How to Make Compost From Start to Finish-Quick & Easy /Complete Guide with Digital Table of Contents

hi everyone one of the keys to growing lots and  lots of veggies is to feed your garden powerful   organic nutrients on a regular basis today  we're talking composting which is one of the   most powerful nutrients you can feed your garden  now if composting sounds a little intimidating   to you don't worry it's actually quick and simple  when you make your own it's practically free this   video is a little bit different I've taken my past  composting episodes put them all together in one   place so you have a comprehensive step-by-step  guide by the end of this video you're going to   know how to make a DIY compost bin how to compost  in a compost sack right behind me how to fill them   both with materials that will break down for your  garden how to make hot compost compost with grass   clippings with leaves how to have a continual  supply of compost and how to use compost on your   garden there will be a digital table of contents  in the video description so you can just click and   watch the sections you're most interested in but  when you're done watching this video you're gonna   know exactly how to make your own black/gold  that will feed your garden and grow you lots   of veggies so comment below let me know what you  learned in this video what method you're using   to compost in your backyard thank you so much  for watching we'll see at the end of the video hi everyone well today I'm going to show you how  to build a very quick very simple and inexpensive   compost bin that requires no special tools or  special skills and then you're going to be able   to fill that bin with some compost materials that  will turn into garden gold for your spring garden   let's do this let me tell you about today's  project I'm going to build my new compost bin   right here next to this planter I'm going to  use some wire mesh fencing some tea posts I'm   going to enclose it with a little door so that  I have access in and out of the bin I'm really   excited about today's project and let me tell  you about the supplies I'm gonna use a roll of   wire mesh hardware cloth this is the half inch  three foot tall wire mesh hardware cloth for   four-foot t-posts a roll of bail wire a tape  measure a hammer and a small clip and a pair   of wire cutters the ideal size for a compost pile  is really three by three feet and the reason for   that is because when it's that size you can build  up your compost enough to where it will generate   enough heat and then it will break down a lot  quicker now I don't have a three by three space   here because I'm building a necklace planter this  planter sticks out two and a half feet and I don't   want the compost bin to stick out into the walkway  so I'm gonna make mine three foot by two and a   half foot which is just fine so make sure that you  flex a little bit to fit your garden space so the   first thing I'm going to do is drive in this t  post into the ground right here with my hammer   you want to drive the T post just so the T goes  into the ground to provide it a lot of stability alright so my T post is in there it  feels nice and sturdy we're going to   measure off three feet to where  I'm going to put the next T post okay right here grab my hammer I'll get this  one pounded okay and do the same for the next   two posts all right we've got our 40 posts  pounded in the ground we're ready to roll   with our hardware cloth but before we do that I  just wanted to mention if you want to cut down   on the cost of your project even more you can  use wooden stakes that works fine too I'm using   the t-post because they're sturdier stronger  they're gonna last me longer hold up to the   elements better in the wind okay now it's time  to wrap the wire mesh hardware cloth around my   tee posts and I'm going to need an extra hand  for that so camera guy is gonna come on over   and help me and again you can adjust the prices  or the cost of your compost bin by the type of   hardware cloth or wire mesh mesh fencing  that you use there's some out there that   are less inexpensive there's some that are more  inexpensive to just go with whatever fits your   budget you might even have some on hand which  means the project would be free so all we're   doing is pulling it around or 40 posts super easy  to do you don't need any special tools or even   any special skills to do this super quick and  simple okay let's talk about all there is to it let me grab my roll of bail wire and we'll get  this thing secured to the t-post all I'm gonna   do here is just take the end of my wire mesh  wrap it around the t-post kind of squeeze it   around it like so okay there we go give it a  nice little grip there and of course you're   going to want to make sure you wear gloves  for this because there are some sharp edges   on that wire I'm gonna take my bail wire here  just cut off a piece okay a piece about like   that and if there's nice little holes here  on the t-post but make it really easy for   you to do this just take your bail wire I'm  actually gonna go around to the side here   because it's easier to twist nice and tight  so take your bail wire just twist it like so it's got a good a tap of there and snip off the  end just spend this sharp end down there you go   I'm gonna put three of these attach it in three  places along each t-post and then we'll be ready   for them to make our door okay now that I've got  my hardware cloth wired down to my tee post it's   time to cut off the excess I am gonna leave  about six extra inches past my fourth T post   so I can form my door and let me just show you  guys how I'm gonna cut it in a little tip for   what you don't want so what basically what you  do not want are exposed wires like this on the   end of your wire mesh because someone's gonna get  cut on it so you want to cut it close to the edge   here so there's no exposed wires showing so I'm  going to go ahead and cut this piece off and then   we'll talk about how I'm gonna form the door  for my compost bin now I'm gonna form our door   here of our compost bin simply going to fold  over the exposed edge here just so there's no   sharp edges so we're going to fold it about an  inch or so over inch and a half and again you   can improvise and kind of modify this to fit  the space that you have that's the beauty of   it and I've got my little clip here I'm going  to use to hook to the end of my door or the end   of my wire okay it's gonna be like my doorknob  and I have my little piece of baling wire here   so I'm just gonna kind of eyeball it here to  see if that's a good spot for it that'll work   just fine twist my bail wire on the other side  so it will hold and we're ready to clip a shed so this clip is really easy just to undo open up my little door here and I have all the  access in the world to my compost bin to stir   it around to add more compost