I think he is advocating buying straw because it's a waste product, and is generally pretty cheap if produced locally. (At least, it was before gas prices went through the roof.)

Since most compost authorities recommend a ratio of 30 parts browns to every part of greens, that's a lot of bulk to have to come up with, and many people, esp on city lots, just don't have enough to mix with the greens they produce. If you have leaves or something else you can use, by all means, use it and forget the straw.

The soil is a nice little addition, but not really necessary, I don't think. If you're planting something and end up with leftover dirt, sure, sprinkle it over the pile. If you don't have it, don't worry about it. If you're tossing pulled weeds (etc) into the pile, there are probably enough microbes in the dirt still on the roots to 'inoculate' the pile, IF it needed it.

I know that many people treat composting like it's brain surgery, but it really isn't. Mother Nature has been doing it for billions of years. Her method is a tad slower, but she doesn't use shredders, mowers, leaf blowers, layering, importation of anything that didn't arrive on the wind, and it still gets done.

You simply do the best you can with what you've got. It all still turns into compost.

Sue

I agree that very few composters actually add soil - maybe the root ball of some plants now and then but otherwise don't worry about it as it most definitely isn't required. ;)

I believe that everything I need should be found in my own yard and my kitchen for composting

Good luck. It depends on how big your "yard" is. ;) As to the straw - it is often called the "perfect brown (carbon)" and as Sue said many - especially urban composters - have difficulty rounding up enough carbons so buying 1 bale of straw is minimal expense to get a lot of great compost.

Is there anything else that can be used instead?

Check out the thread linked below for many carbon alternatives.

Coleman says we shouldn't turn over the soil layers in our gardens, just use a broadfork once per year to give it some air.

Yeah, Coleman is a big no-till advocate. But many don't buy into that. Both no-till and tilling have their advantages and disadvantages - just like many things in life. ;)

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: What are you using for browns?...

You don't need to add soil to your compost to get it going. It happens anyway. The idea of straw is to get some air in the mix as it aids in the breakdown. Frequent turning does the same thing and mixing the greens and browns really makes things go well. It's all got to be a little moist so don't ignore the need for that. Not soggy, mind you, just damp, the bacteria love it that way. You'll probably notice the pile will get quite warm as things get to breaking down, that's normal. It'll reduce in size enough to alarm you but that's normal too. Keep turning it and it will finally stop heating and become unrecognizable as to what it origanally was and it's time to use it as a mulch or soil amendment. Great stuff!!

1. Coleman is right that generally you should not need to buy anything to make compost since all the materials can come from the waste products you generate. But if you do need to buy some materials straw may be one to consider, although unless I knew that the straw came from an organic farm I doubt that I would.
2. Sir Albert Howard wrote in his original work on composting that you needed to add 1/8 inch of good soil to innoculate the compost with the necessary bacteria to digest your material. Today we know that is unnecessary because everything you would add to your compost already has the bacteria that will digest it in place. Coleman may be reverting back to Sir Alberts original concept. I've not added any soil to my compost bins in many years and have not had any problem getting the digestion done in the time frame I needed, even when I experimented with 14 day compost.