Get a regular 5 gallon bucket fill it with enough cut up cardboard that you shredded by hand, and soak everything in water in the bucket and cover with a lid. In the course of a few days to a few weeks stir with a paint stirer, I prefer the wooden ones because I don't like wasting electricity, but you can use a drill and paint stirer paddles to make less work. Keep waiting the next few days or weeks to go again with the paint stirer, keep repeating the process it takes way longer but like I said no electricity involved. What you want is a paper mush or cardboard mush. This mush can be used to make paper or throw it in your compost bin. This will give you the carbon you need in your crops. If you live in the desert in the summer time it'll be quicker. the heat it boils the water and causes condensation you may need to add more water, the boiling of the water breaks down cardboard and paper with ease. I am someone who doesn't like using electricity so I find ways to do things without using too much electricity, which is also cheaper and more work involved. 'I don't need electricity to walk I just use my own two legs'.
Cool idea man...I don't mind using electricity....but at the same same I don't mind stirring stuff myself...thanks for the idea, composting for the first time and I'm trying to make a backyard food Forrest.....the grid sucks anymore
What a wonderful human you are John, been a fan for around a decade, your passion and love for what you do, is truly remarkable, inspiring and unparalleled. You're truly a gift to humanity and no matter how many videos you release or I watch, I always find myself intrigued, happy and smiling, beginning to end. Kudos to you Mr! You make the world a better place! Thank you!
I got one of those $300 shredders at a second hand store for $19.99 . The shredded paper goes into my bird cages for litter and then into the compost pile.
A nifty thing about composting, especially vermicompost(with worms) is that the dyes, inks, bleaches, glues etc will be expelled by the worm just as clean as the natural brown papers. Worms can clean up oil spills and expel clean non toxic black gold. AMAZING
I have been composting for over 15 years. I do not agree with the statement that the smaller the size of the raw materials, the faster and better will be the compost. In aerobic composting, if the size is too small, the raw materials will compact and not allow air to pass through, thereby not permitting composting to happen. The size therefore, has to be small but not tiny. You will understand the correct size through experience. Happy composting! 🙂
I'm currently learning this the hard way. 20 gallons or so of shredded cardboard with mostly coffee grounds and kitchen scrap with a bunch of orange jewelweed for bulk. I get tiny hot spots around 120 in my 4 ft pile but that's it
Good info, John. I've been composting for a long time (since 2008) and use a small shredder, a blender, a lawn mower, chickens and a wood chipper. I use homemade blood and bone meal, dried pulverized our eggshells, add epsom salt, as well as wood ash from the woodstove and untreated sawdust from the sawmill. It's all dumped and mixed occasionally in an old horse trough, a bin, or thrown into a big pile in the yard. I measure nothing. I don't use thermometers and stuff. I pretty much wing it! My compost piles are light, fluffy, apparently ph perfect, full of beneficial bugs and organisms and ready to use in 30 days if I choose to. I have a large, beautiful, healthy garden (mostly raised bed and container) now that started with an 8'x8' in ground plot. Everyone does what works best for them in their environment and living circumstances. No one is truly an expert. I stay open minded to all options to get and help people to grow food. Thanks for your option too!
I use cardboard and other paper product in my compost. Instead of shredding I put in in a big container and soak it until it's mush. Then I dig a hole and pour it in and leave it. Way easier then sitting there shredding.
I’ve been using the Bonsaii 20-Sheet Heavy Duty Cross-Cut Paper Shredder for the past year. I like the cross cut best since it breaks the boxes down to 1”x1/8” pieces which gives great aeration ability in the compost pile. This shredder seems to have a much easier time shredding cardboard than paper (go figure). I use a box cutter to make long strips just wide enough to feed into the shredder which reduces the number of times I have to feed the machine. So I can be cutting while it’s shredding. I fill up old recycling bins with the shredded cardboard until I’m ready to cut the lawn and add a couple layers to the compost pile (along with collected kitchen scraps). Works great!
I have two Jora JK-270 compost tumblers, and neither has experienced any rust issues. They produce an amazing amount of compost for me! Since I don't have much brown paper or cardboard, I use the pine pellets from Tractor Supply, which I stock up on when they are on sale.
I’m thinking the same thing! He’s a walking witness. In fact, he may even look younger. Of course this vid is 3 years old. I’m gonna have to check out a current one. He’s prob looking like an adolescent by now. ❤
Thanks John. I live North of you in Moapa Valley. Your videos have helped me a lot to get a garden going without spending a ton of money and using a lot of water.
Thanks so much... i am beginning to compost in earnest here rather than just putting all food scraps in a distant pile of the yard. Now i am using bunches of leaves, small sticks, food scraps, some straw and grass clippings to make a big pile not too far from the side door! It's somewhat hidden for the sake of the neighbors, lol. I've planted over a dozen baby fig trees grown from cuttings, several mulberry trees, goji bushes, the bases of celery/onion etc, in the yard and am planting seeds indoors. (They will be under grow lights on wooden shelves i made from scrap lumber.) I'm also starting more fruit trees to put out in the spring and working on what i believe would be loosely called permaculture right here around my home. Growing the food here i figure is the best option, and it's also enjoyable.
John, teach people to keep their plants in the ground in the fall and not tear everything out "just to clean it up". so much time and energy can be saved by trusting that half of what people plant is already perennial, if those plants are allowed to keep growing through winter, and it's so much better for the soil too~
“How can I make compost without spending any money. I bought this one for $60 on sale and this Bonzai for about $200.” My dear sir you spent money. A lot of it!