whatever I need  to do so there you go a really quick simple and   inexpensive compost bin that you can build in  your backyard to get you started on composting   for your spring garden hi everyone on last week's  composting video I showed you how to make a super   easy DIY compost bin today I'm gonna show you  how to fill that bin with garden leaves with food   scraps it's gonna be a hot compost pile that will  break down quickly so you'll have some compost for   your Spring Garden so here's what we're gonna add  to the bin we're gonna add some branches that I've   trimmed off some trees in my yard that are kind  of dried up we're gonna add some dry leaves I'm   gonna add some food scraps some coffee grounds and  some eggshells so let's get started so first what   I'm gonna do is take my bin branches that I've  clipped off my trees in my yard I'm gonna lay   them down on the bottom of my compost bin to give  a little bit of air and air flow on the bottom   now guys I am absolutely loving my new compost  bin that I just built look at this I love this   little door I didn't have that before so it's so  much fun to have access to this bin to be able to   get in here and build my combos exactly the way I  want so these branches I'm just laying down on the   bottom and it's really important that compost has  some airflow by laying some kind of branches down   on the bottom it's gonna give the the the compost  heap a nice good airflow next what I'm gonna do is   just start layering my materials this is such an  easy way to build a compost bin compost basically   needs air and moisture to break down quickly  so here I'm just adding in a layer of leaves   these leaves are already a little bit wet because  they were sitting out here in some rain this week I'm going to add a pretty good pile of leaves  and then just hose it down layer by layer so   I'll hose this first pile down this first  layer down and then I'm gonna add a layer   of food scraps and I did collect them and keep  them in the freezer can see here they still have   ice on them still partially frozen I've had him  sitting out here overnight I'm not gonna have   to add a lot of water to this layer because  the food scraps will melt and it'll add a lot   of moisture to my layer here and if you want  to you can go ahead and kind of chop these up   with a shovel I don't always do that cuz it  takes a little more time and I like to keep   my composting process really really simple and  quick but if you want to do that they'll break   down even quicker by the way guys when you put  your food scraps in the freezer really helps the   decomposition process it speeds it up they're  already partially decomposed it's perfect for   your compost pile if you're building a compost  pack for the first time don't get too caught up   in the whole brown and green ratio you do want to  have about 1/3 food scraps - about 2/3 leaves or   grass clippings or garden waste but just throw it  in and let it rot and next I'm going to sprinkle   in a layer of coffee grounds and you can see  I've got a bunch of coffee grounds here I also   have tea bags which are just fine to add to your  compost pile along with some coffee filters and   tea filters next we've got a layer of eggshells  and these are just the materials that I happen   to have if you don't have leaves right now just  add in some grass clippings coffee grounds are   always really good for getting your compost pile  to heat up quickly the grass clippings do that as   well as far as food scraps go you can pretty much  put any food scraps and you do not want to put   meat or dairy in but anything else is just fine so  I'll go ahead and add a little bit of water here and you want your compost as far as moisture goes  when you're building your compost pile you want it   to be about the moisture that a wrung out sponge  would be you can see right here it's not dripping   wet but it definitely has some waste your to  about what you would see in a wrung out sponge   so that is absolutely perfect and then I'm just  gonna repeat the process till I have all of my   materials added in some more leaves to add okay  I've been layering and watering and layering   and watery and one technique I have to do to make  sure the water gets underneath the leaves because   sometimes your leaves can be really dry that  you're adding I just take my pitchfork and I'm   just kind of twisting the top and then watering  it down again just to make sure that water soaks   downs you don't really want any big dry spots in  there or your compost will break down very quickly   so I've got all my materials layered and watered  down here in my bin and you can see it didn't   quite have enough to get to the three-foot height  of my bin which is the optimal height for compost   but no worries all I'm gonna do is just pile it  up here like in a volcano shape in the middle   and that'll help it be higher so it gets hotter  on the inside and breaks down quicker which is   definitely the advantage of a hot compost pile it  breaks down quicker than a cold compost pile and   our compost pile is done gotta love it the next  step for our compost piles I'm going to cover it   and let it sit for about three days to get it  nice and hot and steamy starting the breakdown   process and after that I'm going to turn it  every two days and that will help it break   it down quicker checking it along the way to see  if it needs more moisture I've been turning it to   give it more air so don't be intimidated by the  compost process it's super easy to get started   just just put this piece of plastic over it  use a tarp ease whatever you have available   most important thing you can do is just get  started so please let me know in the comments   below if you're gonna build a compost pile to  get ready for your spring garden make sure you   like me on Facebook follow me on Instagram share  this video with your friends and subscribe to   this channel so you don't miss any garden updates  thanks so much for watching we'll see on the next   video hi everyone we're back at the compost pile  again today we built this pile about three days   ago hopefully you guys caught that video today  what I'm gonna do is check the temperature check   the moisture and give the pile of turn because  those are the three things that are important   to check on to make sure a compost breaks down  quickly so let's take a look and see what we   got under here cover my compost pile for a couple  of different reasons number one I want to give it   the best chance of heating up as hot as possible  and this kind of acts like a little greenhouse   effect to get it nice and hot under there the  second reason why is because I don't want the   rain completely soaking that pile so just see  what we got under here looking good nice earthy   smell and one of the first things I've noticed is  that my compost pile has shrunk which of course is   very normal it's