very HOT compost in very COLD weather

www.edibleacres...
I share notes on some approaches and techniques we use to keep our compost pile running incredibly warm and active through the whole winter. In a cold climate it can be tough to maintain a good core temperature on compost, and for our chicken composting system it is critical so I go over some approaches used in our system that can hopefully help you with yours.
www.amleo.com/... - Orange poly fork I use in this video to load leaves. Great tool for bulk material handling
www.edibleacres... - our permaculture nursery in NYS
Edible Acres is a full service permaculture nursery located in the Finger Lakes area of NY state. We grow all layers of perennial food forest systems and provide super hardy, edible, useful, medicinal, easy to propagate, perennial plants for sale locally or for shipping around the country...
www.edibleacres... - Your order supports the research and learning we share here on youtube.
We also offer consultation and support in our region or remotely.
www.edibleacres...
Happy growing!

[@MichaelJosephJr934]

If i peed on that compost those chickens would be stoned

[@matthewbigliardi3339]

I love winter composting! My best method for heating up a fresh compost pile is to use pineapple peels cut small, add water, stir and apply it into the pile. It heats up to 160 degrees with a mix of leaves and small amount of grass clippings. Thanks

[@gabec2494]

@@ainulhudamallick3181 could be due to its high sugar content and bromelain enzymes.

[@ainulhudamallick3181]

@@gabec2494 Can I use black plastic covering ?

[@gabec2494]

@@ainulhudamallick3181 if using as a compost pile cover, sure thing. However, any colored tarp will work. The cover is more about shedding rain/melting snow from your pile. It will heat up just fine from within without using passive heating from black cover.

[@ainulhudamallick3181]

@@gabec2494 At night, does black plastic absorb the heat from compost pile ?

[@gabec2494]

@@ainulhudamallick3181 depends on the material. To better insulate, use straw over your pile and cover with plastic sheet.

[@dollyperry3020]

Do you put the finished compost in the garden all year long? Or do you stockpile it and add it in the Spring and Fall? For those planning on using urine on their gardens...make sure any medications you take are safe for the garden since many are shed into urine!

[@edibleacres]

Good call. And yes we put the compost out all year during the growing season

[@waryr11711]

I've always used blood meal and manure to heat up slow piles. Never tried urine but if we were still farming I sure would try it!

[@TheBushdoctor68]

Great videos man. Another great source of nitrogen during winter are coffee-grounds! You can probably get it by the bucket-full from restaurants. I used to get mine from a family that had one of those espresso machines at home. They sure liked their coffee and so once every few weeks I switched their full bucket of grounds for an empty one. Also, yes I do pee on my compost pile, and I'm proud of it. :)

[@edibleacres]

Pee we're happy to include if we need Nitrogen for the chicken compost system. The coffee... it doesn't seem great for them, so we don't seek it out for this application.

[@TheBushdoctor68]

@@edibleacres Oh, that's right. I just compost the lot and don't use it for chickens. I can imagine you don't want those chooks hopped up on caffeine all day long! Haha.

[@saintisidorehomestead]

Great tips as always. I would add that road kills also make for a great source of nitrogen to get things reignited or going from scratch.

[@edibleacres]

Very true but not something I need to promote in this video. I need to be careful about sharing all the secrets😉

[@MorganBrown]

Ha, just pulled a clean squirrel skull from last year’s pile...almost forgot how it got there!

[@KSpotes]

I heard something like you need to keep all meat out of compost

[@dormetheus]

@@KSpotes depends on your needs. Adding meats to compost attracts vermin, can smell very bad if it goes anaerobic, and can be risky if you are mishandling the compost or are putting partially-finished compost on top of your veg garden

[@davefleming3638]

Thanks for the tips Sean! I had tried a few winter piles in the Adirondacks before and had even gotten them fairly hot (no chickens), but eventually had always lost the battle to the cold as winter drug on. Trouble is, once that pile freezes, you have a solid block of compost until late Spring at the earliest!

[@kaisenji]

We will have goats, later on chickens, lambs, rabbits. I can't wait to compost!

[@HonestOpenPermaculture]

Great video! Good info on compost. I just got done making a Berkeley 18 day hot compost pile. But I'm in NC so I don't have to deal with the cold as you do.

[@edibleacres]

Much warmer I bet. You aren't expecting a low of 7 next week I'm guessing :) For it to work up here I just have to make the piles stupid large in the winter. I'm planning to do an update video on one pile that is probably 20 cubic yards or so...

