- [Narrator] 18 day fast compost and the tools that are
needed are very few. Just a pitchfork, a hard
rake and a waterproof cover. The materials to be composted are materials that have lived before. So if it has lived, it can live again. And they need to be assembled in a combination of
carbon to nitrogen ratio and the ideal ratio is somewhere between 25 to 30 parts
carbon, to one part nitrogen. To list a few components, we need to quote the carbon content to the nitrogen content. Nitrogen always being one part, and the larger number is the carbon part. Seven to one is fish, but
500 to one is sawdust. One to one is urine, 16 to one is cow manure, 12 to one chicken manure, 10 to one pigeon manure, eight to one rabbit manure and 18 to one, horse manure. But 150 to one, dry tree leaves. 25 to one green grass
clippings or green weeds and 250 to one shredded paper. Any of these with numbers that are higher than 30 to 50 parts are high carbon materials and are slow to break down
and need to be shredded to increase their service area. Anything that is less than
25 to one does not need to be shredded because it
will break down very fast. Materials need to be
piled up as 1/3 brown, high carbon material that is cut up into small shredded size to
increase the service area. 1/3 manure, if it's old manure, it needs to be powdered or chopped. If it's damp, fresh manure,
it can just be piled as 1/3, and 1/3 fresh green material. The total needs to come to
one cubic meter as a minimum. So, it's a combined pile
of one cubic meter plus, which will stand 1.5 meters
high in a gravity fall pile. Pitchfork together one material at a time basically mixed one, two,
three with each pitchfork pile. The pile can be assembled while
it is continuously watered, it can then be covered
and left for four days. An activator can be placed
in the center of the heap and it only needs to be
one to two liters in size. Activators can be chopped up Comfrey, Nettle or Yarro leaves, fish and animal body, good, old compost or urine can be added as a liquid. It can be added as individuals
or as a combination. The pile then can be covered once it is completely saturated
and left for four days. After four days, it
should just be warming. It then can be turned, and again covered. The moisture content needs
to be adjusted constantly to just drip when squeezed. A good, big handful of compost
and a very strong squeeze should make just one drip. After four days, it can be turned and left for two more days, and then turned again every
other day for 14 days. Day six to day eight should be hottest. If you insert your hand into the heap, it should be very uncomfortable to keep your hand inside the heap. The temperature needs to be
between 50 and 70 degrees, 55 to 65 is ideal. If you have a compost thermometer, it can be used to accurately
take the temperature. If it is cooler on the outside
and hotter in the middle, it means it's a little bit too dry. If it's hotter on the outside
and cooler in the middle, it means it's a little bit too wet. Each day from day eight it
gets a little bit cooler until we get to the final day on day 18. On day 18, it should be
just warm, dark brown and nearly black, the
same size or very close to one cubic meter in size, have a nice, earthy smell and the
material should be fine and not look like the materials
that it started out as. If there are problems with the
compost not getting too hot, the first thing to check
is is it big enough? Is it one meter plus? Is it 1.5 meters high? If it's big enough then
how is the moisture? Is it too wet, or is it too dry? If everything is okay but
the size and the moisture, then it must be that the brown, high carbon material needs to be shredded. If that material is okay
and it's all shredded then it can only be one thing, it needs to have more nitrogen. You need to add the nitrogen and add two more days to the time. If it gets too hot
quickly and loses volume and smells rank, plus
there are white threads and white powder all the
way through the heap, then the nitrogen content is too high, and you need to add more brown, high carbon material that's
shredded and add two more days. (gentle music)