going to settle over you know the  first couple of days it's shrunk by about a third   so let's get in here and check the temperature  there's a couple of different ways you can do this   one way I've used in the past is totally a free  method is I had this piece of rebar or some kind   of piece of metal that put in the pile for about  10 minutes or so hold it to my wrist this feels   hot which is definitely a good sign and this is  a great way to check how hot your pile is now the   second way which is a little more you know on the  accurate side is by using a compost thermometer   and I've been trying one of these out this  compost thermometer is by Rio temp Instruments   it's a really cool little handy tool again to have  around your yard and just put this in the middle   your pile it takes you know just a couple minutes  to register where the temperature is and mine   it looks like it's around 120 degrees which is  definitely hot enough to be breaking down so this   is a cool handy tool if you want to spend a little  bit bit more money and riyo temp has been great to   work with us and offer us again a 15% discount  for cali kim subscribers so if you're interested   in that the link will be in the description box  below you can pop down there and check out their   their link for this compost thermometer my payal  is definitely heating up I'm gonna actually pull   both of these tools out break up in my pile and  see about the moisture let's take a look here and   Wow can you guys see this steam coming up from the  middle of my pile it's pretty cool that means my   the inside of my pile is cooking which is going  to break down that compost even quicker so this   compost pile definitely got hot and it looks like  it's pretty wet in here and let me show you what   what I'm looking for grab a handful and you can  tell when I squeeze it together it kind of stays   together if it was too dry it would look more like  it does here on the outside of where these leaves   are really dry but I'm squeezing it it's staying  together it's it's holding that ball shape and   it's really about as moist as a wrung out sponge  so that's good too I don't think I'm gonna have   to add a lot more water to this pile but I love  how it's steaming this is really a great sign   so next thing I'm gonna do is turn it so I could  bring all the outside materials to the end and the   inside materials to that out to get my full pile  composted and some people ask isn't this compost   so hot that it's it's gonna self combust and  that's one reason the compost thermometer is super   handy because once it gets into the super hot zone  which is 140 then you do kind of have to worry   about that but right now I was about 120 which is  perfect and Wow look at that this is looking good   so basically just taking the inside moving it to  the out making sure my pile gets plenty of air   and I'm feeling the heat already guys and hey this  is a great workout too if your pile is too dry at   this point you definitely want to add some water  and then just work it in with your pitchfork so   that it's nice and moist throughout so what I'm  going to do is just pile it up again into the   volcano kind of cone shape that I had before so  it gets nice and hot again because that's what's   gonna help it break down get it nice and high as  high as I possibly can on my new compost bin and I   am really liking this thing because of the high  sides I could pile up my compost nice and high   okay that's looking pretty good and what I'm gonna  do is just leave my compost thermometer riding the   pile and that's one nice little handy thing about  this thermometer leave it in the pile I'm gonna   come out here and check it every couple of days to  make sure it's still getting hot and I'm gonna go   ahead and turn it as long as it's getting hot  if it's not getting hot I'm gonna need to add   some more materials maybe some more leaves some  more grass clippings to get this pile heated up   because that's what's gonna help it break down so  that's pretty much it let me go ahead and close   up my bin and again I'm really loving this little  door helps keep my bin contained also helps keep   my dog out don't want my dog eating all those  food scraps and that's all there is to it don't   let composting scare you it's really simple it's  really quick just follow the steps in the video   and you're gonna have a hot compost pile in no  time well there's been lots of conversation over   on my Facebook page and Instagram about composting  so make sure you're joining the conversation over   there and subscribe to this channel so you don't  miss any garden updates but the most important   thing is that you just get composting so that  you have some black gold for your spring garden   very soon hi everyone welcome back to the feeding  your garden series one of the keys to a productive   garden is to feed your plants and garden soil  powerful organic nutrients on a regular basis   so far in this series we've learned about worm  castings warm tea my favorite organic fertilizer   trifecta plus and how they feed our gardens  throughout the growing season well today we're   talking about compost why it is such a powerful  nutrient for our gardens I'm going to show you   how to build a very simple hot compost pile that's  going to break down quickly so that you have some   beautiful black gold to feed your spring garden  with compost is simply decomposed organic material   such as leaves grass clippings or vegetable  scraps I like to add compost to my garden each   planting season because not only does it reduce my  volume of trash significantly adds nutrient-rich   organic matter to the soil and promotes soil  microbes which really help with plant growth   now we gardeners like to call it black gold us ten  different gardeners had a compost you get eleven   different methods and techniques you can make just  a free-standing pile in your yard or you can make   a DIY compost bin or purchase a ready-made bin  I've done all three here is a DIY compost bin made   out of simple wire mesh fencing and t-posts and  over here I've got a ready-made bin it's actually   a compost sack works really nice for making that  black gold that we all want in our garden well   I've got some more composting materials collecting  behind me I've got some leaves some food scraps   some coffee grounds and we're gonna make a new  hot compost pile today and show you how easy it   is I'm gonna make my compost pile today in one  of these compost sacks this one's by smart pots   now I love the compost sack because it makes  composting so quick simple super inexpensive   let's get started now because the sack is so  tall I'm just gonna fold the sides of it down to   make it easier to add my compost materials you  can add anything to your compost pile that was   once a plant just don't want to add meat or dairy  products here I've got leaves I've got food scraps   