now, so I don't get a lot of pass through.

[@carlduffin]

@@chantallachance4905 - a wormery shouldn't be giving off that much tea - possibly a sign your contents are too wet - more cardboard and paper shreddings needed.

[@BaddhaBuddha]

🤔🤔🤔 Human piss means you shouldn't use this compost on food for a couple of years.

[@hungerhurts5580]

urine does not transmit any disease

[@nickkitchener6155]

Crazy thought... How about washing some used bedding and putting the nitrogen rich water in your cans, then reusing the bedding in the coop.

[@DiegoFooter]

Possible, but that would be a lot of work to catch all the water and spread out the bedding to dry it and I don't have that much room.

[@amykinnell2837]

Weren’t you getting your neighbor’s grass clipping at some point? Adding those in fine layers would help.

[@DiegoFooter]

Yes, but that neighbor moved and the new neighbor literally doesn't mow his grass.

[@amykinnell2837]

Diego Footer - oh no! 🤣