[@christopherhughes7970]

I tried to hot compost, it never got hot so i went to turn the pile and found hundreds of earth worms in the pile. i guess im worm composting now.

[@edibleacres]

That is wonderful news. Harder to get a healthy worm population anyway so that is super valuable.

[@chrisl8950]

Now you need to teach others how to be as successful as you in attracting worms to compost in the freezing cold. They've probably found it warm enough to jump into, but not too hot to hurt them.

[@davidoutdoors74]

Great video, I'm trying to design a compost pile which can heat water. My small pile is at 100 degrees and it's 25 outside amazing.

[@beebob1279]

the farm where I keep my bees has hot mounds. Every few years when winter checking hives, I have to call the owner and let him know a hill is smoking (not steaming). IT's basically burning. Out comes the heavy equipment and he moves things around. What a gig, they take yard waste from the landscapers for 30 dollars a load. Then sells it as mulch in the spring. Double dipping on the same stuff. My farming friends are very good people. Generous to boot.

[@edibleacres]

Sounds like they've got some good systems worked out there.

[@dennisst.germaine3497]

Great information! Another of my favorite channels use human urine in a compost tea and puts it on his compost. He also has an out building with a compost toilet that he uses sawdust over the waste, then its put into a 'long term' compost pile, with leaves, wood mulch, chicken manure, etc. Then lets the heat, nitrogen, snow/rain water, and microbes, do there work! Golf courses ( the biggest waste of good land throughout the world) water the greens etc. after midnight with gray water collected in cisterns. Usually those who are so 'hoity toity' about human waste for composting, don't have any idea where and how their food is grown anyway! They will go on vacation to all continents and exotic locations without realizing that most of the food grown, animals and plants, are by enlarge grown with human & animal waste directly applied/mixed to the feed and fertilizer!

[@valenciabedard8807]

Great video, you answered my questions about both using chickens and how to compost in the winter. I made the mistake of not starting a new pile in the fall, but I do collect leaves on the roadside in october. Everyone has done all the raking for me and put them in nice paper lawn bags (approved for use in organic systems) on the curbside for me to collect lol. I stuff the van full and end up with more than enough for my garden and compost pile. Thx for the great tips for us Canadians!!

[@edibleacres]

If you check out more recent videos from us you'll see that we have been mainly using leaf bags this winter. They have their challenges but overall are quite wonderful.

[@maydasanchezshingler7646]

Awesome advice. You nailed all the keys to keeping it hot. Have you ever tried to use a pile to heat a building like the chicken house or keep a tank of water from freezing in winter? Thanks!

[@edibleacres]

Not in this situation since we need to keep turning the compost for the chickens.

[@t9358]

Great question! That was done many years under barns and even houses. I was thinking of doing the same for chickens

[@royhoco5748]

I don't raise chickens or have access to large amounts of food scraps so in the winter I add organic alfalfa pellets for nitrogen to my compost heaps , the pellets make the compost heat up and my piles get to 160 degrees. I also grow winter rye grass on 3 acres and collect the clippings for nitrogen in the compost.

[@edibleacres]

Sounds like some good systems there.

[@MagsterKeef]

wow these are some fantastic tips. You're very creative and intelligent. Easiest sub ever, especially me being an aspiring urban homesteader in Colorado ;)

[@edibleacres]

Thanks kindly!

[@VaughnMalecki]

Mine froze. I can't wait for it to thaw out. I miss my compost.

[@edibleacres]

Try some of these ideas if you can and let me know how it works!

[@lindahernandez503]

Wow, your eggs must be amazing!

[@edibleacres]

We really appreciate them for sure, and have had folks comment that they are the best they've ever had (and many folks not comment at all, so who knows :)

[@SofaKingShit]

If you think that you have no fertiliser at all then urine luck.

[@stephenparker4735]

Here in the UK we don’t have winters like yours but I have one question; do your worms thrive in these conditions? Thanks

[@edibleacres]

I wouldn't say thrive but they survive.

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

I love your chickens

[@indyq9434]

does the pile need frequent maintenance or turning or can it just sit for weeks, months and keep generating heat? I'm thinking of making one solely for the heat source to provide some heat to a remote solar battery bank over winter. Wondering if this might work. Any thoughts? Thanks.

[@edibleacres]

Very subjective... Depending on your winter and what you build the pile with, it can stay warm for quite a while or sieze right up. If we get to 10F or colder it HAS to be a very active and well insulated pile to get through a few months. You should experiment this winter and see what you learn. Plan for making it in the fall while it is still warm next year, but experiment and learn this year.