I've got coffee grounds now all I'm gonna do is  start layering my items which the bin so first   I'm going to throw my leaves in this is such an  easy way to compost and compost basically needs   in water to break down Christopher got a good  amount of leaves in there so I'm gonna water   down the layers as we go these are really dry so  we're gonna water them down and then mix it in she   want it to be about the moisture of a wrung out  sponge so the smaller your leaves are the quicker   they're gonna break down into compost minor are  just shredded up pretty good but if we want to   shred them up a really easy way to do it it's  gonna lay them out on your lawn and run over them   with your lawnmower these need just a little bit  more water so I'm going to water them down again next I'm going to add a layer of food scraps  now I like to collect my food scraps in the   freezer so I can make a big huge pile all  at once and these are all just a little bit   icy still even though I took them out of  the freezer last night so I shouldn't even   have to add too much water to this layer  now if you want to you can chop them up   with a shovel to break them down even more  now I'm just going to keep repeating that   process to my compost bin is full watering in  between layers if my materials are to drive don't get too caught up in the ratio of browns  to greens typically Browns come from trees like   leaves and pine needles and the greens come from  kitchen scraps and coffee grounds typically you   want to have three parts of brown and one part  green again don't get too caught up in that just   basically throw them in and let them rot coffee  grounds are great to add to your compost pile   and really get things cooking if you have trouble  collecting enough coffee grounds at your house ask   her out at the local coffee shops they're usually  willing to collect it for you and give it away for   free one thing I really do like about the compost  stack if you don't have enough materials collected   to make a big tall three-foot high compost pile  the sides pull down really nicely so you can make   a nice small one and still keep it contained  and neat looking from the side of your house so compost pile is done nice and moist about  the consistency of a wrung out sponge that's   just about right and I filled this compost hack  just as full as I possibly could because I mean   your hot composting the bigger the better you  can certainly make a small pile they'll heat up   quicker and break down faster if it gets nice and  hot now I like to put a piece of rebar or a metal   garden stake in the middle of my compost pile so  I can come out here after it's been sitting about   three days to check and see if it's gotten hot or  you can use a compost thermometer if you have one   so the next step is to cover it up to keep any  rain or moisture off and the cover also in now   as your compost sits here be aware it's going to  settle just like the compost sack next to it has   now just to show you how well this hot compost  method works the compost sack I have already go   in here for a couple of weeks it's cooking away  right in the green hot zone there at about 90   degrees now I've been coming out and turning this  every couple of days and so far it's working great   and it's time to turn it again when you turn it  and water it every two to three days it's getting   the air and moisture it needs to compost quickly  and will break down in a matter of about three to   four weeks so you have some great black gold to  feed your garden so I'm just going to twist my   pitchfork to turn my pile and Wow look at that  steam coming out this compost pile is cooking it looks like feels nice and hot  it's still pretty moist but if   it looks dry and go ahead and put  some water on it look at how it's   nice and black starting to break  down beautifully path looks great now if your compost pile is not heating up  chances are you'd to add a few more green   ingredients so add some more coffee grounds  or grass clippings that haven't been treated   with chemicals it's too wet add some more dry  ingredients like dried shredded leaves and reduce   your watering so whether you have a hot compost  pile that breaks down quickly or a small colder   one don't worry about it the cold one will still  break down eventually and compost will happen you   can tell your compost is finished when it's nice  and black it has a nice earthy smell and there's   not too many recognizable materials in it now  this is ready to add to my containers and to   my garden soil compost is super easy to add  to the garden you can just add a handful to   your existing container plants add a handful  in when you're transplanting and add an inch   or two over your garden beds as you're getting  ready for spring well I'm super excited to see   the compost in these compost acts breakdown this  compost sack is amazing it has about a hundred   gallon capacity I'm just gonna provide me a lot  of compost for my Spring Garden thank you so much   smart pots for supplying the compost sack and for  sponsoring this episode to learn more about smart   pots go to smart pots com there's a link in the  video description and where you can purchase one   composting made quick simple and inexpensive it's  a great way to something you would normally throw   away to make wonderful powerful organic nutrients  to feed your spring garden so comment below let   me know if you're building a hot compost pile or  a cold one thank you so much for watching we'll   see on the next video hi everyone I'm over here by  my hot compost pile that we built just a few weeks   ago if you missed that video you definitely want  to go back and check it out so you can jump in on   compost so you can have some beautiful black gold  to feed your spring garden with I've had several   questions on turning the compost and these big  compost sacks so I want to jump on here today and   share with you a few tips well in just a moment  I'm going to show you how I like to turn the   compost in my compost sack but before I do that  I thought you might like to see my compost system   that I have going on here so I basically have  three different compost piles at various stages of   completion to help ensure that I have a continual  supply I have compost for my garden so this first   bin here that I did a video on a little while back  and I do like to keep all my bins cover just to   keep the moisture out and the heat in you can see  this piece of plastic has gotten all ripped up by   the bins that you've had but basically this bin is  made out of a wire mesh fencing and some Chi posts   are really simple Ben to build but this is really  my bin that's a work in progress so I basically   just built this with a bunch of shredded leaves  and I also throw in here my food scraps as I   collect in the kitchen now sometimes I do collect  those food scraps in the freezer so I can