The male speaker has a point about compost not being enough, but he is totally wrong about how to go about it. You have to listen to this thing to know what I am talking about. Rather then bury the kitchen scraps you can microwave them, chop them up small hot compost them to get them finished quickly before they break down. Then if you mix them with native soil or use them as a mulch, (but not in containers ever) you get high volumes of compost. If you bury stuff it is not going to work as well. I have not ever done this so I can't say all the things that could be wrong with it. Then the woman has given up composting completely for some odd reason. Maybe she did it wrong or was not happy for one reason or another. I do agree with the commentary about buying compost and it being low quality junk. But, it was interesting even if I don't agree with it.

I am not able to download a podcast on this computer so I will have to wait to check this out.

Tropical: how do you compost something and 'get it finished quickly before it breaks down'? I think if you are seeing a higher 'volume' of compost when you do it quickly, it is because compost never really stops breaking down. It has a steep volume reduction curve at the beginning, and a long tail. If you measure compost while still on that steep curve, of course it will seem to shrink if you let it go longer. And volume isn't everything.

How can you say burying food scraps in the garden is a completely wrong approach if you've never even tried it? Lots of people have with very impressive results from their gardens. Not only does it work, but it minimizes labor and handling, in contrast to your method of microwaving, chopping, hot composting and harvesting at just the right time.

It's your business whether you have an open mind about other methods you don't use, but this is an active board, and I worry about novices getting misinformation.

Tox, I told you not to comment unless you listened first. You have to hear what the guy is saying. Just go to the link and click it will play. You don't have to download it. The woman hates composting and the guy thinks it is wasteful. That should motivate you to listen.

The "composting soap operas"

It was kind of boring, I could only listen to it while I was editing my photos. They don't get into compost until about 40 minutes in, but you can push the slide over and go there. It is not actually a pod cast, although a pod cast is available. I have iTunes. I hate it, so I don't use it as a video player. It has sometime of built in player on the page and no ads, so at least it was free. The first caller put the compost in a container and it killed her tomatoes, and I was like no dud, who would put compost in containers? So, then they start bad mouthing compost. I felt like I could do so much better then them. She calls herself the queen of the soil, give me a break, I would like to debate her.

Perhaps I misunderstood your post and you were describing the methods they were discussing on the show rather than your methods. If so I apologize. I was not able to listen to the online stream either, my net nanny system at the office is somehow blocking their player. I should probably keep my mouth shut if I haven't perused the article being discussed!

Carry on!

Tox, that is ok, it is only because it takes so long to reiterate. The man felt the composting made him lose the benefits and he buried all of his garage. When I said to use it faster, I only mean to use it before it is finished. Finished to one person may mean completely broken down, but I mean only partly broken down. That is where you can sort it out. Remove the pieces you think are too big. Add the finished compost to the garden before you lose too much of the volume. The term finished is when you use it. So, the two bin system means one big for unfinished and one for finished. Every two weeks you can remove more from the unfinished bin and add it to the finished. In the finished bin it is still breaking down, but it is slower in that bin, and it is waiting for you to use it right away. He doesn't actually garden he seems to be into things like feeding the whole world by growing massive amounts of vegetables. But, he is not concerned with a nice looking landscaped garden to increase your property value. If you click on the links you can see his twitter, his facebook etc.., so I have some idea of what is theory. But, even so if you wanted to feed a lot of people quickly, you should hot compost the stuff quick. If you bury stuff it will take a really long time to breakdown. In fact, I don't know how long. I can't imagine showing your house and garden and there is all this rotting food in your yard, instead of discreetly hidden in a bin.

If you look at it a certain way, he is doing the same thing you are, he's just eliminating the bin part and using the 'compost' much earlier on the breakdown curve. I have not tried this (they call it trench composting, burying food waste in a trench between your rows), but it has been discussed here and does work. I have a feeling the active breakdown process releases a lot of nutrients due to the high microbial activity. I know a lady who did this with a small tomato patch and they grew like crazy. Also, this may be why lasagna gardening works - layering compost ingredients with soil and planting right into it. I did that last year with a new bed and it was impressive. Particularly with clay soil, the compost layers provide aeration and drainage in addition to nutrients.

All of which is not to say the people on this show aren't nuts. But the methods referred to seem to work.

Tox, yeah, I just don't like the idea. I have a toy poodle who likes to dig up smelly things. It was be a disaster for me to try it.

I have never, nor will I, due to the space taken and due to tens of degrees below zero in winter, maintained more than one compost pile in any garden.

I have the pile because unless I use then on potatoes, I have to have some place to put the material on the roses.

As much as I would rather not, often I would have to send some items off to the city compost pile as it simply got in the way.
I did that this year with some hay because I simply did not want to have to move it repeatedly.
THAT SAID
I often bury directly in the garden during planting time, or the fall before.
I have an apple tree where I have bushels more apples than I can or will use, so I bury then in the garden in the fall.
When the compost bin in one garden is over flowing, I dig a pit from two by two, to four by four by eight inches to two feet deep and bury excess compost along with the top foot off of the compost pile if it is a large hole.

I turn over the compost pile at most twice a year but that is mostly to move the dry materieal around the edges to the center.
The piles are incorporated every two to three years.

