How I Make Very Fast Compost

No problem. Not a fast process so not much to update with.

The batch of compost put together from our last big grass cutting (5/12/15) finished off enough to be used today as a side-dressing.  It took 13 days from start to finish, thanks to having four days above 90 degrees at the time it really needed to cook.

In comparison, one of our cold compost windrows is covered with potato plants.  I guess some rotten organic potatoes seeded because it was not hot enough, and the organic potatoes do not have seed preventive applied, so we will have a lot of free potatoes later this summer. 

When they go on sale, we are going to go purchase more 32-gallon trash cans and go with 100% quick, hot compost.  The cold compost obviously does not kill the seeds.

vortex wrote:Still turning. Three weeks will probably be a stretch, but we'll see how it goes.

Still planning on about six weeks, but even at that it is still a decent time.

Stillllllllllllllll going.


I'd say 98% of everything has broken down, save for the wheat straw. I'm continuing to tumble it every two days, and it's still pretty warm in there.

Some people seem obsessed with making compost fast, while others seem to care not. After reading many books and articles about composting I determined that I should experiment to see what works best for me. The approach I have taken has been the never ending compost heap; I just keep adding to it and as a lot of the material finishes I sift the pile to get the finished material in to a storage container and let the rest continue to work. I add new material often, sometimes daily and turn the heap often, usually ever two to three days.

I have found that variety of material is more important than if a certain proportion of greens and browns are maintained. Preparing material to be added is also important so I use a 14 cup food processor to grind some things while a meat cleaver makes short work of other things such as corn cobs and stalks, avocado seeds, pineapple hulls and tops, mango seeds, etc. I add 20 to 100 pounds of new material weekly to the heap and I find that most of the material is not recognizable 24 to 36 hours after being added. The heap temp usually runs 130 to 140 degrees F.

This works well for me here in central Arizona.

crankyoldman wrote:Some people seem obsessed with making compost fast, while others seem to care not. After reading many books and articles about composting I determined that I should experiment to see what works best for me. The approach I have taken has been the never ending compost heap; I just keep adding to it and as a lot of the material finishes I sift the pile to get the finished material in to a storage container and let the rest continue to work. I add new material often, sometimes daily and turn the heap often, usually ever two to three days.

I have found that variety of material is more important than if a certain proportion of greens and browns are maintained. Preparing material to be added is also important so I use a 14 cup food processor to grind some things while a meat cleaver makes short work of other things such as corn cobs and stalks, avocado seeds, pineapple hulls and tops, mango seeds, etc. I add 20 to 100 pounds of new material weekly to the heap and I find that most of the material is not recognizable 24 to 36 hours after being added. The heap temp usually runs 130 to 140 degrees F.

This works well for me here in central Arizona.

My way of doing compost, a never ending pile, I build one up, when its full I get about 15 five gallon buckets of horse or cow manure and start switching over to the other bin. Finished compost I toss over the side to screen when time permits..As far as shredding, I use a poor mans shredder and it works great. A razor sharp ice scraper in a 5 gal bucket will cut everything. Amazing how it heats up and shrinks just after the manure is added.

My neighbor has a single bin that he never turns. It's about six feet high, maybe four or five feet width and length, made of a tough wire wrapping around sturdy wooden posts. He puts all his smaller tree trimmings and leaves in there, as well as his garden waste. It usually gets to at least four feet high.

Every spring he scrapes aside the most recent stuff and digs his shovel into the bottom of the pile, which come out to many big buckets full of fully-composted stuff he hasn't done a thing to manipulate.

It's how he makes "very slow compost." I like his lazy way of thinking!

Marc, your neighbor is doing compost my way, sans bin. I just have a literal pile of yard and kitchen waste. I just put that stuff on there as it accumulates, and it does it's thing!

Maybe I need to make another bin, great idea...make it, fill it..and leave it...

Honestly, Jimmy, it's a win-win. Maybe you have to wait, but, so easy.