[@tammydaly8619]

After a week of snow and freezing temperatures, I went out today and chipped at the top of my compost. First time in over a month or so. I did find worms about a foot down. It wasn't steamy, though.

[@pokeweed10k15]

Lack of volume may be my problem. I get it to a cubic yard but it shrinks and cools down

[@luclucas135]

Nice but this is by no means Very Cold Weather, over here in QC Canada we get -36 C / - 32 F !

[@rchancock]

Very good video. I think I know what I need to do to jump start my pile, Thank you.

[@davidschmidt270]

SYMBIOTIC best describes this video....

[@ShinerBockGirlz]

I never knew Colin Farrell was into gardening...wow... 😲

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Adding a pot of warm water and compost must be a great booster in winter. Never thought of adding the heat

[@snoopylyn9065]

Very nice 👍🏼 I only doing compost in a bucket !

[@mindywilliams1735]

Do you need wood chips to start a compost pile? I have 20+ bags of leaves and chickens hoping rthday enough to start a compost.

[@edibleacres]

Work with what you have. I use woodchips since they are abundant and free. The leaves should work great for you!

[@celticqaidbear]

Also dump cheap soda for the sugar. Don't use diet soda.

[@edibleacres]

I always wanted to get a sponsorship from Pepsi and now I know how!

[@SteveSilverActor]

I had good results in using bagged leaves and straw bales to insulate the 3-bin compost at our community garden. However, it did provide a shelter for rats, which is a problem in Chicago.

[@edibleacres]

Rats have a tendency to burrow down below and through the compost, which actively brings oxygen to the center of the piles, helping keep the microbes healthy and vibrant. not sure if problem or pest would be words I'd use. Different in different contexts to be sure

[@adnantariq3346]

I’ve collected about 3-4 gallons of my own piss. Nothing, not a dam effect on the compost temperature. I will admit I have 3 large wire mesh piles, and I’ve distributed my piss on all 3 piles... What in earth am I doing wrong?? Starting to think it was foolish of me peeing in gallons of jugs.

[@TheRustySpigot]

Omg South Louisiana has had more snow in a month than we have had in like 18 yrs. lol

[@edibleacres]

Yikes!

[@kieranneal8359]

We're thinking of trying to heat a small propagation greenhouse with compost. I was thinking of running water coil through a large pile similar to the Jean Pain system right outside of the greenhouse and then either installing tanks in the tunnel, or directly running the coil to pipes in the greenhouse. I've built a couple electrically heated tables similar to your propagation bench design, but I was looking to get more passive. Any ideas?

[@edibleacres]

Your first idea seems reasonable... Nice piping hot compost pile right outside the greenhouse with the water tube run through it and perhaps a solar pump to move that water through a loop of pipe buried in your growing medium to heat the soil. If you had enough room in the greenhouse you could simply build it in the greenhouse, but then you have humidity and gasses and that to deal with... Please share what you end up doing!

[@mynameisnotcory]

Maybe make a compost kiln of sorts with a fan to pump the hottest point into the greenhouse

[@arooobine]

I haven't tried this (and I know this comment is 5 years old now), but one idea I'm curious about is using wind to power the water pump. Obviously it wouldn't work everywhere but if you get a decent amount of wind, it seems like making it work would be fairly easy to improvise without spending much money. And wind can be pretty powerful.

[@spiritualhumanist]

Vegetable scraps in compost?

[@edibleacres]

Yes!

[@wojomojo]

Why collect urine when you can just repeatedly pee in the spot you need more nitrogen?

[@edibleacres]

I could run outside to our front yard where trucks and cars are zipping by all day and pee on the pile, but it's more discrete, comfortable and effective for me to collect it in containers and dump all at once every few days.

[@lasgsd1]

Quick question. I don't have ready access to leaves but I can get hold of LOTS of manure - goat, sheep, horse, cow all mixed with straw. I can get wood chips and I am looking into finding food scraps on a larger scale that what myself and my husband produce. Are the leaves critical if I have the manure? What percentages (roughly) would I need of each? I know you said your pile was 60-70% wood chips - what about the rest? I'm hoping to get a hot pile going for next winter (we are in SE Wisconsin) and have it heat the new chicken run. Thanks!!

[@edibleacres]

The leaves aren't critical at all... They are just an easy to collect ingredient for me so I go for it. I tend to go pretty heavy on the 'browns' (woodchips / leaves) and lighter on the 'greens' (manures/food scraps)... Perhaps lets say roughly 70% browns, 30% greens, or even higher on the browns. Don't over think it, you'll make it work I'm sure!

