Compost Making Q&A
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ส.ค. 2024
- I answer questions such as the importance of heat, or not, whether sides need to be slatted, and what to do about rats. See amazing footage of a rat and stoat fighting, filmed by Edward. I had thought it was a weasel, thanks for your corrections.
Learn more about compost making in my new book charlesdowding...
It's also available in digital: charlesdowding...,
And in a special offer with my Sowing Calendar charlesdowding...
You can join my channel for access to perks, such as exclusive videos from me every month:
/ @charlesdowding1nodig
Videos all have Spanish subtitles, and this one will have from 1st December.
Filmed and edited at Homeacres no dig garden on 29th November 2020, by Edward Dowding my son. Climate is zone 8 temperate oceanic - just five frosts this year, so far!
My earlier videos on making compost are:
1 in late winter, about starting a new heap • Making compost from ga...
2 in autumn, I explain successions of heaps, from currently being created to mature and ready • Compost Making (2) Cha...
3 in summer, how to prepare and balance the materials you add • Compost Making, balanc...
In my online course 1, I explain and show about best ways to use compost as well as to make it charlesdowding...
We sell a package of two online courses at reduced price charlesdowding...
And module 5 sold separately for just £25, has lessons all about making and using compost charlesdowding...
Find more advice about making compost on my website page charlesdowding....
See also the videos and posts of my Instagram account / charles_dowding
Every time I see you, Charles Dowding, I wish you were my Uncle! You are a joy and a delight and I really appreciate you! :)
I second that!
Wow, thank you
I share those sentiments.
Ditto Tim March 👍🏻; . These learnings from Charles should be part of the school curriculum . knowledge gained and digested will carry forth for Many generations ~> priceless info.
I feel the same
"...where you are basically working with and encouraging wildlife and letting the wildlife find the balance" - that is gracious Charles. No wonder the Nature loves you.
Weird, I was reading this comment right when he started saying it. 😄🤔
I've watched all your videos 4 or 5 times ... I can never get enough of your compost system. Very informative video, even caught a couple of things I haven't learned from you before. Thanks much.
Glad you like them Ted
Thank you so much for teaching us about compost and gardening, so interesting! You are a great teacher! God bless!🤗💜
Thanks so much Cami
As informative and honest, plain spoken as ever Charles. I learn something every time I watch one of your videos, even though I have been gardening for 50 years. I am very proud you are a Somerset man
Anne Gullo, D & G
I appreciate that, thanks
Shropshire man I believe 😀
I just how love how relaxed and soothing this video (and every other) is, and yet still so packed with info. Such a joy to watch :)
I'm so glad!
Thank you 😊🤗😊 I would love some weasels in the garden
Now to get going in the garden. I am enjoying Autumn so much. I am a retired teacher. All my working life at this time of year meant leaving and returning home in the dark. Also so much work to do marking and preparing reports etc in to the nights. This is the first year of Autumn in the garden and it is so wonderful. I love the cool dampness and when the sun shines it seems more golden.
Rats are cute little buggers. We used to keep some as pets and they are quite smart and nice cuddly animals.
They are. It's difficult. I used to be overrun with rats (before I moved house). It's so cruel to poison them because they really suffer, and they were too smart to get caught in catch-and-release traps. I had weasels, buzzards, feral cats etc but the rat population was still big. They were charming and loveable, but all the same I'm glad I don't have them in my new house. (It's because it used to be a smallholding, so lots of animal feed around.) I guess the population has slowly rebalanced itself over time. Nature always wants balance.
They're intelligent, I admire them for that but they're a massive vector for disease. If they come in my garden they get a .22 in the head, I can't risk myself or my nieces and nephews contracting Weil's, Toxo, Tapeworm... the list goes on. They've killed more people than all wars combined, wild animals aren't cuddly, they bite and scratch.
@@sarahvegangarden4822 No, poisoning is actually very humane, they suffer very little, I've seen mice/rats expire whilst still eating the poison. I find it's the best way because the other methods seem to be more effective at catching birds.
@@dudeatx I'm glad hour experience has been that it's humane. For myself, I've seen rats in agony, beside themselves, drowning in my garden pond because they were trying so hard to drink to slake their unbearable thirst as they bled inside and lost fluids. I've seen the rats suffering hours or even days. I've mercy-killed the ones I found in such a condition. I hope your experience is more typical than mine.