@@CC-lv1ox Biochar isn't potash. You want to make Charcoal + nutrients + biologically active components. Start off with a pile of burnable woody material make sure it's not contaminated with crap ie paint or treated timber. light it from the top so it burns downwards put it out with water once everything is hot coals. your trying to char the woody material not burn it completely. Don't stress if it doesn't all char properly just save the unchared bits for your next run. There are heaps of good explations of how to make the charcoal on TH-cam there are a heaps of different ways just choose what works best for your area. Then once you've got your char you need to charge it with nutrients and biological material. I add mine to my compost to keep the smell down and to charge it up with nutrients and microbes. Also worms seem to really like it. You can also make Biochar by soaking the char in an npk source or seaweed concerntrate and adding biologicals ie EM1. You still need to let it stew for a few months as the microbes and bacteria needs to spread through the charcoal to get the best effect. You don't want to use straight charcoal in your soil as it will leach nutrients from the soil if it's not already precharged. Hope this helps. It's actually really easy to make and it's fun. Also a great input for soil don't need to use more than 20% if making own soil. Anymore and you just have diminishing returns. Hope this helps. Good luck PS. Biochar is also an awesome carbon sink. Once you add it to a section of soil you probably won't need to add more to that section for your whole life. The charcoal carbon will be stable for a lifetime. Look up en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta the ancients knew the benefits of adding char to the soil. They still dig up bits of char from hundreds of years ago today. So if you add Biochar to your soil today future generations will continue to reap the benefits of your work.
John, your are one of life's good guys - the world needs more like you sir - keep spreading the word and of course the compost :-) (Thumbs up). Your insight and consideration for others is priceless - way to go. Regards from Jim (UK)
wow I have watched several videos on composting and yours is the one I completely understand! I love the way you explain it all. THANK YOU! I am about to buy my first compost tumbler and needed this!
I was just thinking about Compost this morning, and BOOM!!! Up pops John... LOL.. Thanks for another Super Informative Show Pal.. God Bless from The Little Farmers Farm UK ~~Guru Murphinda aka Tony!!~~
Shredded paper & boxes with food scraps are fed to all my worm bins. They are very happy! I have a micro cut shredder that I got from Staples. Works great!
I hose down my cardboard and wait for it to soften (a few minutes). Then I tear it up into small pieces (easy as it becomes soft like tissue), and use it as mulch. By the next year it composts into the soil.
John I found the an electric Leaf Mulcher is good for composting cardboard too. They are under $200.00 I put a lot of my waste through it including the leaves and small sticks, Egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds, all plant food anything you can think of, love your shows and we have talked on the phone a few times.
I've been doing this for years as well. What I use to oil up the blades is olive oil from my kitchen. It works great. Plus it's good for the environment. Don't forget to remove the staples before shredding. John I'm surprised you don't have chickens after all these years.
Great vid. You're like the most upbeat gardener in the world. I live in the Midwest and get a lot of leaves. But I also use shredded paper during the summer, when I get a flood of greens and no browns after my leaf piles run out. A great use for bills and junk mail pieces. I also hate the clumps, but they'll break down when the worms get to work.
Love your videos john! You helped me years ago get started gardening, and making my own soils. I moved to florida and rent so am getting ready to plant for fall here in 20 gallon pots, and have started a compost bin in my grandmothers old garbage can and got another small composter from aldi on sale for 24 bucks. Its on the small side but hey every little bit helps! I have not much leaves here, but will be using grass clippings and cardboard and i have a tone of brown shopping bags!
New to Italy and we have a nice little garden and return most food back the the land . It would be nice if everyone could do this but every little bit helps!
I have been looking for a good source of. Carbon all this time it has been falling all around me and I have been dumping into a pile and burning thank you so much for this video I will mulching my land with the leafs in order to make it more beautiful pasture for my cattle you truly are a treasure to our society and keep up the good work
You turning cardboard boxes into carbon for compost is awesome! You're basically moving tree cellulose from the north-west or mountain west to the desert, at the end of it's lifecycle, so that's pretty smart.
Just wanted to say a big thank you to you being you and you making these videos John . You’ve been a great inspiration and an invaluable resource of information. Your videos have helped us begin our own dream of urban farming and we already have clients lined up. Thank you.
for shredding/blending cardboard, have you ever tried soaking it in water for a day and then using a long stemmed Cement Mixer and a drill to blend it up with the water and then pour it into your compost bed? i was tempted to try this and blend the cardboard and then mix it with a 5 gallon bucket of kitchen scraps and lawn clippings for green matter. thought?
Thanks for sharing the idea. I have been placing boxes on top of my compost pile and spraying them apart w a garden hose. For me this may expand my tree nursery compost into shredded confidential documents.
Thanks for a most informative video. I have been grading for many of my 77 years and have never gotten into composting. However, I have a compost tumbler arriving today and looking forward to putting it to use with the help of your video.
Excellent Episode!!! I have used Office shredded paper for composting and for a "Mulch" on and in my garden for quite a while. I always hate to use white paper that has been bleached. I don't use magazine shreds because that has too much ink and toxic other stuff. I am in Northern Northern California so we have a ton of trees on property. We are in a very rural area and the utility companies come out to cut down limbs near trees about 3 times a year. I just ask one of them to drop a load of wood chips at the house. It's free and I can use it as it mulches down... or in the compost and so many other ways. I Love it! ThankYou for such a great video with so much information. I have ComposTumblers. ILove them. It's not as good as it was 15 years ago... They covered everything.... But still a great product. The only Compost without decay of the barrier... I a Pile with a Fork. Oh well.... Life is Awesome Anyway!!!
I’m up in The Sierra Nevada Mountains and we have unlimited leaves from Oaks and Pine needles; but day before yesterday when I was building my compost heap I took my weed eater to my pile of green vine weeds and large Black Oak leaves that I had put together. The weed eater made short work of all the shredding but I doubt it’d do much to cardboard. Good video, thanks man!
John - I had one of these for a couple of years and did have some rust issues, but not enough to cause any problems. I never thought to contact joraform..This was when I lived in PA (lots of rain, snow). I sold it, moved to AZ, bought a new one and so far after a couple of months, haven't seen any rust. Thanks for the tips!
Yes, I too have had issues with rusted panels on my Jora JK270. Have contacted the company on two separate occasions and both times they were great about sending replacement panels. First time they shipped for free but second time they sent an invoice to cover shipping charges. I do feel the panels should last longer but at the end of the day I don’t have any problems supporting a customer that offers great customer service
Mine has rusty panels also but the thought of taking it apart to replace them absolutely wears me out. Some of the screw heads are weathered so badly I feel sure that I would have to drill them out.
