Everything We've Learned About Making Your Own Compost)

Today's all about composting. I'm going to show you our process to make these black gold to enrich our garden soil and also keep our plants healthy and strong. What I'm doing here is top dressing this tomato container with homemade compost and this feeds the plant directly to improve moisture retention. Look at the loaded tomato plant this produces. Top dressing is one of the gentlest way to feed your plants throughout the growing season. This harvest tray shows what regular composting feed can achieve. Anyone can create the success at home whether you have a sprawling garden or just containers in a balcony. This lush garden with blooming flowers and thriving vegetable demonstrate composting in action. Every plant here benefits from our homemade compost creating a sustainable cycle where kitchen scraps and garden waste become nutrient-rich soil amendment. Even these brown leaves I'm removing aren't waste. They're valuable materials heading straight to the compost bin. Your garden literally provides the ingredients for its own nourishment. Now let me take you back to spring when I was preparing these beds. I'm filling the bottom with unfinished compost twigs and brown leaves. These materials are absolute gold for budget gardeners. All these materials are completely free whether it's your own compost or yard cleanup materials. You're looking at hundreds of dollars worth of soil amendment that costs nothing but time. This is our original enclosed composter that's been working for months. When I dig down here we've got beautiful finished compost ready to use. We then added this new vego garden modular composting bin and this solves our composting challenge. Our plan here is to use this open bin to collect fresh materials while the enclosed bin processes older materials creating continuous compost production. To start our new bin I'm gathering brown materials for carbon and green leaves for nitrogen. Inside our garage we have dried kitchen scraps from our electric composting machine. We've been collecting this since winter when outdoor composting is very challenging. For a final layer I'm adding cow manure. This introduces beneficial microorganisms that speed up decomposition and acts like a turbo boost for your pile. I'm starting with brown leaves at the bottom for drainage and air circulation. Next comes the green layer for nitrogen balance. Now I'm adding those dried kitchen scrap and this layer is optional. And here's an important note, avoid meat dairy or oily foods as they attract pests. Finally I'm sprinkling cow manure or you can also use finished compost to introduce beneficial microorganisms. I'm repeating this process and ending with brown leaves on top to reduce odor. Another thing to keep in mind is location. We position ours in partial shade under our cherry tree. At the same time the tree benefits from nutrient-rich liquid that drains from the pile. And lastly you want to water your compost. It should feel like wrung out sponge, moist but not soggy. This initial watering activates microorganisms and start decomposition. Your garden continuously provides compost materials. As an example we've separated inedible radish leaves which became valuable green materials. These spent pea plants are excellent since legumes fix nitrogen. They make up for both brown and green materials. Also these dried garlic stems can go in whole or cut up. Smaller pieces will break down faster and longer pieces add structure. So you can choose to cut up your materials or leave it alone. Either way it's fine. Garden weeds work too, just avoid the ones that have gone to seed. And lastly this dying squash vine completes the perfect cycle and we'll add this too. Not everything should go in your compost. For example these zucchinis have powdery mildew. Diseased materials can spread problems and I'm putting these in our brown bag for pickup. If you don't have an organic pickup you can safely burn the leaves or dispose in regular garbage. Same with these swiss chard leaves which has been infested with leaf miners. And any leaves that are covered with aphids as well can go in a brown bag. You also want to avoid any seedy materials unless you want surprise plants everywhere. For example this borage has gone to seed and this plant seeds heavily. I'm collecting the flowering stems which contains all the seeds and I'm putting it back in the same container to self-seed next year. Same goes for this marigold. Just look how much seeds it contains in a single flower. A single feverfew flowers contains tons of seeds so if you add this into your compost you can end up spreading these throughout your garden. Now let me show you how this two bin system works. I'm collecting the finished compost from the bottom of our open bin through the easy access panel. I then transfer the composted materials to the enclosed bin keeping the cycle going. And after pushing down the remaining materials to make some room I'm harvesting beautifully finished compost from the enclosed bin. And we use the finished compost to top dress our garden beds and containers. Now most vegetables need monthly feeding and compost provides gentle long-lasting nourishment that improves soil structure and feeds beneficial microorganisms. Now there you have it a complete system that turns waste into garden gold. Whether starting with one bin or scaling up like ours composting reduces waste creates free fertilizer and builds healthier soil. And lastly start small be patient and remember every scrap is an opportunity to create something amazing for your garden. Happy composting and thanks for watching.