How This Farm Makes All Its Own Compost

How Paul Wargo makes all his own compost (and why he stopped trusting anyone else's) Dad's on vacation, so this week we're in East Tennessee at Mountain Roots Farm with Paul Wargo. Early in his farming years, Paul hit herbicide problems that most likely came in through a load of horse manure from a friend. Since then, the only compost on his farm is compost he makes himself. We walk through his whole system start to finish: year-aged wood chips, chickens that do the shredding and turning, 18-month piles under the trees, a vibratory screener, and what years of compost have done to soil that started as excavated red clay. In this video: 0:00 — Visiting Mountain Roots Farm 0:31 — Why make your own compost 1:24 — Herbicide in outside manure 3:15 — Starting with fresh wood chips 4:10 — Letting chickens do the shredding 5:36 — Inside an 18-month compost pile 8:50 — Do you need a compost screener? 11:17 — Moisture, covers, and turning 13:04 — Composting under the trees 15:05 — Building piles in the chicken paddock 18:48 — Results in the tunnel beds 20:37 — Application rate: 1 bucket per 10 bed feet 21:21 — Start small: the Berkeley method Gear from this video Pyroweeder Flame Weeder → https://www.farmersfriend.com/p/pyrow... Silage Tarp → https://www.farmersfriend.com/p/silag... Paul's compost screener DeSite SLG68 vibratory screener (Paul's is a 2020 model; the current version is the 68 ProScreen) → http://idmcabc.com/topsoil-screeners/... Resources mentioned Berkeley Method: hot compost in 18 days → https://deepgreenpermaculture.com/201... Eliot Coleman, The New Organic Grower → https://www.farmersfriend.com/p/the-n... Follow Mountain Roots Farm on Instagram →   / mountainrootsfarmtn   What's your main carbon source for compost — wood chips, leaves, straw, something else? Tell us in the comments. Shop innovative tools for your farm at Farmers Friend: https://www.farmersfriend.com Learn more about Bountiful Blessings Farm: https://www.bountifulblessingsfarm.com Learn more about Bountiful Blessings GF Bakery: https://www.bountifulblessingsgfbaker... Instagram:   / farmersfriendllc   Facebook:   / farmersfriend   Newsletter: https://manage.kmail-lists.com/subscr... #compost #marketgardening #smallfarm MB01W1WZSHHJIYW