I shred all my household paper and cardboard (glossy, colorful, all of it - the gloss is clay, which benefits my sandy native soil). Sterile commercial paper is extremely stable and normally takes a very long time to break down whether exposed to sun and rain, buried in wet soil, or mixed into aerobic compost. Instead of composting it directly, I layer the ultra-brown shredded paper with ultra-green kitchen waste in a sealed latched curbside green bin, and allow the contents to anaerobically rot. Over months, the paper swells as it sops moisture, becoming saturated with nutrients. For months the pungent, caustic bath of microbial sewage degrades and dilutes any preservative treatments in the paper. Eventually I add the sludge to my Earth Machine aerobic composter - ideally I dump it over a big pile of fall leaves and thoroughly grind everything under the lawnmower first. Often within days and certainly after a few weeks of oxygenation, there is virtually no recognizable paper left. I highly recommend killing two birds with one stone by anaerobically pre-composting your ultra-stable ultra-brown dry paper waste with your ultra-green wet kitchen waste.
Hmmm. You answered the question i had about how to use anaerobic decomposition in combination with aerobic. You know, theres this stigma to always stay away from anaerobic. I will certainly look more into what youve purposed
Thanks for this video. We have plenty of leaves here but I get a ton of cardboard sent to my house every month so I was looking for another use outside of shredding it for my worm beds. Looks like the backlog of shreds are headed into the compost bin :)
If it has not been mentioned, if you have a powerful blender, it also works very well to turn it into a pulp. Granted, its not as fast as a shredder, but better than nothing if you cannot afford a high end shredder.
Just found your channel. Very good. I shred paper, cardboard box parts, toilet paper rolls, paper bags, etc. I also live in the SW desert, but I have a fig tree. So I get a lot of brown leaves in the autumn. My initial mistake was using too many green items and not enough brown ones.
My shredder isn't a crosscut. I get crinkly tendrils which are fine. Flatten toilet roll tubes and put them through on edge and the shredder produces cardboard rings. I gave up shredding newspaper and flat brown paper; it has a tendency to compact when wet. My compost bin doesn't seem to get anywhere near full now before I'm taking good stuff from the bottom and collecting hundreds of worms for fishing. Great compost and no raking of leaves. p.s. My compost bin is a converted wheelie bin (garbage bin).
Hi John, we've been folowing your videos for a long time. My Husband, Craig is 80 and I'm 77 and although we are healthy, we are at high risk of contacting Covid so we're staying at home growing our own vegetables, which we love doing. We've decided not to go to any stores so we to order everything from different websites. We're good at making do. The pandemic is bad and getting worse throughout our country so we hope you will consider not going to the grocery store. You already know how people pick over fruits and vegetables. We want you to stay alive and teach us how to grow nutricious food for many years so please DON'T GO TO THE GROCERY STORE, OK? This a very clever virus and it has the ability to get you and have no mercy on you. Please be careful. From two of your greatest fans.
You’re the man dude! I run a restaurant and have tons of nitrogen material. I also compost in buckets and I run short on carbon sources. My work generates a ton of scrap paper but it’s the white office stuff. I’ve been shredding it and composting it. I’m curious your opinion on if that affects my soil or if that paper is ok once composted? Thanks! Getting better at this a little
White paper has been bleached. If they used clorine for it there will be a lot of organochlorines in it. So definitely a no if you care about your health. When chlorine binds with carbon-based (organic) compounds such as lignins in wood pulp, it produces highly toxic dioxins and other toxic organochlorine byproducts, which wreak havoc in living systems.
It's a bit of an extra time but I blend my food waste you wouldn't believe how much faster everything breaks down. Between the shredder and the blender wow it would be weeks!
Hello excited to follow and learn from you ,my new home has a nice backyard with dirt (no pool or cement like how you usually find homes here in Las Vegas)where I’m able to grow vegetables 🌶 🍅 🌽 let the gardening journey begin 💕
Good info John. You could update this video because now all refuse removal, i.e., garbage collection services are REQUIRED by law to divert all food waste from the landfills to composting facilities. I still prefer as you do to reuse my non animal food scraps to add to the worm bins and the hot compost bins. I too have a micro security shredder. Nice small pieces.
Nice job on the Video. I use a food processor to grind up all vegetables waist being composted. I mix vegtables with leaves and paper in the food processor with water this way animals don't want eat the compost. This Grinding up waste with water composts very fast. thank you
My friend, this whole time I didn't know you were in Houston like me. I'm subscribing and hopefully I can get some pro tips from a fellow Houstonian. Keep up the good work friend
I’m so glad I’ve got Guinea pigs and a hamster, their paper and wood based bedding is amazing as it’s mixed in with their poop, urine, old hay and produce they hadn’t eaten by the end of the day. I water it when the bin’s full with a 5litre jug full of my tea leaves which I’ve stored and then brewed until the boiling water is at room temperature. It’s very watered down but it works! Then I turn it a few days later and repeat a few times, if it needs watering again I’ll use my used tea bag brew or rain water.
I just came across your channel while researching putting cardboard in my compost pile... I'm only 2 mins in and I actually am in the Northeast, and I wish I could ship you boxes of leaves! Or crushed leaves... We mow them with the lawn mower to chop them up! lol 🙃 🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂
I use two barrel tumblers but also an electric ice cream maker size composted, in the upper Midwest. Gets too cold for the barrel composters to keep up. I also save leaves from the trees and use them throughout the winter. Add it to all the juicing residue. Paper and cardboard would only be last resort desperation but I’d also stick with brown paper. Thanks!
Avoid magazine paper, as it has a lot of varnish on it, but newspaper is great. It has a lot of sulfuric acid in it, so it will break down more quickly, and by law here in the US, all ink must be soy based, so it's non-toxic.
If people are still going to want to use paper in their gardens even though it’s not a good idea a another suggestion besides a shredder is to just put it in a bucket of water and it will break down into pulp. Freezing wet paper also makes it break down faster
@Learn Organic Gardening at GrowingYourGreens John, thanks. I too purchased this at an open box price for compost material. I live in an apartment (With a small backyard) but rarely have enough carbon material. This shredder does INSANE work on cardboard! The thick cardboard doesn't go through unless you peel a layer of its surface but, I'll be snagging all the thinner, clean cardboard I come across, for sure.The grains it makes of it are much smaller then rice, even! No more raking up my neighborhoods office lawns! Well, maybe not quite so often. I still want SOME leaves ;)
I use the cardboard for my chicken coop. I have two paper shredders (12 page capacity) and get the cardboard free from the back of stores. The soft boxes work best. The compost it makes is great. but there is a side benefit. Crickets like cardboard and it draws them in and the chickens find them. Cardboard like this is also good mulch. After you water it in, it usually stays put really well.