@@sarahvegangarden4822 The closest I can relate is when I pulled a mouse of a poison station that had actually died whilst eating. I'm more concerned with the birds that get trapped which is why I stopped using metal traps. I must say if I saw a rat suffering I would despatch it immediately, rather than wait several days.
So thankful I can share all of this with others! One of our youth volunteers here on the farm( who is 12 years old) is preparing her no-dig garden for 2021! Thank you for sowing seeds of wisdom!! ~jc
Thanks for sharing and wish her well from me :)
@@CharlesDowding1nodig I sure will! She will be thrilled 😊
Another great video. Awesome footage of the stoat. The black tip on a long tail is a dead give away.
Gah so you reckon it's stoat not weasel?!! I am unsure of the difference.
Great video, Thankyou very much.We have a few rats,field mice etc,I agree we must learn to live together.There is room for everybody and luckily for us a beautiful barn owl lives up the road and catches a few.
I ordered your calendar,better late than never!
Thanks again for passing on your knowledge.Do have a lovely weekend.
Thanks Jonathan and nice to hear about your barn owl :)
I have huge experience with composting however when Charles is making another video about it I am in 😊
I am honoured thanks
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Greetings from Poland 🇵🇱🌳 It's pleased and inspiring to watch your videos
I never in my life thought I would get so excited about compost! 🙈
What have you done to me Charles‼️😂 #compostenvy
Funny Lynn!
Me too
Me too.....
Me three. Just ordered a load of cow manure, and put a large cherry tree through the shredder (it had to go, unfortunately, but it'll make a LOT of compost), and now I'm wondering what on earth to use for brown material in May.
Thank you for answering so many of my questions without me actually asking 🤣. My main worry was that I have a rat in my allotment compost & was worried. No not so worried 😀
I second that, I've got a rat in mine and was worried that it would be eating all my compost rather than it turning into soil. Now I know Charles has one I'm not worried at all! 🤣
Thank you for addressing the rat issue... I built my first compost heap this summer... last week I almost jumped out of my own skin to find 2 rats feasting on my pumpkin skin... fortunately my area is mostly rural too... Charles, did I already ask you to come and live with me for a year?
Seriously, though... gardening is more fun and makes me feel happier than I thought possible! Best wishes from Wales...
That is awesome! If I had time 😀 glad you find it fun
Very practical. We r part of nature. We can not go against nature.Thanks Charles for giving us knowledge and amusement through your garden.
I Built a compost this summer and I added a lot of chicken feathers. I looks amazing right now and I can't wait to see how it works next spring. You are by far my favorite Market Farmer. Thank you Charles!
That is awesome and thankyou!
Wonderful Video once again Charles. Thank you Denise - Australia
You have an amazing compost bins!!! These are black gold makers!!
So right!
Fascinating to see the weasal attack the rat. We had rats in the attic and between the floorboards last year, not cute at all!!!! So now I have a great aversion to them.
Tell me about it. One's expired somewhere between the living room ceiling & bedroom floor here (1860's sandstone house) & the smell's decidedly unpleasant.
Can't find where they're getting in either. :-(
@@GARDENER42 The smell is disgusting and when you can't clearly locate where they are it is very difficult to know how to get them out. I feel your pain!!!
@@CS88754 That would involve removing fitted carpets, a built in place wardrobe, skirting...
It's not disgusting, merely unpleasant.
the yard rat entered the garage and started to eat my chicken feed, so I trapped it. threw it into a field where the crows found it. currently we have m ice in our chicken area... I just need to find a way of getting them gone without risking my bird feets
Gorgeous vegetables!
Thank you for simplifying composting.
You are welcome!
I am always amazed by the quality of your compost! Mine has improved a lot thanks to solid sides and pallets lined with cardboard. Thank you angain.
I love gardening Sir..watching from philippines..thank you for this video
I've heard there are lots of weasels in governments and similar places, I didn't know they are around compost heaps, too! :-D
Scraps and more to feed on!!
If they were weeding out the rats that would be fine, alas no...
But the weasels in government aren't so useful as weasels in the garden
I was worried about rats but I expect the coyotes could deal with them. Thank you. Now there are no hindrances. Let the composting begin!
The rats and weasels in government all come from the fake nation state of isreal. They pretend to be white then destroy nations from the inside through their banks and media. They're the enemy of all living beings on earth.
