Making Leaf Compost 3 Ways- Barrel Composting Experiment

I have 3 large plastic barrels and access to tons of leaves and woodchips, what's a gal to do? Experiment because why not? 3 different barrel setups. Place your bets! Which one do you think will decompose faster
1- leaves+manure+soil
2- leaves+manure+woodchips+soil
3- leaves+soil
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Results- • Leaf Barrel Compost Ex...
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[@joycepappan4796]

I am 72 and going to start gardening in my old old new house. For now I am just piling up in pile in backyard.

[@KingCobraMadnezz]

LOVE your energy! And I totally agree, gardening is a mental therapy! I find it so rejuvenating!!

[@ebradley2306]

I add coffee grounds from Starbucks to my leaves to help break them down. 🙂

[@Frickenadazzal]

Loved the video. Been collecting leaves in big plastic bags, will try this in the barrel my father gave me to :) It was fun that you interviewed your father in first person. It's very heartwarming how you honor the people in your life. Thank you for the tips.

[@TheAdhdGardener]

Thanks! My dad's been landscaping n gardening since b4 I was born so I run by some ideas by him n see what he says😁

[@offgridwanabe]

Coffee grounds and leaves layered in

[@Frickenadazzal]

I say 3, variety is the spice of life.

[@thurstonmr]

Love your personality

[@TheAdhdGardener]

Aww thanks!😁🌻

[@Soknik01]

If you're composting in a barrel go grab yourself a few feet of 2 inch pvc pipe and drill it full of holes along it's entire length and then stick it right in the middle of the barrel with one end resting on the bottom of the barrel and the other end sticking out above the top of the barrel (This works equally well in a compost pile). With your pipe standing up in the middle of the barrel toss your composting materials in as you normally would. As your compost begins to heat up some of that heat will escape the pile through the holes in the pvc pipe and rise up and out of the pipe. As that heat rises it will draw in fresh air through the pile from the holes in the barrel. There's a good reason for this extra effort- Oxygen is critical if you wish to get your compost finished quickly. Aerobic bacteria break organic matter down much faster than anaerobic bacteria and they also generate the heat that's necessary for killing off seeds and pathogens that might otherwise survive the composting process. In order for aerobic bacteria to thrive they need oxygen or their lives are very short lived. A word of caution regarding moisture content. Ideally the material in your compost should feel about as damp as a dish sponge with all the water squeezed out. Too much water causes material to start clumping together which further reduces the amount of oxygen the material has access to. If your compost ever smells sour that's generally a sign that things are too wet and anaerobic bacteria (the less effective type) have taken over. If that happens it's good to dry things out by adding more carbon rich material.

[@fcantin66]

Congrats for doing this experiment and sharing it with us :)

[@miketaylor775]

Your Dad’s crazy too isn’t he!

[@ahmelmahay]

i like the way you say soil from my garden nearly every american i watch says dirt.....well done you cos thats exactly what it is SOIL full of microbes. anyway nice vide with minimal editing, say it like you mean it and dont worry about mistakes just keep going like you are, and a big Hello from Ireland

[@TheAdhdGardener]

Thanks so much! There's a big difference between dirt n soil n yep I'm a direct kinda gal. Glad u enjoyed. I did a part 2 to this for the results

[@ahmelmahay]

@@TheAdhdGardener ill be watching part 2

[@baneverything5580]

I looked up the price of these and it was crazy. So I started looking around the jungle in and around my yard and so far I found TWO big plastic barrels...a big blue one in vines by an old chicken pen and a white one down an old drain. I have a garden wagon and I`ve been collecting old tree limbs and burning them in a small spot in my garden where greens refused to grow and I`m piling up leaves and pine straw in another spot. Grass is still green here in central Louisiana so I`m charging my electric mower to collect more of that to mix with brown leaves and pine straw and some expensive "organic" potting soil that was just a nasty bag of muddy bark. My soil is terrible. My lot was a hill once 15 feet taller than now and an oil company drilled here and bulldozed the hill down to red clay mixed with gravel so if I want a garden with soil I have to build one with what`s here...like Gilligan`s Island.

[@ahhason]

Honestly, You don't need Black kow. Just make some JADAM JMS for pennies and start inoculating and treating the leaves. It will break down in less than a week.

[@patcracker6383]

Just started a pallet compost bin (tired of clay soil in New Mexico); thanks for the experiment… I start lots of those and never finish 😂

[@TheAdhdGardener]

🤣 I feel ya. I did another compost experiment n I used pallets too it was this past fall time!

[@mtsklar]

very smart !

[@TheAdhdGardener]

Check out the results video from the experiment. Quite surprising

[@rosesigua9343]

I prefer barrel 2 leaves ,manure and soil

[@aprild714]

I have to say 3 the fastest but all is awesome can't wait to see the results. I'm doing a somewhat experiment myself in my corner yard, well i put all my spent plants, grass, branches leaves in one spot and let's see what happens. I live in Ohio so we get a nice wet winter and spring

[@TheAdhdGardener]

The leaves only one so far shrunk down! Let's see how far the other ones get too

[@baneverything5580]

I found some spots in the woods where leaves piled up and rotted over the years. It has white mold or fungus in it. I have two months before March to gather and make rich compost for a 15x30 ft area. It isn`t safe here before December to be messing around in the woods because of venomous snakes, bees (killer bees are here), and ground hornets.

[@nosajsamaniego4512]

Ya better let us know how this goes;

[@KITTKATT11]

I've never composted but I'm willing to give it a try 😎👍 maybe next year I can get it ready.. lol it's about to snow soon here in Detroit 🏵️💕🐈🐾

[@TheAdhdGardener]

Damn snow already?! Geez

[@KITTKATT11]

@@TheAdhdGardener Yes , I spent my day yesterday putting away all of my mums into my shed and it was rain/sleet/snow all at the same time.. it's crazy weather 🙃😜

[@Randy_Smith]

Leaves, soil and manure is my guess for breaking down most quickly.

[@TheAdhdGardener]

So far bingo😉

[@flipflat4814]

Out of memory I'm pretty sure you live in the Northeast, so I would spray paint those barrels black, for more efficient heat gain on the really cold days 👍.

[@TheAdhdGardener]

Yep zone 6a/b border in Pennsylvania.. ooo good idea with the black spray paint!!! Ima do that

[@kimberly-mo5cp]

So what was the result of this?

[@roncatlin7271]

in order to save time & effort, use a string trimmer on your leaves in the barrel. saves a lot of time shuttling leaves around and a lot of strain on your (or someone else's ;)) back. seeing as how it's way beyond time for leaves to fall but haven't, i'm going to try the same experiment but i'm going to save my secret ingredient until the experiment is over in case it doesn't work.

[@Soknik01]

If you have access to a lawnmower, especially one with a bag, that's a great option for breaking things down

[@roncatlin7271]

@@Soknik01 oh yes, i definitely have a bagging, mulching lawn mower. i can't imagine that work without one.

[@k.strickland]

Leaves and manure will breakdown first

[@lifeisgood070]

Anyone find the follow up to this video? My searching skills apparently were not very good

[@honeyboyycooking665]

It's been 5 months now can you please share the results please

[@TheAdhdGardener]

Woodchips need way longer to break down I've already checked my bioreactor n these. Leaves are still intact but I havnt tipped them over to find out the middle inside of it yet. Was going to do that till late summer