I don’t have a crosscut shredder, so I dig a trench in a raised bed, and fill it halfway up with shredded paper that I’ve saturated. I toss in alfalfa pellets as I fill the trench as a nitrogen source. I dig into the trench every few weeks to see if the worms are making use of it.
Is it possible to save your compost if it started to rot? If the ratios were off and there was too much nitrogen and not enough carbon, do you just scrap it and start all over, or can it be salvaged?
Just add more browns if it goes anaerobic. Mix in browns and let it dry a bit and it'll be just fine. The aerobic bacteria will kill off the bad bacteria
Glossy is OK, made from Clay. Bentonite Clay, I have a friend that delivered Bentonite clay to print shops all over greater Portland OR. All the shiny paper in news papers adds is made shiny with this clay.
One thing I loved about this video was the clarity of the vocals. I watch it at 1.25× speed and it sounds like a severe case of adhd, and hyperactive disorder! Lol😙👌Your videos are outstanding Sir! I learn tons, and now I want that darn shredder! I love knowledge that makes me feel like I am underperforming while giving me the tools to improve! Trudeau has outlawed plastic bags, and everyones bringing me their paoer bags, and my shredder WAS the old black one you demontrated, till it died recently, and its replacement is one of the same shred size. Lots of leaves and stuff around here, but why not have paper shredded up to mulch like you have there? Its a useful use of paper bags that'll end up wasted otherwise.
I oiled the fellowes shredder i was talking about. Its been solid & shredding cardboard and paper bags all winter and spring, and saved my composter, on my way to learn how to make compost. Now as i start my new compost i have plenty of shreddable supply to use. Dumpsters around downtown are full of cardboard ever since recycling dumpsters were created. 🙏
Id sure like to see that greenhouse,if still holding up.what you grow in it now. I havent put up mine. I used a poly tunnel for 4 years. Lost the plastic after 4, i have another top, but would rather go a different direction this time. Im 64 yrs. Old.i dont particularly have much energy to do it all over again. Im starting to like the Ruth Stout methods.lol ive experimented alot. Love your garden, I looks great.take care.
Yeah, I shred newspaper, cardboard and brown paper bags for my compost. I also use the wood shavings from my chicken coop. I put some torn corrugated cardboard box panel on top of the worms in my worm bin. The worms seems to like to go in the channels of the corrugating. They eat the glue.
Like always great instructions I have a question... Banana leaves green are considered Greenn and banana leaves brown (DRY) are considered brown or both are green?
Taco Bell has been serving up their tray-type meals in easily shreddable unprinted cardboard containers (so 'food safe' even if their food isn't 😁). Their clear plastic cups are pretty good for seedling starts, too.
Look out for cardboard dividers found in cases of wine or liquor from your local restaurant or big box wholesale alcohol store. No ink, no glue, no tape👍👍
Northeast here and I'm working with fallen branches and tons of leaves. I learned I need a lot more carbon materials than I thought. My worms are enjoying it though. The wetter it is, the more eggs they lay.
Been using cardboard for 50+ years. I used to ask for boxes at the grocery instead of bags...back then there was only paper bags. Used to be that there wasnt so much cardboard around. Now there is 100× as much. We are a wasteful society.
I read recently that the Fellowes brand shredder lube oil was 99% canola oil. People were debating why they should spend bigger markup oil when you could just use grocery brand cheap canola oil. Give it a google search to see if it helps you.
Have four raised beds right now that I've got completely covered with shredded paper I wonder if a shredder would work on putting some leaves through it although it would be quite time consuming
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Get a regular 5 gallon bucket fill it with enough cut up cardboard that you shredded by hand, and soak everything in water in the bucket and cover with a lid. In the course of a few days to a few weeks stir with a paint stirer, I prefer the wooden ones because I don't like wasting electricity, but you can use a drill and paint stirer paddles to make less work. Keep waiting the next few days or weeks to go again with the paint stirer, keep repeating the process it takes way longer but like I said no electricity involved. What you want is a paper mush or cardboard mush. This mush can be used to make paper or throw it in your compost bin. This will give you the carbon you need in your crops. If you live in the desert in the summer time it'll be quicker. the heat it boils the water and causes condensation you may need to add more water, the boiling of the water breaks down cardboard and paper with ease. I am someone who doesn't like using electricity so I find ways to do things without using too much electricity, which is also cheaper and more work involved. 'I don't need electricity to walk I just use my own two legs'.
Cool idea man...I don't mind using electricity....but at the same same I don't mind stirring stuff myself...thanks for the idea, composting for the first time and I'm trying to make a backyard food Forrest.....the grid sucks anymore
Great idea. I shred bills for browns in the summer and hate the big clumps. This will solve that. Thanks for the hack.
Great idea, thanks a lot
You can get as many cardboard boxes free from local supermarkets or other stores.
Would burning the cardboard make a good source of carbon?
What a wonderful human you are John, been a fan for around a decade, your passion and love for what you do, is truly remarkable, inspiring and unparalleled. You're truly a gift to humanity and no matter how many videos you release or I watch, I always find myself intrigued, happy and smiling, beginning to end. Kudos to you Mr! You make the world a better place! Thank you!
Completely agree! John was the first gardener/composter creator I followed and I’m sure I was in my 20’s, I’m 42 now
In the south!! Alabama! My backyard is full of trees! Thank you for teaching me how to make my own compost!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️💕💕💕💕
Rtr!
I got one of those $300 shredders at a second hand store for $19.99 . The shredded paper goes into my bird cages for litter and then into the compost pile.
Nice
Genius
Genius !
Genius!!
Nitrogen and carbon in one pile haha
A nifty thing about composting, especially vermicompost(with worms) is that the dyes, inks, bleaches, glues etc will be expelled by the worm just as clean as the natural brown papers. Worms can clean up oil spills and expel clean non toxic black gold. AMAZING
I have been composting for over 15 years. I do not agree with the statement that the smaller the size of the raw materials, the faster and better will be the compost. In aerobic composting, if the size is too small, the raw materials will compact and not allow air to pass through, thereby not permitting composting to happen. The size therefore, has to be small but not tiny. You will understand the correct size through experience. Happy composting! 🙂
I'm currently learning this the hard way. 20 gallons or so of shredded cardboard with mostly coffee grounds and kitchen scrap with a bunch of orange jewelweed for bulk. I get tiny hot spots around 120 in my 4 ft pile but that's it
I Agree
Biochar might help remedy that situation. I just picked up the material to build a kiln. Going to try that.