Elegantly summarised at the end Charles.....
Cheers Cuthbert
The sweetest man!
God bless you charles....every time i learn from you. Very simple and yet exeptional explanation of the subject
You are very welcome Isaac
Very nice. Congratulations.
I am in quite an arid climate in South Eastern Europe where rain seems to be increasingly rare and I have found that even when it does rain it's not enough for compost. Plant matter dries out very quickly and despite my efforts to include green, wet stuff, I end up with something like a big pile of hay. Pouring on plenty of water, daily when I can, has worked wonders for kick-starting things. So yes, your mileage may very much vary with climate. Solid sides are something else I need to consider, to conserve moisture, but I feel wood will rot very quickly...
Thanks for the comparison, wish you success with solid sides - even make compost in a pit in the ground
@@CharlesDowding1nodig Thanks! Actually, yes, the pit method is quite common round here, the old-timers used to do it like that, churck all their organic stuff in a big hole (using their old Yugoslav wheelbarrows, bien sur!), maybe there was a good reason for that given the climate etc.!
@@thehillsidegardener3961 How interesting and yes, makes sense + the invaluable wheelbarrows!!
I’m a compost nerd and I love your videos. I know rats are a fact of life but they still make my stomach churn. I use a rotary composter for the kitchen scraps and recently I’ve even blended chicken bones after making stock and added the slurry to the rotary composter. I have ordinary compost heaps and leafmould heaps too and I dare say a few happy cosy rats. I reserve the right to scream loudly and run away like a little girl.
Thanks for sharing Gail!
Mother nature is amazing 👏 fantastic explanation and informational
Lovely video thank you.
Sir watching you is therapeutic. "Gardening grows the Spirit." You make Gardening Come Alive. My composting adventure with 12 dump truck loads of cow manure, saw dust, cardboard and old hay has been a lot of fun. At 76 it is tractor only turning time. Have laid in 5 sixty foot beds, 12"deep/36 "wide following your demonstration. Thinking too add some organics topped with peat moss before spring planting. Sowed turnip and radish in two beds first of November just to observe. Their up but Temps cold.
Keep it up!! This is wonderful, at 76 I congratulate you and there should be plenty to eat next spring
Loved it Charles
Thumbs up for the weasel. 👍👍👍👍👍👍
I have a compost bin with chicken wire that I pile food and leaves on top of it. When I want compost, I dig on the corner and collect the good stuff that is on the bottom and bag it or use it. I’ve notice the neighbor’s cat strolling around once an while. I used to be concerned about it, but now, I realize the cat is creating the balance in the garden. Thank you! RJ
That's a great deal you have with the cat!
Love these videos as I stated composting in March and experimenting different styles so I turned one pile everyday for almost 2 months and it broke down so fast and so hot, once I stopped it slowed down the breakdown dramatically and cooled down a lot. 👍🏽
Sounds great Rikesh! And you can turn less too.
Ever time I watch your compost videos I learn so much. Thank you
Wonderful video Charles. And not shy to show predation at work. Respect to you Sir!
Thank you four this video. Mai garden need lot of compost. Have a great day.
I should watch this just for relaxation before going to sleep because Charles’ videos always bring peace and harmony to my thoughts and feelings. And yet I’m learning! Amazing. Thanks!
How nice Cyryl 😀
This is my first time watching your video. Sir, you are a precious man and I absolutely love you soft voice and your beautiful humble ways. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the process and hope to try it myself one day. I have seen other gardeners use a spinner type of container so that they turn it every day. Looks quite convenient for someone like me who will probably have a tiny garden. You have a beautiful garden. I love it! I will begin catching up to other videos you have made. Have a wonderful day.
Thank you so much Carina. One small piece of advice I can give is that you don't need to turn your compost every day, whatever other people might say. I turn it once only in the whole process. I hope that your garden develops nicely!
That's even better, thank you. 😊 You are too kind.
Loved the video Charles ,always inspiring .
Last week I was turning my compost and there were a mouse and it’s three little babies in it, I thought it’s because I put food waste in it, I didn’t know it’s because of the heat
Another great video, I enjoy all your videos Charles
Thank you
😀
Notice rodents tend to nest in cars and chew on wires. None of those things are food.
There's a common misconception that rodents land on compost areas, for the food. In some initial stages food can be available, but after a relatively short time the food is no more.