[@carlagarrett3244]

moving my bags of leaves into one big pile to get them composting better before I need them in April.

[@edibleacres]

Be sure to add some nitrogen and other raw ingredients to ensure a good break down!

[@davidschmidt270]

@@edibleacres I threw some used coffee grounds in my bags of leaves

[@Tony-Blake]

Semi-connected: What did you do about the European starlings?

[@edibleacres]

We are letting it play out. They stopped being in the coop and are around a bit but not much so it’s fine for now

[@Tony-Blake]

Aha. Who could blame the little opportunists for seeking warmth, food, and fresh water during that polar vortex?

[@edibleacres]

Thats what I feel. I'm glad I didn't intervene right away because they are 'invasive' and bad... Its good to give a situation a little moment to evolve and show itself. They are barely around now, and I kinda miss them! :)

[@jackman6256]

You can add beer that will help speed things up ?

[@edibleacres]

You mean add beer to me so I move compost faster? That works! Adding it to the compost? Haven't tried :)

[@mrstacyj9496]

your chickens look happy

[@YOURFISHINGCHANNEL]

sounds good , will try this in fall.

[@CG-ij2cu]

Just finished building my chicken coop, getting chickens in the spring can’t wait to include them in the composting process

[@edibleacres]

Great luck to you this spring! Exciting new projects I'm sure!

[@davidgonzales-ec8bo]

, I love your use of the sled hahaha

[@jdavault410]

Love it

[@queeniesongs]

Thank you so much for this!

[@edibleacres]

You're so welcome!

[@heatherjolly8389]

Collect urine.... How does one go about that

[@joycepappan4796]

Men can just pee in a jar or bucket

[@MichaelJosephJr934]

Very good info. Thank You

[@edibleacres]

Glad it was helpful!

[@TheWritingGirl]

have you done a Biomieler yet?

[@edibleacres]

No, please elaborate.

[@TheWritingGirl]

They call it a "native power" . Basically its a system where you harness the compost heat, and using it to heat greenhouses ( in our case our chicken houses and small green house) many use it to heat their water or parts of their homes. I figured with all the babies you have and the compost piles your generating that , perhaps you might have tried one . opensourceecology.org/wiki/Biomeiler

[@TheLastLogicalOne]

You just need enough volume.

[@edibleacres]

I almost agree fully with that... Except... I've had HUGE piles of woodchips never break down. Too dry, too carbon rich, and it never takes off. Leaves, in huge piles, can take multiple years for water to work its way slowly into the interior. They'll be bone bone dry after a full year, even with the outside breaking down. The ratios of Carbon to Nitrogen do matter, and moisture is really a key ingredient I've found...

[@huntergerberich1510]

I love your videos

[@edibleacres]

So glad you enjoy them :)

[@terriefriday2462]

Thanks for sharing

[@jimoliver2309]

why not bump the compost up again the chicken coop and draw the heat into the chicken coop to help heat the chicken coop with a with a heat transfer system? taking the heat from the compost pile and putting it into the chicken coop!

[@edibleacres]

We have absolutely thought about that. The challenge is the buildup of gasses and moisture if it is directly connected. The heat = great, the rest = sad... With a water transfer system we'd then need a pump or fans to move it and it just seemed too complex. Perhaps a revisit to that is in order though...

[@Lochness19]

30-40F outside and my pile is at 135F here in Southern Ontario. I think coffee grounds definitely help if you want to heat things up. Your personal consumption of coffee won't be enough to change things drastically but grab a few bucketloads or even a garbage bin full from behind your local coffee shop and it will get hot hot hot! You can even feel that the bags of coffee grounds are already quite hot as you lift them out of the coffee shop garbage bins.

[@edibleacres]

We have had the same experience... Coffee grounds help stimulate INCREDIBLE heat in an otherwise quiet compost pile. We just don't put them in our system since the chickens get no benefit from them...

[@chancesrgood4216]

I have heard of compost getting so hot it catches fire... how do you avoid this ?

[@edibleacres]

I’ve never had it catch fire. That's more with hundreds of hay bales that are wet in a barn. Very different situation to this

[@evanlyons6868]

I also found out today (in a conversation not the hard way) that linseed oil can self ignite under certain conditions similar to hay in barns - linseed oil oxidation is a exothermic reaction apparently and it has a reasonably low flash point