Good info, John. I've been composting for a long time (since 2008) and use a small shredder, a blender, a lawn mower, chickens and a wood chipper. I use homemade blood and bone meal, dried pulverized our eggshells, add epsom salt, as well as wood ash from the woodstove and untreated sawdust from the sawmill. It's all dumped and mixed occasionally in an old horse trough, a bin, or thrown into a big pile in the yard. I measure nothing. I don't use thermometers and stuff. I pretty much wing it! My compost piles are light, fluffy, apparently ph perfect, full of beneficial bugs and organisms and ready to use in 30 days if I choose to. I have a large, beautiful, healthy garden (mostly raised bed and container) now that started with an 8'x8' in ground plot. Everyone does what works best for them in their environment and living circumstances. No one is truly an expert. I stay open minded to all options to get and help people to grow food. Thanks for your option too!
I use cardboard and other paper product in my compost. Instead of shredding I put in in a big container and soak it until it's mush. Then I dig a hole and pour it in and leave it. Way easier then sitting there shredding.
I’ve been using the Bonsaii 20-Sheet Heavy Duty Cross-Cut Paper Shredder for the past year. I like the cross cut best since it breaks the boxes down to 1”x1/8” pieces which gives great aeration ability in the compost pile. This shredder seems to have a much easier time shredding cardboard than paper (go figure). I use a box cutter to make long strips just wide enough to feed into the shredder which reduces the number of times I have to feed the machine. So I can be cutting while it’s shredding. I fill up old recycling bins with the shredded cardboard until I’m ready to cut the lawn and add a couple layers to the compost pile (along with collected kitchen scraps). Works great!
My man is juicing cardboard too. Much love from Syracuse NY you are a huge inspiration.
That's funny and true.
There's arts/crafters using juice blenders to make paper pulp using egg cartons or newspaper.
I have two Jora JK-270 compost tumblers, and neither has experienced any rust issues. They produce an amazing amount of compost for me! Since I don't have much brown paper or cardboard, I use the pine pellets from Tractor Supply, which I stock up on when they are on sale.
I have not been on your channel in years, you have not aged! You look fantastic. Thank you for the information. 😊
I’m thinking the same thing! He’s a walking witness. In fact, he may even look younger. Of course this vid is 3 years old. I’m gonna have to check out a current one. He’s prob looking like an adolescent by now. ❤
Thanks John. I live North of you in Moapa Valley. Your videos have helped me a lot to get a garden going without spending a ton of money and using a lot of water.
0:28 “out of the box thinker” hehe. Couldn’t resist pointing out the pun 😂
Thanks so much... i am beginning to compost in earnest here rather than just putting all food scraps in a distant pile of the yard. Now i am using bunches of leaves, small sticks, food scraps, some straw and grass clippings to make a big pile not too far from the side door! It's somewhat hidden for the sake of the neighbors, lol.
I've planted over a dozen baby fig trees grown from cuttings, several mulberry trees, goji bushes, the bases of celery/onion etc, in the yard and am planting seeds indoors. (They will be under grow lights on wooden shelves i made from scrap lumber.)
I'm also starting more fruit trees to put out in the spring and working on what i believe would be loosely called permaculture right here around my home. Growing the food here i figure is the best option, and it's also enjoyable.
I am glad that you teach composting cardboard. My rose garden is so happy because of it.
John, teach people to keep their plants in the ground in the fall and not tear everything out "just to clean it up". so much time and energy can be saved by trusting that half of what people plant is already perennial, if those plants are allowed to keep growing through winter, and it's so much better for the soil too~
I compost almost all paper and cardboard products and have no issues. I use compost all over my property and everything grows well 🤟🤟🤟🤟
“How can I make compost without spending any money. I bought this one for $60 on sale and this Bonzai for about $200.” My dear sir you spent money. A lot of it!
I use homemade biochar. Works really well as a carbon source. Has lots of surface area. And is great for aeration. Also helps to keep the smell down.
@ MikeDafinder Can you share how to create it? Is it just potash from your wood fires? I am a new organic gardener. Thank you
@@CC-lv1ox Biochar isn't potash. You want to make Charcoal + nutrients + biologically active components. Start off with a pile of burnable woody material make sure it's not contaminated with crap ie paint or treated timber. light it from the top so it burns downwards put it out with water once everything is hot coals. your trying to char the woody material not burn it completely. Don't stress if it doesn't all char properly just save the unchared bits for your next run. There are heaps of good explations of how to make the charcoal on TH-cam there are a heaps of different ways just choose what works best for your area. Then once you've got your char you need to charge it with nutrients and biological material. I add mine to my compost to keep the smell down and to charge it up with nutrients and microbes. Also worms seem to really like it. You can also make Biochar by soaking the char in an npk source or seaweed concerntrate and adding biologicals ie EM1. You still need to let it stew for a few months as the microbes and bacteria needs to spread through the charcoal to get the best effect. You don't want to use straight charcoal in your soil as it will leach nutrients from the soil if it's not already precharged. Hope this helps. It's actually really easy to make and it's fun. Also a great input for soil don't need to use more than 20% if making own soil. Anymore and you just have diminishing returns. Hope this helps. Good luck
PS. Biochar is also an awesome carbon sink. Once you add it to a section of soil you probably won't need to add more to that section for your whole life. The charcoal carbon will be stable for a lifetime. Look up en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_preta the ancients knew the benefits of adding char to the soil. They still dig up bits of char from hundreds of years ago today. So if you add Biochar to your soil today future generations will continue to reap the benefits of your work.
Thanks so much. I really appreciate your detailed response. I am binge watching all things gardening as a new organic gardener, as of May.
@ MileDafinder sort of like Activated charcoal for our ingestion.
@@CC-lv1ox happy to help. More people should be using biochar. Its such a win-win. The issue is most people just don't even know about it.