What's left is a huge range of chewing possibilities and a cozy place... By then someone will bring a new fresh load of food! LOL 😂
Thank you. You have answered some questions I never knew I had! It is great to hear from someone who really does understand what he's doing rather than just repeating dogma! Video editing spot on too!
Man the real secret garden. This is stunning
Gracias desde Chile ...se agradece el haber traducción.
Thank you Charles. My 9 garden beds thanks you for all the helpful hints you have given me on composting in the last 3 years. Not only easier on my back, using the no dig method, but also being more productive. John
Glad to help John!!
8:24 OMG! Our landlord wanted to forbid us to install a compost because we had rats in the neighbourhood (next to a field), I made one anyway and thought if I avoid to add cooked food or left overs with meat and such I can avoid the rats. But if they love the warmth I cannot get rid of them (although I have 2 cats...) Now that I saw THIS! We saw weasels here, and you just made my day! This information is so valueable! Thank you so much, and please thank the camera guy!
Cheers Baerbel and the cameraman is my son Edward :)
That rat-weasel footage... that’s made my day! Now, if the rat had injested some poison, it would be goodbye rat and goodbye weasel! ☹️ Such a good illustration of why we must resist chemical!! 😊👍🏻
Nice comment Cherry 😀
Excellent point. We had a rat
Problem last year. We got rid of them without poison. For exactly that worry.
If you poison a rat, you may also then be responsible for the death of a cat, owl, dog, snake, or a weasel.
Most of the rats were live-trapped and then taken to the wilderness miles from homes & farms. My guess is that they were likely taken by owls. I do feel bad for the rats, but they were given a chance and they did not suffer a death by poison.
@@Pepper-rn4hh foxes eat them too...
@@cherrytaylor924 You're right, I wish you had been sitting next to me when I was making my list/comment (lol).
I wanted a longer list when I was thinking about what animals would be going after rats. Fox, would have been perfect.
@@Pepper-rn4hh Air rifle with night vision & lead free pellets for me - the carcases get buried either in the ground or compost bays, so they give something back...
That weasel rat attack was amazing! What a feisty friend to have in the garden! I need to hire a couple to get rid of the woodrats that show up because of the bird feeders.😄
Cheers Michelle, turns out it's a stoat! And that's why I don't have a bird feeder :) :(
Excellent
thx Charles
Muy bueno Charles.....gracias por cuidar la tierra y difundir. Saludos!!
Gracias saludos desde Chile 🥰
Your videos are always nice and interesting! The gentle way you explain thing is unrivalled. I had rats problems with my compost heaps... now I have a beautiful black cat nesting on the compost heaps seeking warmth and the rats disappeared. Natural balance :-)
same here!
well, i have all my bins and tumbler filled ready for winter! today, i stacked some reclaimed blocks into a "bin" for all the leaves i've collected. hoping to have good compost next year. i've been a lousy 1st year gardener, but am happily eating leaves out of the garden...finally!!! YAAY
Nice work! And a vision :)
Thank you, Charles! I always search out your videos and I never fail to be disappointed when there's not a new one to watch - but I am so glad when you've posted a new one. -- I live in a suburb, so I've recently purchased a composter - I have to put it together and that'll take some doing because it's a round one that you tumble, so it comes in a million parts - and I'll be glad when I can actually start composting as opposed to just tucking in my kitchen scraps in the veggie beds. But I live vicariously through you and your lovely garden.
Thanks Margaret and good luck with that!
Great stuff as usual.
Thx.
🙏😊🐝
So good.
Love your videos... thank you so much Charles
💚
wow this is amazing, happy i've found your channel
I'm very happy you talked about mushrooms on the compost as something good: I got several types last year but was worried that it wasn't something you'd want in the middle of your vegetable patch.
another enjoyable video
Thank you for answering our questions. I love your methods, they are so hands off. I think people tend to over think this and not do it. Thank you for explaining the roof and sides of the bin. I guess this could all change depending on how much rain/heat you get. Lovely video!
Happy to help and yes, details vary!
Another inspiring video! Thank you
Thank you for sharing your knowledge. I love the idea of a compost "house" with cells that roll into the next heap. Outstanding.
Glad it was helpful!
Great information.