build a   big huge pile at once but my freezer was kind of  starting to smell and I really did want to do that   anymore so now I come out here and throw them in  this bin and I do come out and water this down and   turn it about once a week but I'm really not too  concerned if this is a hot compost pile because   I'm gonna move this into one of my compost sacks  when that compost finish so this is pile number   one compost pile number two is in a smart pots  compost hack and this is the one you saw cook it   away on my hot compost video a few weeks ago and  it's still cooking pretty good now I was out here   and turned it a few days ago but let's check the  temperature my compost thermometer and it looks   like it's still nice and hot and about a hundred  degrees still active and you can see this compost   is starting to break down it looks beautiful nice  and black not quite finished but I have been using   it as mulch on my garden beds so this will break  down over the period over the next few weeks when   it's fully broken down I will put it into this bin  right here and that leaves this compost sack open   to move my materials from bin number one into bin  number two and we'll get that cooking and breaking   down for me also pile number one is my least  broken down pile pile number two is my most broken   down pile and pile number three is somewhere  in the middle now this is the pile we built a   few weeks ago on the hot compost pile video we  built it in a smart pots compost sack which by   the way is a super convenient way to build a  compost pile when we built it was filled all   the way to the top with our compost materials and  you can see how much it's settled as the compost   broken-down now I've been turning it every three  to four days it's definitely cooking away let's   put our thermometer in and see how hot it is  right now wow this pile is really cooking at   120 degrees which means we have the right mix  of browns and greens the right size this pile   will be breaking down quickly to give us black  gold for our Spring Garden so dig in with our   pitchfork and get this compost pile turned first  I'm going to fold up the sides so we don't have   a lot of leaves spilling over the edge but if it  does it's no big deal you know I'm going to get   in here with my pitchfork and just start giving  it a twist now the two things compost needs to   break down or air and water if you can get it hot  enough it'll break down even quicker so basically   I'm just digging with my pitchfork and turning it  I can already feel the heat from my hot compost   you know if your compost looks dry at this point  you definitely want to add some water but mine   looks pretty good I added some water the other  day so it's not too bad now people have asked   me how do you get to the bottom of this compost  hack well it is a bit of a workout but it can be   done so basically I just twist and turn my leaves  pile them up to one side and dig down in there as   good as I can to get the bottom layer even if you  don't bring the bottom layer all the way up to the   top you can get down in there and get it twisted  around and get that bottom layer good and aerated and I'm bringing up some from the bottom  and you can see how it's looking good it's   definitely breaking down whoo this is a  workout the most important thing is that   you get air down to that bottom layer don't  just do the same thing on the other side now notice how much darker the materials are  there am bringing up from the bottom are which   is a good sign that my compost is breaking down  and it's gonna provide me some nice black gold   and organic nutrients from my garden so exciting  well the compost is looking fabulous of a turning   and watering and this compost sack is you really  doing the trick hi everyone well today I'm going   to show you how to make some super simple compost  you can do it even over the winter time when it's   super cold outside so that you have some nice  fresh compost come spring planting time in a   couple of months that you can feed your garden  with now it's super easy just uses the power of   the Sun and something you probably already  have lots of around your backyard leaves I   love using leaves around my garden to make great  mulch for the garden beds and when they're nice   and broken down they make great compost to feed  your soil as well really bring in the worms at   organic matter to the soil and add a lot of great  aeration to the soil also now I don't have a lot   of big trees around my garden but if you watched  our live stream on Sunday you saw my friend Harry   stop by he always is so kind to collect all the  leaves from his big trees for me so I've got a   couple nice big backs today and with one very  small modification we can turn these bags of   leaves into compost in just a couple of months  or even less with solar energy now a lot of the   leaves in this bag are already nice and shredded  up but I'm gonna get in here with my gloves and   see if I can crunch them up some more because the  smaller the leaves are the quicker they're gonna   break down you can also do this with the lawn  mower you can just pour your bag of the leaves   out all over your lawn and run over them with  your lawn mower and that breaks them down nice   and small as well and it's really quick for the  small amount I'm just gonna get here with my hands   my leaves are getting nice and shredded they're  looking really good and now it's time to harness   the power of the Sun now if you live in a cold  winter climate and it's snowy and cold outside   you might think that you can't make compost  over the winter time not true all you need   is heat and moisture well you might ask how am I  going to get heat outside when I live where it's   really cold well one simple modification is bags  of leaves instead of using a clear plastic bag   I'm actually gonna put them into a black plastic  bag and that will act as a solar Iser will heat   up the compost heat up the leaves and break them  down over the winter so let's get started on this just going to transfer my  leaves over to this black bag well do you remember what I said earlier in the  video about the two things that are needed to   break something down into compost that's right  heat and moisture well your black plastic bag   will act as a solar Iser when you put it in  the Sun heating up your leaves so breaks them   down into nice compost now the second thing we  need though is some moisture now my leaves are   pretty dry if your leaves have been outside  in the rain and the snow would have gotten   wet you won't need to worry about this  part but I'm going to just ask my back so my leaves have the moisture that they need in  here now to break down over the wintertime just   one step left that is to tie up this garbage  bag and put it in the sunniest spot in my yard   now if you live in the area where you get a lot  of snow you want