John, your are one of life's good guys - the world needs more like you sir - keep spreading the word and of course the compost :-) (Thumbs up). Your insight and consideration for others is priceless - way to go. Regards from Jim (UK)
wow I have watched several videos on composting and yours is the one I completely understand! I love the way you explain it all. THANK YOU! I am about to buy my first compost tumbler and needed this!
I was just thinking about Compost this morning, and BOOM!!! Up pops John... LOL..
Thanks for another Super Informative Show Pal..
God Bless from The Little Farmers Farm UK
~~Guru Murphinda aka Tony!!~~
Shredded paper & boxes with food scraps are fed to all my worm bins. They are very happy! I have a micro cut shredder that I got from Staples. Works great!
I'm thinking of doing this!
Quick question: Do you mix your food scraps and paper shreds before putting the worms in?
@@noroses4you For a brand new bin, yes, I mix the food & paper (greens & browns) before putting the worms in.
I hose down my cardboard and wait for it to soften (a few minutes). Then I tear it up into small pieces (easy as it becomes soft like tissue), and use it as mulch. By the next year it composts into the soil.
John I found the an electric Leaf Mulcher is good for composting cardboard too. They are under $200.00 I put a lot of my waste through it including the leaves and small sticks, Egg shells, tea bags, coffee grounds, all plant food anything you can think of, love your shows and we have talked on the phone a few times.
Where did u get it..what brand thx
I've been doing this for years as well. What I use to oil up the blades is olive oil from my kitchen. It works great. Plus it's good for the environment. Don't forget to remove the staples before shredding. John I'm surprised you don't have chickens after all these years.
He's vegan.
@@girlnextdoorgrooming They're great compost spreaders. I let them do all the work in my garden.
Great vid. You're like the most upbeat gardener in the world. I live in the Midwest and get a lot of leaves. But I also use shredded paper during the summer, when I get a flood of greens and no browns after my leaf piles run out. A great use for bills and junk mail pieces. I also hate the clumps, but they'll break down when the worms get to work.
You Always make me smile.😊
Thankyou for re-educating our culture today and
being awesomely authentically you!😄🌿🙌
Love your videos john! You helped me years ago get started gardening, and making my own soils. I moved to florida and rent so am getting ready to plant for fall here in 20 gallon pots, and have started a compost bin in my grandmothers old garbage can and got another small composter from aldi on sale for 24 bucks. Its on the small side but hey every little bit helps! I have not much leaves here, but will be using grass clippings and cardboard and i have a tone of brown shopping bags!
New to Italy and we have a nice little garden and return most food back the the land . It would be nice if everyone could do this but every little bit helps!
I have started to even though some think I am crazy for doing it and attracting flies
Great video. We have used paper and cardboard for 30 years. This works great. Thank you foe sharing.
I have been looking for a good source of. Carbon all this time it has been falling all around me and I have been dumping into a pile and burning thank you so much for this video I will mulching my land with the leafs in order to make it more beautiful pasture for my cattle you truly are a treasure to our society and keep up the good work
I believe the ash from burning your leaves can be added, as well.
You turning cardboard boxes into carbon for compost is awesome! You're basically moving tree cellulose from the north-west or mountain west to the desert, at the end of it's lifecycle, so that's pretty smart.
You just made my day John! I totally forgot I had a paper shredder that could do this for me!
Just wanted to say a big thank you to you being you and you making these videos John . You’ve been a great inspiration and an invaluable resource of information. Your videos have helped us begin our own dream of urban farming and we already have clients lined up. Thank you.
for shredding/blending cardboard, have you ever tried soaking it in water for a day and then using a long stemmed Cement Mixer and a drill to blend it up with the water and then pour it into your compost bed? i was tempted to try this and blend the cardboard and then mix it with a 5 gallon bucket of kitchen scraps and lawn clippings for green matter. thought?
I’ve had a joraform 270 for 2 years now, no rust. I love it!
Thanks for sharing the idea. I have been placing boxes on top of my compost pile and spraying them apart w a garden hose. For me this may expand my tree nursery compost into shredded confidential documents.
Thanks for a most informative video. I have been grading for many of my 77 years and have never gotten into composting. However, I have a compost tumbler arriving today and looking forward to putting it to use with the help of your video.
Just purchased one based on your recommendations. I sure hope you are right and I will give an update after a batch or two! Thank you.
Hey there, so hows that shredder holding up ?
Excellent Episode!!! I have used Office shredded paper for composting and for a "Mulch" on and in my garden for quite a while. I always hate to use white paper that has been bleached. I don't use magazine shreds because that has too much ink and toxic other stuff.
I am in Northern Northern California so we have a ton of trees on property. We are in a very rural area and the utility companies come out to cut down limbs near trees about 3 times a year. I just ask one of them to drop a load of wood chips at the house. It's free and I can use it as it mulches down... or in the compost and so many other ways. I Love it!
ThankYou for such a great video with so much information. I have ComposTumblers. ILove them. It's not as good as it was 15 years ago... They covered everything.... But still a great product. The only Compost without decay of the barrier... I a Pile with a Fork. Oh well.... Life is Awesome Anyway!!!
Very happy with this episode, John
I’m up in The Sierra Nevada Mountains and we have unlimited leaves from Oaks and Pine needles; but day before yesterday when I was building my compost heap I took my weed eater to my pile of green vine weeds and large Black Oak leaves that I had put together. The weed eater made short work of all the shredding but I doubt it’d do much to cardboard. Good video, thanks man!
As always a great continuation of knowledge, encouragement and support, bless you John!
John - I had one of these for a couple of years and did have some rust issues, but not enough to cause any problems. I never thought to contact joraform..This was when I lived in PA (lots of rain, snow). I sold it, moved to AZ, bought a new one and so far after a couple of months, haven't seen any rust. Thanks for the tips!
Yes, I too have had issues with rusted panels on my Jora JK270. Have contacted the company on two separate occasions and both times they were great about sending replacement panels. First time they shipped for free but second time they sent an invoice to cover shipping charges. I do feel the panels should last longer but at the end of the day I don’t have any problems supporting a customer that offers great customer service
Mine has rusty panels also but the thought of taking it apart to replace them absolutely wears me out. Some of the screw heads are weathered so badly I feel sure that I would have to drill them out.