Amazing .......Hi from Long Branch , NJ
Thanks and welcome
I have been composting for 30 years. I also only turn my compost once, mostly to mix it and even out the moisture. No matter how carefully I build the pile, adding moisture as I go, I find dry spots. Turning it once fixes that. You can get less than a square meter heap to heat up if you use an insulated bin (Joraform tumbler). You can also compost some no-no in a metal insulated tumbler. Thank you for honestly discussing rats in any open compost pile. So many You Tubers act like rats don't exist. Hardware cloth and cats are your friends when it comes to preventing rats, IMO. It takes conscious planning to exclude them. All chicken coops, rabbit hutches, composting bins, feed and hay sheds should be enclosed in 1/2 inch hardware cloth IMO. It is expensive at first, but how much feed and crop production is ruined by rodents every year? not to mention the disease they bring.
Thanks Joan, a voice of experience, nice you share that
So jelly of the weather....
We could use a couple of weasels here for my garden! The chipmunks spent the whole summer destroying it! Holes everywhere! (I should have added chicken wire in the bottom of the raised bed!) Lesson learned!
Oh wow!
Excelente Charles!! Gracias por la traducción!! Ahora aprenderé y disfrutaré más de tus vídeos!!!
idk if you ever get tired of making the composting videos, but I have watched all of them, and quite often hear of you referenced amongst the other channels I watch. So please Charles don't slow down!! You're an inspiration to us all!
Thanks Ron and that is nice to hear, I do enjoy sharing what I reckon might help other people so yes I shall keep making videos😀
Thank you Charles, I love your compost videos. Thanks for the shredder info in one of your answers. I’ll recommend the Bosch AXT 25C for purchase at where I volunteer. We have 3 compost bays of about 1.5 m3 each and I have taken on the task of composting whatever we can and looking after the heaps. I’ve even bought the thermometer! I want to eliminate bonfires which pollute the air and which lengthen the carbon cycle. Putting the carbon directly back in the soil is a double win.
A video on weeding would be good a good follow up because all this compost on the beds is a great place for weeds to find a home! Currently we cover the composted flower beds with Strulch, a straw based medium which makes weeding so much easier but is expensive and I’d like to eliminate it if we could find a way to make weeding easier direct from the compost.
Keep up the good work and keep safe.
Nice to read this Christian and well done on the wood.
See Tools and Techniques video for how I weed with a hoe, catch them small.
Yes Strulch is expensive plus probably has weedkiller, is not organic certified. It might be cheaper for you and better to buy some compost.
Thank you Charles, I was thinking about our composting regimen this week and you sprung to mind 😊 Greetings from Taranaki NZ
Wonderful!
You're a hero Charles, your compost heap is very inspiring. Thank you for saying that it's taken you years to perfect and thank you for addressing the rats. I was getting a bit frecked out about a rat but mainly because of the fear of weils disease but I suppose its more about balance and biodiversity in the garden.
Yes and Weil's degrades in sunlight, another reason for compost on top, not dug in :)
😍👏👏👏show. Amo acompanhar seu trabalho. Em breve estarei plantando sem escavar.
Bravo Adriana 🦉
Charles' Q&A looks to be a great spot to describe my experiences so far with composting - early days.
I am on a roughly 1 acre block of land 120 kms outside Melbourne in southern Australia. Rural, but with limitations to the block. It was a horse paddock. It is largely covered in perennial grass, with some blackberry, gorse and broom - all difficult weeds. The soil isn't that great and sits on top of a layer of clay. Clay can be a good growing medium - quite fertile - if it stays moist. But in our hot summers it dries right out and then rehydrates each winter. So plants don't really penetrate and colonize it because they can't survive over the whole year
The perennial grass grows strongly in spring, sets lots of seed heads if you let it. Then browns of and dies above ground in summer - a serious grass-fire risk if it isn't mown. This is a common pattern with grasses in Australia - they are effectively 'deciduous' in summer.
So anything growing here has a boom-bust cycle and any deep rooted plants struggle to thrive.
I want to change this, establish something better. And part of this is opening up the clay layer so it can take up more moisture in summer and stay hydrated all year.
I am starting small, using the cardboard/compost approach to smother out the grass. Then plant deep rooted plants to try and get down into the clay layer. So first round, I bought some mushroom compost and covered a section with cardboard and this compost. This has worked quite well. Virtually no introduced weeds.