to come out right now and then   and make sure it's not completely buried in snow  brush some of the snow off make sure you still   have some good moisture in there but that's pretty  much it you're gonna let the Sun do the work over   the winter time so it's time for spring planting  we'll have some nice compost to feed your garden   beds with if you'd like to support me here on my  channel please head over to my website and check   out the digital products I have for sale over  there we have a really fun garden coloring book   calorie is not just for kids these days you know  drawn from actual photos of my garden so that's   a lot of fun you'll also find my ebook called  growing five warm weather vegetables made easy   detailed step-by-step instructions on how you can  grow five warm weather vegetables just in time for   spring planting and both my digital products also  make great Christmas gifts as well so thank you so   much for your support comment below let me know  how you're composting over the winter time thank   you so much for watching we'll see on the next  video hi everyone I am really excited about this   compost I know I've done lots of compost videos  before but this one is working out really good   for me right now so I just wanted to talk a little  bit about what I've been doing and then I'm gonna   build a new compost pile based on how I built this  one so this here is a fairly finished compost pile   in about three weeks and I cannot believe how  hot this compost pile got within the first 24   hours of me building it Hey look at this stuff  nice and black there's still chunks of you know   sticks and different things in it but for the most  part I'm calling this done nice and black and oh   it smells so good I love the smell now just to let  you know a little bit about the system that I do   is I build a compost pile completely from start  to finish let it compost for about three weeks   and then when it's done I move it over into this  silver bin right here and that's what I'm going   to do right now because I'm going to show you  how I built this pile and I was really excited   because it finished up really really quickly and  got super hot just like I said so I'm just gonna   scoop the step over and to my other bin here and  that way I can use it for my garden and I don't   usually like to sift my compost I just throw it  in the garden and take out the big chunks but   this is done enough for me I've got a whole bunch  of more materials that I need to get making a cut   another compost pile so this is all gonna go into  this bin okay that should take care of it there   we go this is ready for a new compost pile okay  so let me just tell you a little bit about what   I did here and I was actually really surprised  that it heated up so quickly I used simply food   scraps and grass clippings a little bit of coffee  grounds a little bit of eggshells and a little bit   of leaves and I think the reason why I heated  up so quickly is because I had way more grass   clippings than I usually have and Wow seriously  you guys I had to come out here and check on this   pile every couple of days cuz honestly I was a  little bit nervous about how hot it was getting   and being so close to my house so I'm gonna go  ahead and build a new pile I've collected a bunch   of materials and just show you what I did I just  used what I had on hand and I just actually want   to encourage you guys that composting is so easy  just use whatever you have on hand that's what I   did and this time it just worked really really  well so there's no way I'm getting rid of those   grass clippings from when I mow the lawn so let  me just tell you a little bit about what I do   I have my my bin here and first I've got over  here a pile of a little woodier things that I   pull out of the garden I'm gonna put this on the  bottom because that'll help give a little bit of   air and a little bit of substance to the bottom  of the pile so I'm actually gonna take my sharp   ended shovel here and just kind of pound all this  stuff up break it up as best I can into pieces   I just throw stuff I pull out a garden out of  the garden in this pile and I save it for when   I am building a new compost pile okay I'm just  gonna layer this stuff there's my pitchfork my   pitchfork layer-by-layer into my bin here and  the important thing is to water down each layer   because compost needs water and air it's pretty  much all I've done is just spread a thin layer   here have this kind of woody garden waste and  then pound it up a little bit more I like to try   and get it as snow pretty broken up although I'm  not a hard-and-fast about sad but I'm gonna chop   it with my sharp ended shovel and then I water  each layer I grab my hose over here it's really   pretty easy it seems like the more I think about  it honestly the less it works the quick where I do   it the simpler I keep it the better it works so I  got my one pile here and then I I throw a handful   of finished compost that's just kind of activates  it and my next layer is gonna be grass clippings   so I've got a pile of grass clippings over here  just take my pitchfork grab a couple and these   kind of tend to get matted down so I do have to  get in there and spread them out these I think   we used from when we cut the grass a couple of  weeks ago so they're kind of matted you can tell   they've already started to decay a little bit  there's that white kind of grass mold now let   me just tell you when you make compost with a lot  of grass clippings once it starts to break down   it's gonna smell much smell like manure okay  even camera guy goes that stuff smells and the   reason for that is if you think about how cows  produce manure they pretty much to graff and it   passes through their stomach and it's basically  decomposed the craft that they poop out so this   isn't the best smelling stuff in the world but  hey it works okay so I've got my pile of grass   clippings here I want to kind of break them up and  then I'm gonna add some food scraps so let me go   grab my food scraps okay before I add my food  scraps I'm going to throw a little bit of water   on these grass clippings not too much because a  lot of my fruits food scraps have been sitting   in my extra refrigerator or even my freezer for a  couple of weeks while I collected enough to build   a new compost pile and a lot of them are pretty  damp so your compost pile what I always try and   do is it should be about the dampness of a wet  sponge like when you squeeze it it should kind   of stick together so these food scraps had a lot  of moisture in them so I don't need to add a lot   of moisture here to the grass clippings okay dump  some on oh those are real wet those are like old   watermelon rinds and all kinds of stuff they've  been sitting for a while and again I'm gonna go   ahead and chop this up now this is just how I do  it there's lots of different ways to