I shred newspaper and paper bags and add to my vermicompost bin. The red wigglers do the composting. I will try your method for my other compost bins.
I shred all my household paper and cardboard (glossy, colorful, all of it - the gloss is clay, which benefits my sandy native soil). Sterile commercial paper is extremely stable and normally takes a very long time to break down whether exposed to sun and rain, buried in wet soil, or mixed into aerobic compost. Instead of composting it directly, I layer the ultra-brown shredded paper with ultra-green kitchen waste in a sealed latched curbside green bin, and allow the contents to anaerobically rot. Over months, the paper swells as it sops moisture, becoming saturated with nutrients. For months the pungent, caustic bath of microbial sewage degrades and dilutes any preservative treatments in the paper. Eventually I add the sludge to my Earth Machine aerobic composter - ideally I dump it over a big pile of fall leaves and thoroughly grind everything under the lawnmower first. Often within days and certainly after a few weeks of oxygenation, there is virtually no recognizable paper left. I highly recommend killing two birds with one stone by anaerobically pre-composting your ultra-stable ultra-brown dry paper waste with your ultra-green wet kitchen waste.
Hmmm. You answered the question i had about how to use anaerobic decomposition in combination with aerobic. You know, theres this stigma to always stay away from anaerobic. I will certainly look more into what youve purposed
Thanks for this video. We have plenty of leaves here but I get a ton of cardboard sent to my house every month so I was looking for another use outside of shredding it for my worm beds. Looks like the backlog of shreds are headed into the compost bin :)
If it has not been mentioned, if you have a powerful blender, it also works very well to turn it into a pulp. Granted, its not as fast as a shredder, but better than nothing if you cannot afford a high end shredder.
Just found your channel. Very good. I shred paper, cardboard box parts, toilet paper rolls, paper bags, etc.
I also live in the SW desert, but I have a fig tree. So I get a lot of brown leaves in the autumn.
My initial mistake was using too many green items and not enough brown ones.
My shredder isn't a crosscut. I get crinkly tendrils which are fine. Flatten toilet roll tubes and put them through on edge and the shredder produces cardboard rings. I gave up shredding newspaper and flat brown paper; it has a tendency to compact when wet. My compost bin doesn't seem to get anywhere near full now before I'm taking good stuff from the bottom and collecting hundreds of worms for fishing. Great compost and no raking of leaves. p.s. My compost bin is a converted wheelie bin (garbage bin).
Hi John, we've been folowing your videos for a long time. My Husband, Craig is 80 and I'm 77 and although we are healthy, we are at high risk of contacting Covid so we're staying at home growing our own vegetables, which we love doing. We've decided not to go to any stores so we to order everything from different websites. We're good at making do. The pandemic is bad and getting worse throughout our country so we hope you will consider not going to the grocery store. You already know how people pick over fruits and vegetables. We want you to stay alive and teach us how to grow nutricious food for many years so please DON'T GO TO THE GROCERY STORE, OK? This a very clever virus and it has the ability to get you and have no mercy on you. Please be careful. From two of your greatest fans.
You’re the man dude! I run a restaurant and have tons of nitrogen material. I also compost in buckets and I run short on carbon sources. My work generates a ton of scrap paper but it’s the white office stuff. I’ve been shredding it and composting it. I’m curious your opinion on if that affects my soil or if that paper is ok once composted? Thanks! Getting better at this a little
Collect leaves in the fall.
As long as the ink is soy based, it shouldnt be a problem. If youre worried about toxins, grow some sunflowers. Just avoid plastics and you're good
White paper has been bleached. If they used clorine for it there will be a lot of organochlorines in it. So definitely a no if you care about your health.
When chlorine binds with carbon-based (organic) compounds such as lignins in wood pulp, it produces highly toxic dioxins and other toxic organochlorine byproducts, which wreak havoc in living systems.
Cardboard and newspapers should generally be safe nowadays.
It's a bit of an extra time but I blend my food waste you wouldn't believe how much faster everything breaks down. Between the shredder and the blender wow it would be weeks!
Hello excited to follow and learn from you ,my new home has a nice backyard with dirt (no pool or cement like how you usually find homes here in Las Vegas)where I’m able to grow vegetables 🌶 🍅 🌽 let the gardening journey begin 💕
I'm composting asap! Thanks for the tips and congrats on your fancy shredder! 👍🏼💕🌿 #P6Shreder
Good info John. You could update this video because now all refuse removal, i.e., garbage collection services are REQUIRED by law to divert all food waste from the landfills to composting facilities. I still prefer as you do to reuse my non animal food scraps to add to the worm bins and the hot compost bins. I too have a micro security shredder. Nice small pieces.
I shred everything and use it as a top dressing. Aprox a year for the worms to break it down. I do toss it around every month. Worms are crazy over it
Natural garden worms or u brought them
Nice job on the Video. I use a food processor to grind up all vegetables waist being composted. I mix vegtables with leaves and paper in the food processor with water this way animals don't want eat the compost. This Grinding up waste with water composts very fast. thank you
My friend, this whole time I didn't know you were in Houston like me. I'm subscribing and hopefully I can get some pro tips from a fellow Houstonian. Keep up the good work friend
Thought he said he lives in desert??? Figured Vegas? Where is he🤔
Las Vegas, but he still owns his house in California.
I’m so glad I’ve got Guinea pigs and a hamster, their paper and wood based bedding is amazing as it’s mixed in with their poop, urine, old hay and produce they hadn’t eaten by the end of the day. I water it when the bin’s full with a 5litre jug full of my tea leaves which I’ve stored and then brewed until the boiling water is at room temperature. It’s very watered down but it works! Then I turn it a few days later and repeat a few times, if it needs watering again I’ll use my used tea bag brew or rain water.
I just came across your channel while researching putting cardboard in my compost pile... I'm only 2 mins in and I actually am in the Northeast, and I wish I could ship you boxes of leaves! Or crushed leaves... We mow them with the lawn mower to chop
them up! lol 🙃
🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂🍁🍂
I use two barrel tumblers but also an electric ice cream maker size composted, in the upper Midwest. Gets too cold for the barrel composters to keep up. I also save leaves from the trees and use them throughout the winter. Add it to all the juicing residue. Paper and cardboard would only be last resort desperation but I’d also stick with brown paper. Thanks!