Some lessons learned. You need to overlap the cardboard REALLY WELL. The difficult weeds have a knack for popping up where there isn't enough overlap. And even that isn't enough to stop blackberries - i need to dig them out before laying anything down. I have had blackberries pop up even where there was 12 inches of overlap of the cardboard - they just send out runners under the cardboard till they find a way up.
And I discovered that although the seed packets for Daikon radish say you can plant it all year round, actually it is day length sensitive and when planted in mid/late spring, only develops a smaller radish/root before it bolts to flower & seed. So my new bed is incredibly beautiful right now - with radish flowers heading to seed. They will be coming out soon!
So, to making my own compost, since I can't afford to buy cubic meter after cubic meter.
I built a 5-bay compost station. The fence line provides one set of supports. Some second hand pallets and a few bought posts give me the rest of the framework. And I just recently put a roof over the whole structure. Each bay is about 1.2 x 1.2 x 1.2 m^3 so a good volume.
I don't have much plant material from the garden yet, but I have several sources that are the basis of the system.
- I used to work at the local supermarket and I can get 10-20 boxes a week of fruit & vegetable scraps and waste - a lot of it thrown out because it hasn't sold. So a good volume. But since it's lots of fruits etc, lots of seeds, and quite moist.
- A local cafe is saving their coffee grounds for me - Australia is coffee central - so I can get 50 litres of grounds every 2 days.
- I get a lot of cardboard and newspapers from where I work at present so that is my current main source of 'dark' material.
- And this time of year, there is masses of cut grass, although with seeds inside.
Because of the volumes I am using, I tend to build the bays up in batches - vegies, paper, coffee, grass clippings. Another factor is wildlife. I have had the odd rat which isn't too much of an issue, except we can also get the occasional snake because of this - a 5 foot red-bellied black snake was hanging around for a couple of weeks. And Australia has some VERY bright birds. Magpies, Ravens but particularly Kurrawongs - they flock in groups, are masters of breaking into any bags of fruit waiting to be processed and I just can't leave vegetable/fruit exposed on top of the compost - it is Kurrawong Central.
So, my experiences with the first few batches.
Layered up, in batches, it does get quite hot for a week or two. Then it compacts, goes anaerobic, cold and smelly. So what I am now doing, is building up a bay. Leaving it for a couple of weeks. Then turning it into the next bay. This is breaking up the layering, mixing everything together more homogeneously, and aerating it. Then I use a corkscrew compost turner to keep fluffing up that bay. Nice and hot, lots of white filaments of fungal activity.
And the results are amazing. Within 3-5 weeks some things have broken down completely. Others hardly at all. The paper has only broken down a little. But some things have vanished completely. Bananas, cauliflower, celery, cabbage - it is all just black 'soil'. Cut grass gets hot very quickly, but then is too wet and goes gluggy and stops processing. But turning everything and breaking it up restarts things. More fibrous material is only breaking down more slowly.
So I think my system, going forward, will be:
- Layer everything in and leave for 2-3 weeks.
- Turn to the next bay and start using the compost screw to keep it aerated.
- Eventually coarse sieve the result, taking out the composted-down part. Set this aside to finish any last heat decomposition and let the low temperature microbes flourish.
- Take the not-broken-down part, run the lawn-mower over it to break it up further and put it back into the next bay.
This may not give me the best C/N ratio in each batch, but averaged out it should be pretty good. And I get a reasonable output fairly quickly.. And in Autumn I will switch leaves for paper, cut up by the mower, and hopefully get good C/N really quickly.
It is actually an amazing alchemy. I have put boxes and boxes of vegetables into these bays and they just vanished, replaced by black 'soil'!
Glenn you are amazing.
I love how you are working it out, based on the understanding of where you are and how it can fit together for you.
Funny too, the birds.
Am intrigued that paper is not decomposing. And why it goes anaerobic - maybe some woody bit/twigs will help that.
Plus I always advice to dig out bramble and other woody roots.
Exciting project!
@@CharlesDowding1nodig
Charles. The anaerobic part may have been partly no roof then and we had rain. But also the high proportion of vegetables and fruit may be giving it a high moisture content - there is a trade off between chopping things up and mushing them up. It appears that a lot of breakdown of some things happens quickly, then it settles and air penetration gets harder.
I am going to shred the paper up smaller, maybe run over it with the lawn mower. And once autumn arrives I will switch to collecting fallen leaves as the brown instead. Although Australian natives like Eucalypts have leaves full of oils etc, maybe not ideal for composting, this area has a lot of European trees, Oak, Elm, Plane, planted by early settlers that are easy to collect in Autumn.