compost but   this is just what I found works best for me  and kind of the nice thing about it is it is   pretty physical I know some people buy those you  know fancy compost tumblers and that's great but   this is free it works for me and it's also a good  workout so I really like it okay so I got a layer   of food scraps in there and next what I'm going  to add is I've collected just not a lot of leaves   but a little bit of leaves that I had around my  garden just sitting under under trees and that   kind of thing and I think that's the difference  here between the way I compost in the winter and   the way I'm composting now in the summertime  when I have lots of grass clippings don't have   a lot of leaves now like I do in the winter time  but I do have a few so I'm going to add those in   because those do add good Browns it's definitely  helped heat up your pile too so add a layer in and   these leaves are pretty well crushed up and broken  down so that really helps to the help and break   down pasture in the compost pile and again I'm  watering here oops got a little don't want that in   there watering here again and now it's time for a  little more of this finished compost just sprinkle   a little bit okay and then I'm pretty much just  gonna repeat the layers till I get this pile as   high as I possibly can with the materials that I  have so let me go ahead and do that and we'll come   back and show you how it looks okay we are almost  done and my last few layers are actually going to   be all grass clippings so I'm going to want to put  the hose actually I'm putting them in pretty thin   layers and watering because the grass clippings  tend to get matted down so you do want to water if   you have to add a lot all at once water in between  layers a few more and then we are just about done okay well as you can see it's kind of a messy  job it doesn't help that my hose leaks either   look at that got to get that fixed too okay so  I've got my layers built now some of you might   be saying I know what you're thinking that there's  no way this pile at this height is gonna get hot   I actually got a wonderful tip from a viewer  last fall when I was first trying to build a   hot compost pile and this viewer said to build  this up into like a volcano type shape so that's   usually what I do once I get my layers built I  just scoop it all up as high as I possibly can   now the ideal height is really three feet but  you know what I've never gotten at three feet   I just collect the materials that I have get as  high as I possibly can with what I have on hand   so I would just encourage you to do that don't  wait to have enough to make a three-foot pile   just start composting and that's what I did here  with these grass clippings and you just kind of   pull everything to the center and get it as high  as you possibly can and you didn't even really   have to have a frame I just actually had this old  wood frame here but you could really just pile it   up on the ground and it would work just as well  okay so I think I've got this about as high as   it's gonna get okay and it doesn't matter if the  layers all stay together or anything like that   okay that's probably maybe two feet high I don't  know we'll see and I'm gonna water it down one   more time so it's good and wet and what I like to  do to be able to tell if it's getting hot I've got   this little it's not a piece of rebar but it is  metal and I like to just stick it in the middle   I'll put it right over here let's stick it in the  middle so that way it can tell come tomorrow when   I pull this out kind of hold it on my skin hear  how hot it is okay I don't have to dig into it   all right so I'm gonna leave that and I actually  cover it I'm going to cover it with the tarp and   I am hoping that within 24 hours this pile is  steaming hot if it worked like it did the last   time it'll be steaming hot by tomorrow afternoon  now I'm going to turn this in three days and we're   going to come back and do another video then and  we're going to show you guys the next steps base   we're going to turn it and this pile is going to  be done in about three weeks that's all there is   to it really use what you have on hand that's all  I did it's very simple to compost and the reason   why you want to compost is because you're creating  soil for your garden something that will feed your   garden out of the things that you're going to  throw away your grass clippings your food scraps   your garden waste your whatever you have around  the house that's all there is to it folks ok   thanks a lot for watching we'll be back to show  you the progress pretty soon he'll in the next   video good morning everyone just getting ready  to make some breakfast and I want to go out and   check my compost pile that I built it was like a  day and a half ago I just want to see if it's hot   yet the last one I built with grass clippings got  hot like 24 hours later so I'm gonna go be able to   look before breakfast the good sign if you can  smell the grass clippings when you walk around   the corner well right now I think I smell the  neighbor's cookin breakfast so I'll have to see well it feels warm let's uncover it and take  a look really hoping this one works as well as   the last one whoo now you can smell it here's my  Miller rod I put in the other day see if it's hot   ooh definitely definitely is okay this is working  guys I'm not going to turn it today because what   I'd like to do is turn it on the third day we'll  flip it around and put the bottom layer on the top   and the top layer on the bottom so when we do  that we'll come back again but this pile it's   definitely getting warm it's still nice and wet  I think this is gonna cook down pretty fast so   just a little quick little progress report here  on my compost pile we'll see in a little while   well I've been having trouble with my compost pile  getting it hot now I'll tell you in a minute why   it's important to have a hot compost pile but  first I've rebuilt my pile made a new hopefully   hot compost pile based on some viewer suggestions  so I'm really excited to see if it's hot let's go   check it out I've got it all covered up here cuz  we've had some rain this week it's been sitting   for about a week now and Wow the first thing  I've noticed as I uncover it is it has shrunk   tremendously when I built it last week it was  probably about up to here is about two and a   half feet high and it's gone down by about a foot  so that's one thing now let's check and see I've   got this piece of rebar sticking in here and I  did this because rebars metal it conducts heat   if I pull it out and it's hot that means we've  gotten some success so let's pull it out and check   it out it definitely feels warm all right let me  dig into it and see how it looks on the inside ah okay what we're gonna do what I'm gonna do is  just dig into the middle because that's where   it's gonna