Avoid magazine paper, as it has a lot of varnish on it, but newspaper is great. It has a lot of sulfuric acid in it, so it will break down more quickly, and by law here in the US, all ink must be soy based, so it's non-toxic.
If people are still going to want to use paper in their gardens even though it’s not a good idea a another suggestion besides a shredder is to just put it in a bucket of water and it will break down into pulp. Freezing wet paper also makes it break down faster
Taxachussetts ! Leaves and coffee grounds,😂😂😂
I bought a $70 chipper on Amazon. It's shreds my areca palm frauns just fine.
That’s awesome, because they take awhile to break down. I chop and drop them. What chipper did you buy?
@Learn Organic Gardening at GrowingYourGreens John, thanks. I too purchased this at an open box price for compost material. I live in an apartment (With a small backyard) but rarely have enough carbon material. This shredder does INSANE work on cardboard! The thick cardboard doesn't go through unless you peel a layer of its surface but, I'll be snagging all the thinner, clean cardboard I come across, for sure.The grains it makes of it are much smaller then rice, even! No more raking up my neighborhoods office lawns! Well, maybe not quite so often. I still want SOME leaves ;)
Your gardens are a beautiful background for your video
I use the cardboard for my chicken coop. I have two paper shredders (12 page capacity) and get the cardboard free from the back of stores. The soft boxes work best. The compost it makes is great. but there is a side benefit. Crickets like cardboard and it draws them in and the chickens find them. Cardboard like this is also good mulch. After you water it in, it usually stays put really well.
I don’t have a crosscut shredder, so I dig a trench in a raised bed, and fill it halfway up with shredded paper that I’ve saturated. I toss in alfalfa pellets as I fill the trench as a nitrogen source. I dig into the trench every few weeks to see if the worms are making use of it.
Is it possible to save your compost if it started to rot? If the ratios were off and there was too much nitrogen and not enough carbon, do you just scrap it and start all over, or can it be salvaged?
Just add more browns if it goes anaerobic. Mix in browns and let it dry a bit and it'll be just fine. The aerobic bacteria will kill off the bad bacteria
Glossy is OK, made from Clay.
Bentonite Clay, I have a friend that delivered Bentonite clay to print shops all over greater Portland OR. All the shiny paper in news papers adds is made shiny with this clay.
I do this. Love it 💚💯
One thing I loved about this video was the clarity of the vocals. I watch it at 1.25× speed and it sounds like a severe case of adhd, and hyperactive disorder! Lol😙👌Your videos are outstanding Sir! I learn tons, and now I want that darn shredder! I love knowledge that makes me feel like I am underperforming while giving me the tools to improve! Trudeau has outlawed plastic bags, and everyones bringing me their paoer bags, and my shredder WAS the old black one you demontrated, till it died recently, and its replacement is one of the same shred size. Lots of leaves and stuff around here, but why not have paper shredded up to mulch like you have there? Its a useful use of paper bags that'll end up wasted otherwise.
I oiled the fellowes shredder i was talking about. Its been solid & shredding cardboard and paper bags all winter and spring, and saved my composter, on my way to learn how to make compost. Now as i start my new compost i have plenty of shreddable supply to use. Dumpsters around downtown are full of cardboard ever since recycling dumpsters were created. 🙏
Wow, what a coincidence I've been in the market for a good shredder 😊
Thank you for sharing 👍
Great video and great information
Thank you for sharing this 🙏wonderful video on composting
Id sure like to see that greenhouse,if still holding up.what you grow in it now. I havent put up mine. I used a poly tunnel for 4 years. Lost the plastic after 4, i have another top, but would rather go a different direction this time. Im 64 yrs. Old.i dont particularly have much energy to do it all over again. Im starting to like the Ruth Stout methods.lol ive experimented alot. Love your garden, I looks great.take care.
Yeah, I shred newspaper, cardboard and brown paper bags for my compost. I also use the wood shavings from my chicken coop.
I put some torn corrugated cardboard box panel on top of the worms in my worm bin. The worms seems to like to go in the channels of the corrugating. They eat the glue.
Wow...amazing
Easy and faster
Use straw bales. My city gives out old ones for free, but even if you have to pay they're not expensive and you get a huge amount of straw per bale.
Like always great instructions
I have a question...
Banana leaves green are considered Greenn and banana leaves brown (DRY) are considered brown or both are green?
Thanks for sharing ❤️
Thank you for another great video 🙂
Taco Bell has been serving up their tray-type meals in easily shreddable unprinted cardboard containers (so 'food safe' even if their food isn't 😁).
Their clear plastic cups are pretty good for seedling starts, too.
Worms LOVE Kombucha scobys !
Also extra water kefir grains...they went wild for mine!!
Thank you for your guidance and teaching on these topics.
Look out for cardboard dividers found in cases of wine or liquor from your local restaurant or big box wholesale alcohol store. No ink, no glue, no tape👍👍
Northeast here and I'm working with fallen branches and tons of leaves. I learned I need a lot more carbon materials than I thought. My worms are enjoying it though. The wetter it is, the more eggs they lay.
Great info, thanks, John
Been using cardboard for 50+ years. I used to ask for boxes at the grocery instead of bags...back then there was only paper bags. Used to be that there wasnt so much cardboard around. Now there is 100× as much. We are a wasteful society.
I just did this yesterday. I also use it for my chicken’s nesting box.
Does the shredder oil affect your compost? Or do you risk the shredder by not oiling it?
not in my opinion. You can try to use a food grade oil if you are concerned. I have microbes in my compost that break down oil.
@@growingyourgreens awesome, thanks for responding.
I read recently that the Fellowes brand shredder lube oil was 99% canola oil. People were debating why they should spend bigger markup oil when you could just use grocery brand cheap canola oil. Give it a google search to see if it helps you.
It's said that recycling paper products is much more sustainable than composting them, and re-use/recycle comes before rot (shredding paper).
A secret ingredient of the best compost is Alfalfa. The least expensive place to buy it is at feed stores in pelletized form.
Love your ethics
I started keeping food scraps in freezer in winter and now I do it all year.....material that has frozen decomposes very quickly.
Have four raised beds right now that I've got completely covered with shredded paper I wonder if a shredder would work on putting some leaves through it although it would be quite time consuming