And the compost spiral works a treat. So the first (and hopefully only) turn works well at mixing everything together then easy to keep aerated.
The alchemy is amazing when I compare what I have put in and what it is becoming.
And yeah, birds are a serious issue here. We also have very bright parrots - Rozellas, Cockatoos etc that love fruit on fruit trees, usually just before it is ripe. At a previous house we had Cockatoos come up with a clever way to get at some sunflowers we had growing. Nice big flowers, loads of seeds, perfect for a seed eater like the Cockatoo. But so pesky to get to, up on top of the plant. So simple answer - go to the base of the plant gnaw through it and drop the plant. They brought a stand of a dozen sunflowers down in one hit.
@@glenntamblyn3271 Thanks for this and I am even more grateful for our rooks and blackbirds!!
I live on Vancouver Island in Canada and we get racoons foraging in our compost pile, slightly different creatures to where I lived in Devon lol I so enjoy your videos, you inspire me to keep going when the gardening gets tough! Seems like we are constantly trying to find the balance with growing crops for ourselves and all of the wildlife that wants to partake in it too!
Thanks for sharing, you have more wildlife than here :)
By far my favorite gardening channel. Thanks for sharing!
So nice of you Mike
I love You Charles Dawding ARGENTINA 💪
No rats in mine but mouse! Thank you for another brilliant vid! Love and light
Only came across your channel a few days ago for which I glad. Prior to that have been preparing beds and it's amazing how similar our methods are likeminded. Have a lot of work to get through and the weather can slow things down. Thankyou Charles and God Bless you.😃from Ireland
Thanks and welcome
great videos altogether ,hope you're safe and well
Saludos desde La Paz,
BCS Mexico🌸😊🤗
Fab insight! I've just closed in the sides of my compost heaps, as inspired by yourself. Hoping to ramp up a bit more heat! I've noticed a rat run at the bottom of one of ours, it appears we too have visitors 👀🐀.
Wow love it
Thank you for the education and the calm!
"higgledy piggledy" NICE! Oh and your videos are great keep up the amazing work!
That is a solid looking compost system - will go through your library and take notes. Thank you for sharing the knowledge
"Santa, I want a copper spade like Charles Dowding!" Wonderful video Charles. I need to do better with chopping browns and greens. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it and maybe he listens!
Gracias gracias gracias por los subtitulos en Español!!!¡ tank you.... i learn !!! 🤗🤗🤗
It was actually a stoat rather than a weasel. You can tell by the length and bushiness of its tail. Wish I had one patrolling my compost heap!
Thanks for that, Tom. As a child I was told that one was weasely distinguished and the other stoatally different, but yours is a much more helpful observation.
@@peterthomas3405 going to add that to my catalogue of dad jokes
@@tomelliott1567 Dead jokes?
Easiest way to tell: A stoat has a black tip to its tail - weasel doesn't.
@@paultsworld Hence the black tips on ermine coats. Ermine was just stoat-fur from stouts killed in winter, when their fur had turned white for camouflage. Thank God for faux fur these days.
Thank you for this wonderful and informative video🙏
I have learnt so much about making good compost from your videos.
Weasels, beautiful but deadly. Love your garden, and your videos. I always learn something.
Charles you are truly amazing. I cannot believe all the information (rainfall, measurements etc) that you speak to flawlessly. I can barely get through a video with getting my own name right! Haha... Outstanding job.
Thanks so much!
You are an amazing gardener, great communicator and I'm so enjoying your videos! Thanks so much for sharing!
💚
Love the videos charles!! I will be posting some of my own soon of the back to Eden garden I have helped make, it has been my covid project while I have been laid off from both my jobs.. Will definitely be using your compost heap ideas in the future once I have the garden in full swing! ♥️
What have you named your TH-cam channel, Luke? I’ll watch for it.
I have a group up on Facebook with waaay more content and the gardens I work on that I'm converting to back to Eden. It's called The Soil Initiative Project (SIP) I teach there for free and share what Paul Gautschi has taught me. I call him occasionally and we talk on the phone, he has taught me so much and I share freely with others. The youtube channel does not have very much content up, just a video on my worm bin at the moment but we are doing professional video work for the gardens it takes time to edit