be the hottest and it's got a lot of oh  wow I don't know if you can see the steam coming   up but it's got steam coming up from the middle  and that is definitely a good sign like my hand   in there yes it is definitely cooking folks we  have success let me pull it apart and we'll check   out the middle and see how well it's breaking  down so far what you want to do for a compost   pile is move the inside to the outside and the  outside to the inside so all the material can   break down and it's definitely breaking down  really well so far Wow in just a week it has   breaking down tremendously Wow look at that steam  that is great I'm so excited perfect and look how   well it's breaking down a week ago that was this  was just a pile of leaves and grass clippings now   let me just tell you real quick the benefits  of a hot compost pile for me I was putting   the cold compost in my garden and I was getting  all kinds of weed seeds and vegetable seedlings   popping up in places where I didn't want them so  I decided to try and build a hot compost pile so   that I could put the compost on my garden and not  have to worry about that because a hot compost   pile kills all that and kills many diseases  from plants that you might have put in your   compost pile that has diseases so if you want  to build a hot compost pile go back and check   out part two on how this was built and you'll  see how you can have a [ __ ] hot compost pile   as well so hey I'm really excited about the  success of this thank you so much to all the   viewers who contributed their suggestions and  their tips and hopefully by the springtime this   will be completely broken down I'll have some  great compost to put on my garden so thanks a   lot for watching and we'll see you next time  hi everyone described some compost here today   to make some compost tea not only does compost  tea feed my garden plants but it's quick the way   I like to make it it's very simple the best part  about it is it's free so I want to share with you   five reasons why I love using compost tea in my  garden and then show you how easy it is to make well the first thing I love about using  compost tea in my garden is it provides   my plants with lots of great fast-acting  nutrients the second thing I love about   making my own compost tea is it really  increases my plants growth which gets   food on my table quicker third I love how it  provides all the beneficial bacteria microbes   for the soil which really help my plants be  healthy and strong and really tolerates stress   better the fourth thing is it avoids the use  of chemical fertilizers in my garden because   I want to have an organic garden and the fifth  thing is and one of my favorites is it's quick   it's simple and because I'm using my own  compost it's totally free so let me show   you how easy it is so making compost tea is so  easy you only need two ingredients just compost   and water so I'm gonna make it here in this  5-gallon bucket and just fill it up with water so one thing that's important when you're making  your compost tea is to let your bucket sit for   about 24 hours because this way all the chlorine  will evaporate out if you use chlorinated water   it'll kill off the beneficial bacteria and  microbes which are one thing they make compost   tea so effective for your garden so I actually  have a bucket over here that I made yesterday   it's been sitting out here for about 24 hours  so the chlorine is out of it slowly move this   over and it's so easy to make compost tea the  only thing you really need to do is dump your   compost into your bucket now that's the great  thing about this method is it's easy it's just a   simple steeped bucket brewed tea doctor I don't  even use a bubbler bubbler a lot of people use   which is great for aeration to help the beneficial  bacteria and microbes really get some good action   in there but I just like to use a stick keeps  it easier I keep it simple then I'll actually   do it so just stir it around here and I am  gonna let this sit for about 24 to 48 hours   so it gets nice and strong has a lot of good  nutrition for my plants and I'm gonna come out   here and stir it probably in the morning and in  the evening and that way get some good aeration   over the next couple of days now you can use it  right away if you want to it'll be a little bit   weaker but I am gonna use it right away today to  water my strawberry towers right back here okay so   I'm just going to take some of the compost tea  from the orange bucket here and put it into my   watering can and you can actually strain it if  you want to too so that you don't have all the   compost and your water you can I don't really care  about that and you can see I took the nozzle off   my watering can so it doesn't get all plugged up  by the compost so I'm just gonna fill my watering   can hear and my strawberry create Tower will  actually will absolutely love the compost tea   I try and water with it about once a week and  let me show you how great my strawberry towers   are looking too the strawberries are producing  are absolutely gorgeous look at these they're   nice and big they're red oh my gosh absolutely  love these they're really sweet and juicy and   they love the compost tea so it's super easy to  do I'm just gonna water water with it like this   and that's pretty much all there is to it it's  really really easy it's something incredible   that you can use on any of your garden plants you  can actually water with it as often as you want   it's never gonna burn your plants it's just going  to provide a nice gentle fertilizer for them and   you can even add some fish fertilizer or some  Epsom salt if you want to to make it an organic   fertilizer and just water your plants this way  anytime you want to so that's really all there   is to it compost tea is so quick so simple and  free to use in your garden I mean look what it's   doing to my strawberries I absolutely love it if  you're using compost tea in your garden comment   below let me know and let me know how you like  to make it and make sure you go over and visit   my website Kali Kim garden home calm people are  sharing some incredible life changing stories   over there you don't want to miss it thank you  so much for watching we'll see y'all next video

Channel: CaliKim29 Garden & Home DIY

Views: 1,103,868

Keywords: how to compost, compost made easy, easy compost, complete compost guide, digital table of contents, DIY compost bin, how to make easy compost bin, hot compost, compost sack, how to make a compost pile, cold compost, composting with grass clippings, composting with leaves, compost materials, compost tea, compost thermometer, how to compost at home, how to make compost, composting for beginners, how to make compost from kitchen waste, how to make compost at home

Id: OAVgBD1C3zU

Length: 58min 20sec (3500 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 28 2018