Kristins Vlog #3 - Compost Stories

[RDLONG30]

Having you as a girlfriend and he wants =more guy time = what the #*ll is wrong with him ??

He should FEEL more time with you

[OrangeScented]

MMore vids

[aerdna16]

I love to hear that other people get as excited about compost and worms as I do!!!

Nice to know I am not alone!

[happygameshow]

I'm not sure she understands why she's composting.

[pawpycoo]

Have you ever been mentally evaluated?

[WarzSchoolchild]

If your compost heap is big enough, you can heat your house with it. Compost get's so hot, it will boil water!

[mbbous]

Thank for your vid ^_^

It acually helped me on one of my projects on composting.

Happy composting

and may your worms be healthy and plenty

(LoL )

[MrLadner]

Hello, I have a compost tumbler like yours. I am fairly new to composting and can't get my compost to heat up. I have added organic blood meal as well as bacterial compost starter for to help get it going. Nothing seems to work! Can you help? Love your videos. Please keep 'em coming :-)

[tylenoljohnson]

And she's never eaten a sandwich again. Thanks DAD!

[ruanlian]

Hi. I'm from Malaysia. I started organic composting for growing my organic garden.However,seems like slight different from how you are doing for your compost.I use everything on vegetarian basis which means totally no manure and meat. Cooked food also banned from my compost. Would like to show you my garden progress, but don't knoe how to do it. KEEP UP YOUR GOOD WORKS :)

[qualqui]

Another AWESOME vid, 5 stars for ya all, Kristen and Ben! So when one compost, its a good idea to get worms,...i thought you just add water, cover the compost and coupla months later tadaaaaa! Hope ya all have a great New Year's Day!

[j30mack]

Joe from Dallas. Keep doing with your doing. I live in the city and just got this gardening bug. I've even into community gardening. Here in Texas there's a few barns around. I just call them up and I have free horse manure when ever I want it. So now I'm building a very big compost area with chicken wire and wood. :)

[reaper69316]

how many of these crappy vids do you have

[rudabega666]

Id love to fertilize your overy's

[Ergock]

3:44 liar, you know you did it again.

[neprajah]

Hey,hi from the UK,keep up the blogs really enjoying them,take care,

A

[hdanzige]

My compost story starts with trying to host a party without any garbage at the end. I learned that after a that party, 90% or so left was compostable food left-overs. Every time I throw out food scraps or left-overs, I now feel that I'm doing a diservice. Luckily, I guess, my pool filter broke and needed replacement. The old sand filter is going to be reappropriated as the bin. Because of your posts, I don't feel so alone. Thank goodness for the two of you. Keep posting.

[yunta51]

I'm having great success with just a 2' by 3' wooden box that I fill with shredded newspaper for the worms to live and just add my food scrapes. It's great fertilizer. I'm totally addicted to doing this now.

[horse8962]

Itry to go easy on the sawdust as it takes a lot of nitrgen or green to break down that much carbon or brown.

[ultrakool]

You're quite an enigma. You're so homely that you're beautiful. How is that possible? Anyway, it's cool you wanna do your part ecologically and all, but honey, mankind will never "break" this earth. It's really presumptuous of all the greenies to think so. Get a couple hundred volcanoes to erupt at the same time and then you can start worrying.

[ultrakool]

Tell pops to lighten up. Sounds like you may have been potty trained at gun point.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

haha... you're not wrong.

[Xosidhe]

Your dad rocks--I wish he'd come and tell my idiot family not to put stuff down the garbage disposal!

[pepeYjuana]

Ugh, I wish my parents had been like yours. They were the opposite.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

I'm totally telling my mom you said that!

[mreisma]

how about me and you.... compost over a bottle of wine... made from recycled glass :)

[anime1245x]

I tried composting last summer and cultivated maggots and mold. Will try again this spring, I was glad to hear that you grew up with such a complex composting system. Wow, its very inspiring.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

you should try mixing sawdust into your compost. you'll cut down on maggots. you're missing "brown" material, and you've got too much "green"... and if that doesnt mean anything to you, try to google "green and brown" and how they apply to compost to learn more about what that means... i hope you have more success with your next compost experiment

[chriswebpub]

Do you really compost all your cooked food? You know anything that has been salted (which includes all food from cans more or less) isn't good for a compost pile, or your garden.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

funny, my plants are all doing very well. i'm sure that you should moderate how much salt you put into your pile, but the amount of cooked food that i waste is very minimal. if you're one for wasting food that you cook, then i guess you should be careful.

[prz36]

Yeah, you sure showed him! that'll teach those do-gooders to try and help out again... lighten up, i'm sure he was just trying to help, its not like he put worm food in the garbage disposal...

[mvfosho]

you're a compost hottie.