In my hard garden it goes where the ground is hardest, in my soft garden I dig a pit put x amount of raw items on the bottom and then fill in the pit by inverting the compost pile.

This is one way of knowing that, that spot in the garden has good soil down as far as the garden is deep

This year the larger pile in the hard garden will be used to keep the mulch over the potatoes high enough.

I have at times taken the excess potato cover, when I dig them in the fall, and put it back on the compost pile but this year I will simply turn it over with a sand shovel and put the remaining compost heap materieal in with it.

I can not hear the podcast. Good thing too, what kind of a NUT dose not like compost. I understand some people do not want to take the time or do not have the time.
But never met a gardener that did not use some kind of mulch/compost in their yard or garden.

It's funny no one can hear it. There is no player needed or anything like that. It just plays at once without any waiting or ads. If you don't compost with at least your trimmings of plants, you miss out on all the free good stuff. I wish someone would hear it so we can discuss it.

Listened to it, I have no problems with their methods or their attitudes about compost and composting.

They never said they didn't like compost, they utilize their compostables in a manner more suitable to their lifestyle. Nothing wrong with that.

Lloyd

I use a compost bin, I stuff scraps under mulch, I bury them in holes and it all works!
I think that unfamiliarity with ideas is a very good reason to investigate them, rather than dismissing them out of hand.
Having concerns about scraps being dug up by an animal is a very different thing to discounting different methods of composting than one's own.

Well, that was just a teaser to motivate people to listen to the program.

She once bought some bad compost that killed all her plants, so now she never composts. Maybe that is not the same as hating compost, but she never composts. That is not really "they utilize their compostables in a manner more suitable", at all. This however, speaks to the dangers of talking short cuts such as buying compost because making it too much work. I liked what the man said about buying top soil and how it is no good and that there is something about sewage sludge. But, I think over all, people find it too boring to listen to, although people like to talk about sewage sludge.

From what I could make out, she used to do an awful lot of composting, and mulching, and loads of experiments with living mulches. But over the years she's moving towards the idea of 'what less can I do?', ie finding easier ways of acheiving equal, or better results, which has led her towards living mulches and away from composting.

She's also overcome her addiction to soil testing and prefers to judge the soil by eye, feel, and the plants growing on it.

The lady on the podcast uses her scraps on her property in a manner more suitable to her lifestyle. Just because she doesn't do composting your way does not mean she is doing anything wrong.

I think you had better re-listen to the podcast (without your bias this time) and really pay attention to what she says because what I am getting from your interpretation in no way matches what I heard.

Furthermore, your tendency to quote people out of context shows me you do not pay attention to the written word as well.

Lloyd

You love to argue. I don't see the point. You started the argument and I quoted you completely in context. I don't think you listened to the podcast. I don't remember her saying she composts but not food. But, who cares? I wish you had something positive to say. It is not worth my time to listen to it again.

I'd rather not argue, but your tendency to provide inaccurate information, mis-quotes and bias makes it difficult to not point out your errors.

You partially quoted me and by leaving some of the quote out you have changed the meaning of what was said.

Once again you are incorrect, I listened to the podcast twice because I thought I missed something with all your ranting about it. I discovered it was just your ranting.

Have a nice day.

Lloyd

Your quote was so very long that it would not even fit in my paste, so I just quoted the beginning part of it. I also said, that it was just a teaser, and not meant to be exactly what that person said. On news casts they have a "teaser" which is short byline to grab the interest of the listener or viewer. She hates compost is an opinion. She never said she loved compost, she said she did not compost. She did not have a high opinion of compost. I never said, I thought she was a bad person or that she was wrong because she did not do everything my way. I said, I did not she was deserving of the title of Goddess of the soil or Queen of the soil. That is completely different from calling someone wrong or bad.

"so very long"??!! Bovine Scatology.

"they utilize their compostables in a manner more suitable to their lifestyle"

What is so difficult about that?

The "title" was a joke between the two participants, she did not give the title to herself.

She states (starting at 09:08 of the podcast) that good quality compost works very well but 5% of the time there are issues with misuse or poor quality compost/organic matter.

He states (starting at 08:20) that just about everything can be improved by adding compost/organic matter.

...that is not hating compost, in fact, quite the opposite.

Lloyd

I feel a little better knowing it's not just me, but I can't say I'm glad about it.

I am sorry that I wanted to talk about the podcast. It's like going to a party and you say something in passing without having it be set in stone. I did not start the argument. Yet, it's like I no right to defend myself? I won't even bother to chat about this anymore. Have you not ever heard of a conversational ice breaker?

I was the one who was misquoted not pt03. I was not only misquoted, but a whole new meaning was attached to what I said.

I am not trying to convert the world to be exactly like me. I am only chatting. You really need to lighten up. It's like you go around looking for ways to insult people and tell them they are wrong because it makes you feel good, I guess. It is really stupid that this conversation turned into a flame war.

How does the omission of "to their lifestyle" change the meaning into something else? If someone cares they can go and read what you said in the first place.

All I said was I don't see how the woman is "utilizing her compostables" if she is not composting, in response to being attacked first. You seem to have blended the two people into one person. I did say the man was burying his kitchen scraps.

But, if I do this, I guess that makes me just the same as pt03 picking on one thing a person said, that they probably did not really mean.