How to Hot Compost at Home

6 CQ

Want to decrease your ecological footprint, save money on soil, and nourish your garden? Try hot composting in this lesson from Soil to Supper!

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    56 Comments
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    samantha c
    If you don't have existing compost to add at the beginning, what is a good substitute?
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    Curious .
    Great question, thanks Samantha. You could use some soil from another garden, old manure or worm castings. These also contain the micro-organisms to get the composting process started. Have fun!! Cath.
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    michael s
    I have been making compost for years , the difference is I have an open top & keep turning with a garden fork. I think this takes a little longer but makes excellent compost we have turned a garden space with awful hard clay soil into wonderful rich earth.
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    Curious .
    Hi Michael, I'm so sorry I have just realised that I haven't replied to you already!! It's great to hear you have a successful composting system! It's the best thing to improve the hard clay soil, that's what I have too, so I create loads of compost and build raised no-dig gardens to create fresh soil. Keep me updated on your progress. Cath
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    Pamela F
    Thanks for all the good information. I started a compost bin this spring and your instructions gave me some tips on ingredients I should add. Hope to have some good stuff to put on my gardens soon!
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    Curious .
    That's great to hear. I'm sure you'll have plenty of fresh compost for your garden very soon !! Have fun!
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    Sylvia H
    Very helpful. If I don't have any straw can I use tornup newspaper? What about pine needles?
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    Curious .
    HI Sylvia, thanks for your comments. Yes you can use torn or shredded newspaper, just presoak it in water to help with decomposing. Pine needles are acidic, so not good for composting. Cath.
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    Theresa C
    My family and I are trying to eat more healthfully and have recently started a compost. To say the least, we are still learning. Thank you for all of your good information. Question: do you have to turn cold compost? Thank you again
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    Curious .
    Hi Theresa, thanks for your comments. Yes it's a good idea to turn all compost piles, hot or cold method, as air is needed to help with decomposing process. Add some water as you turn compost to help speed up the process. Also liquid fertiliser like worm juice is great to include as well. Please let me know how you go!!
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    Theresa C
    Thank you for letting me know. We have just a pile of stuff we have been throwing outside of the fence. As soon as I can I plan on building a compoct box to put stuff into . I really enjoyed your class and I learned a lot. I will gett my little pile turned as soon as I can. I just dug down under it for some rich soil to put in our garden. It looks like the beautiful healty soil you showed in your lesson. Thank you again. I will keep you informed as to how things go.
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    Curious .
    That sounds great !! thanks.
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