[onlylivinboi]

Hey neighbor. So I your site out, very awesome :). Thanks for all the info tonight. I will save and donate my tea bags *lol i said it again* to the compost pile.

p.s. the fire pit smells sooooo good! yay.

joey

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

awesome... we look forward to compost donations! thanks for coming by tonight to hang chill. : ) good times by the *urban* fire.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

okay, just a note about all the comments below:  a lot of them are a long conversation between myself and two others, desheik and dionysusstar. if you want to see the whole thing in order, go to "view all comments" at the bottom of the page... otherwise a lot is out of context.

[Foxblossom]

I'm thinking I should compost but I"m not growing a garden. I can barely keep up with mowing the lawn. I admire your tenacity with your values. On the commens below...We have to be responsible for ourselves. Boycott, less is more, accept responsible for our plot that we rent or own. We can influence others but in the end be true to ourselvs. Others watch us on video, in life, by our actions.

[8rf]

Why do you even have a lawn? Do you know that if you go with permaculture concept you can have fruit trees, medicine plants, etc.??? Get rid of the lawn... and you will have less work to do. And, you will have food. Really.... THE LAWN is frustrating. :)

[8rf]

If you plant fruit trees on the place where is your lawn then you will have to do nothing. Once a year you will need to cut the trees, and collect fruits. Maybe a little eco protection, and that is it... And your yard will look really beautiful.

[Foxblossom]

I started to dig the lawn out of the backyard this year. Trying to collect free or affordable plants. I have started that. I agree with you on growing useful plants. Have to think about trees though. I got these nasty phone lines and power lines in back. By the way its .19 acre. Not big.

[8rf]

Foxy. You should pick pigmy little trees. You know? Little trees... small trees... and then you do not have problem with powerlines.

[Foxblossom]

I thought that after I wrote it. There are alot of flowering bushes on the property a landscaper before me put them in. I may take out some grass for a garden in the back and then I will need COMPOST. Wonderful Compost.

[dionysusstar]

Yeah there are alot of different types of dwarf fruit trees that can even be grown in pots on apartment balconies. There are also different types of bushes. Lawns require alot of maintenance and water that are unnecessary. However, I need some yard for my daughter and dog. But next spring about 1/4 will be devoted to a garden. My yard is tiny.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

oh isnt it wonderful? wonderful compost is right.

[dionysusstar]

In my area (Colorado,USA) it's hard to keep lawns watered or alive in the snow so there is alot of landscaping with rocks and low water-low maintenance native plants.

[Foxblossom]

for the record here. I didn't water my lawn in the two years i've been here. rain has been enough. even when it was close to drought it survived. Its weedy. on to worms.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

lawns aren't all bad... don't worry. its cool if you can get food instead, but we keep a small area of grass under the clothesline because its practical, and in a shady area. but for the most part, america overdoes the lawn. : ) thanks for always commenting on my videos miss foxblossom. : )

[dionysusstar]

I have started digging a dog poop composter and I am going to try and get some bins for recycling. Eventually I want to get a worm bin going too...but everything costs a bit doesn't it. My family had no care about the environment as I grew up. We burned our trash and threw the rest in our own mini-landfill. I won't continue that cycle. I am wanting my daughter to grow up thinking that those who don't compost and recycle are werid.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

wow, its your timing is amazing. we just collected the yard's dog poo yesterday, and we put it in a paper bag and kept it instead of throwing it out, because we want to start composting it... but we're trying to figure out the logistics of temperature taking, etc. to make sure we show how to do it safely. thanks for awesome comment!

[dionysusstar]

According to youtube videos I've watched, I just need to dig a hole at least 3ft deep, put in a plastic container that has a lid (with the bottom cut out and a few holes drilled into the sides). They also recommend putting in some sort of septic powder that will help decompose the poop once a week. The hole should be as far away from veggies as possible to not contaminate. When the hole is full you pull up your plastic and cover with soil and start a new hole.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

oooh, i hadn't seen any vids about it yet. cool! apparently my red wigglers are totally capable of decomposing it too, but there's enough food in there right now, so i'm hoping i'll have enough worms soon to use them to compost it. you'll be seeing how that works for us within the next couple months sometime.

[dionysusstar]

If you search youtube for "dog composting" there are two really good videos from pakuataichi, who also has some other really neat videos.

[desheik]

I must confess I don't compost or recycle and not because I don't care I just don't see how a tiny fraction doing the right thing is gonna help fix the overall calamity that is taking place. I place resposibility for recycling on the producers. They should be forced to dig up landfills and recycle every spec. They should sort the garbage post pick up and remove 100% of the poison crap and compost all the rest.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

the single biggest obstacle that we as a society face in becoming sustainable is individuals who feel that their unique effort doesn't make a difference. with enough people sharing that mindset, you end up with a whole lot of people not making a difference. so pitch in, you might influence a neighbor. : )

[desheik]

I applaud your efforts. Apathy is the enemy, yes. But. People are lazy and busy. They are not gonna take the time. Industry is making batteries and disposable diapers and plastic bottles by the gizillion and most of it is going on the beach, in the sea and in the ground to poison the future. So I don't feel I know that your unique effort is not making any difference. In fact if it appeases your anger it may be hindering change.

