COMPOSTING RESOURCES

This is the latest version of the composting resources included in The Happy Garden Guide to Composting. If you find errors or have additions to suggest, email me at [email protected].

Books Worms Eat My Garbage: How to Set Up and Maintain a Worm Composting System – Mary Apelhof’s introduction to vermiculture is our go-to guide about compost worms. If you’re an educator, look for her companion book of classroom activities, too.

Let It Rot!: The Gardener's Guide to Composting – Stu Campbell’s classic book about compost has been Colby’s favorite on the topic. It’s entertaining, approachable, and comprehensive.

Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure – Joseph Jenkins doesn’t mince words as he covers human sanitation, the problems with water-based systems, and the simple solution of composting. I appreciate his humor and honesty and how he’s working around the world to install these sustainable, low-cost systems.

Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting – Fun and a bit irreverent, David Goodman (a.k.a. David the Good) encourages you to question convention and start composting it all in his handy little book.

Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener's Guide to the Soil Food Web – Wayne Lewis and Jeff Lowenfels give us an interesting and understanding look at the world of soil microbiology. Their work is accessible for beginners and eye-opening for experienced gardeners, too.

Resource List updated 2/10/17 (v 1.2). How to Grow More Vegetables: And Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine – John Jeavons has been encouraging people to grow biointensive for many years. His book has informed our own compost practice and gardens, plus it’s a great reference for plant spacing and yields.

Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture – This is our all-time favorite book for any gardener. Toby Hemenway brings together ecology, experience, and permaculture design in an inspiring and action-oriented way.

Video & Audio Symphony of the Soil – This beautiful film about “the living skin of the Earth” is by Deborah Koons Garcia. I especially love the time-lapse and microscopic photography that reveals the vibrancy of plant roots and microbes that are invisible to the naked eye.

Permaculture Soils – Geoff Lawton, permaculture consultant, designer, and teacher, is an engaging instructor in this holistic introduction to soils. If “permaculture” is an unfamiliar word, this film is a great introduction to the system of designing for permanent or sustainable agriculture (and other culture) by observing natural patterns. (How to Build an Instant Garden is a shorter excerpt about sheet mulching on YouTube.)

Dirt! The Movie – Director/producers Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow traveled the world talking to people who care about “dirt.” Their stories and voices combine to show how our future as humans is intertwined with the soil’s future.

Building Soil Health for Healthy Plants – This presentation at the Permaculture Voices conference is a great introduction to soil scientist Dr. Elaine Ingham. Dr. Ingham has lots of other videos and a website with comprehensive information about the soil food web.

Resource List updated 2/10/17 (v 1.2). Composting in the Pacific Northwest – This series of 7 podcast episodes from Seattle Tilth’s Master Composters covers a wealth of information about composting, cover crops, and mulch. My favorite is the seventh episode where the host, Joshua McNichols, tells a story from the soil’s point of view. (Also on iTunes.)

Websites How to Test Compost for Persistent Herbicides (pdf) – This document from Washington State University explains how to do a bioassay test for persistent herbicides. Peas, which are highly sensitive to the herbicides in question, are grown in “clean” potting mix and test compost. Then, you compare the growth of the two groups and look for damage.

Compost Calculator – Choose your materials, enter the quantity of each, and find out the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of your mix. This calculator from Green Mountain Technologies also provides an estimate of the density, moisture level, and total quantity. You can add custom ingredients and adjust the configuration to use weight or volume in a variety of measurement units.

Compost Tea Recipe – Read the recipe and instructions from Dr. Elaine Ingham for a basic batch of compost tea.

More Information About Compost Methods 1. Community Compost – Search for “compost service near me” 2. Bokashi – Details and product available from Planet Natural 3. Worm Bin – Our tutorial on making a simple DIY worm bin (Download our printable plan from the Bonus Area.) 4. Green Cone – Details and where to find a green cone 5. Black Soldier Flies – Information and growing systems from BioPod 6. Heap – See Step 7 for the Berkeley Hot Composting Method 7. Sheet Mulch – Our tutorial on sheet mulching (Download our printable plan from the Bonus Area.)

Resource List updated 2/10/17 (v 1.2). 8. Trench or Pit – David the Good shares melon pits and the Victoria Compost Education Centre has a factsheet about trenches (pdf) 9. Upcycled Pallet Bin – A 3-bin system from Growing a Greener World 10. Chicken Corners - Justin Rhodes, creator of Permaculture Chickens, offers a printable action plan for his Chicken Corners composting system 11. Concrete Bin – A plan for a single bin from University of Florida that you could expand 12. Cedar Wood Bin – Rodale’s Organic Life tutorial for a beautiful one 13. Wire Bin – Download our printable plan from the Bonus Area. 14. Plastic Composter – Example from Gardener’s Supply Company 15. Tumbler or Ball – Example from Gardener’s Supply Company 16. Leaf Mold – More about making leaf mold from Fine Gardening 17. Humanure – All the details are in Joseph Jenkin’s Humanure Handbook

Resource List updated 2/10/17 (v 1.2).