[dionysusstar]

The goal isn't to change everyone. It's to inspire many who can make a change. Showing people that it can be done, who can then spread the word. If I only change my life and my small section of the world then the mission is complete. To live by ones ideals will lead to a more fulfilled life. You cannot let cynisism keep you from doing what is right. Nurturing ourselves and the world should be a natural priority in our lives.

[dionysusstar]

Apathy such as yours has resulted in increased pollution and the rise of landfills. Small percentages would grow into a large one. If one person composts and they show someone else how to, the movement spreads. Blaming the producers is a cop out. The producers meet demand. You can purchase 100% recycled products/biodegradable products. You can lobby legislators to increase environmental standards. Leaving the environment for "others" to take care of is what is killing this earth.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

@ dionysusstar - ben says "righteous," lol. thanks for having our back.

[desheik]

Again I am really glad that there are people like you doing what you are doing. But I am sure you realize such a complicated and labor intensive approach to handling poisons is unlikley to be widely adopted. We have to stop making petroleum based products not force the consumer to spend his life carefully managing them. It's like BP and Chevron spending a pittance on alternative fuel development while still bulding pipelines. It's PR.

[dionysusstar]

When you don't purchase posions, there isn't much labor to handle it. It isn't much work to recycle or compost. There is pleasant character devloping work to garden and produce organic foods for yourself and neighbors. Consumers can make the easy choice to make educated purchases. Should I buy toxic detergents or make my own in a few minutes for fractions less? Do I throw the aluminum can in the garbage can or the recycling can?

[desheik]

The cop out is not holding your government responsible for providing a clean and healthy environment. The producers are making money with government subsidies, corporate welfare, and little regulation. They are writing legislation and paying for the media charade that poses for free elections. Public opinion is overwhelmingly pro environment. Enforce it and the problem would be solved quickly and more effectively.

[dionysusstar]

As I stated previously, you should lobby our government representatives to increase environmental standards and regulations. I partcipate in my world, I am not a bystander who only espouts negativity and blames others. Did you write or call your senators concerning the Farm Bill? Do you petition for landfills to reclaim their methane gas to produce electricity? Don't just say life is crap...do something about it.

[desheik]

Fuck this government. They are liars and crooks and we are complicit in their crimes, placated with illusions. If you want to do something positive blow up a refinery.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

wow, because THAT wouldn't create pollution. not to mention they'll rebuild it and use that much more petroleum to make it!  how about destroying DEMAND for a refinery by curbing your own consumption of petroleum products and telling others how easy it is to change.

[desheik]

Ok you are right. Carefully disable and deconstruct a refinery. Hmn wonder who could and should do that? The billionaires who built it perhaps? I hope you don't mind me playing devil's advocate.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

yes... it would be ideal for the oil moguls to deconstruct their own factories safely...lol. believe me, if i knew how to make them do that, i would concentrate my efforts on it. but for now, all my focus is compost. i'm trying to be responsible for myself so that somebody else doesnt have to be after i'm gone.

[dionysusstar]

I think you need to go back to your doctor and get a refill of your prescriptions.

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

desheik - i would think that you of all people would know that the government is corrupt. it is up to citizens to make a difference in the way every revolution has happened - as individuals and neighborhoods who join together for change. its nobody elses job to pick up the garbage that you create. If you make waste, YOU should clean it up.

[desheik]

The only garbage I create is YOUTUBE videos. That is my point. You did not create the packaging and plastics. You should not feel like it is your resposibility. You should demand that the people who are producing poisons stop and also clean up what they have already produced. It is their responsibility.

[dionysusstar]

Have you ever heard of self-responsibility. If I purchase the packaging and plastics it is my responsibility to despose of it properly by recycling. If I want to purchase something it is my responsibility to make sure it is recyclable. There is also something called self-restraint. No one makes me buy something...we are taught that we need so much when in fact we do not.

[zezt]

your lovely to listen to and watch :-)

annnd a NATURAL woman

My memories of being told off for waste. I poured part of a pint of milk into the sink, and my Grandpa told me off, saying that wasting food is VERY VERy bad. and i never forgot that!

I first started compositing some years back, cause emmmmmmm i thimnk it was reading Fritjof Capra's The Turning POint

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

that reminds me of a time that my 2nd grade art teacher yelled at the whole class for wasting paper towels. she said if you throw out a paper towel and any part of it isn't used, then you've wasted it. it changed my paper use for life.

[zezt]

its funny isn't it? cause the image of that memory is very clear! I can see the milk in the sink going down the plughole

[8rf]

I am not obsessed with compost but I have similar obsessions, I maybe make a video about that and post it as a response. One day maybe I can have the same obsession. That would be nice...

[TheUrbanHomesteaders]

it would be the first video response anyone ever posted for us! that would be cool... if you get the time! :)

[8rf]

I will get the time today. We have a time difference. :) So, when night falls I will do it...

[8rf]

Yeah, dispose garbage on the right way. That is the good enough reason to compost. I know that you have a bad soil, but you will build it. I am interested: how much land do you have? (can you expres it in the square meters?).