1 00:00:00,720 --> 00:00:05,000 Speaker 1: Hey, you may have noticed this past Saturday, you got 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: an extra episode of Stuff you should know. That's why, 3 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: as case selects. That's right, it was not a mistake. 4 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: What we decided to do here after nine plus years 5 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,080 Speaker 1: is um, you know, maybe you don't know that we 6 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: have nine plus episodes. Uh, so we're gonna start throwing 7 00:00:21,320 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: out all I don't want to call it a rerun. Well, no, 8 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:30,520 Speaker 1: it's a it's a hand selected curated episode by us. Yeah, 9 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,319 Speaker 1: a classic if you will. But Joshua pick one out, 10 00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,040 Speaker 1: I'll pick one out. Um might be Newsy, it might 11 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 1: just be one of our favorites, and we're gonna run 12 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,200 Speaker 1: those on Saturday. If you haven't heard it, check it out. 13 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: If you have, we'd love for you to listen again, 14 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,720 Speaker 1: So check it out in your podcast feed. It's as 15 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: simple as that. Welcome to Stuff you should Know from 16 00:00:51,440 --> 00:01:00,320 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Hey, welcome to the pod kist. 17 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: I'm josh the Man Clark, There's Charles W. Chuck Bryant, 18 00:01:05,400 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: and I think I neglected to say last time you did, 19 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: guest producer Noel was with us. That's right. So if 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: you listened to the Shroud of Turn episode and you're like, man, 21 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,559 Speaker 1: that sounds great. Yeah, that was an all thanks nol 22 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: uh this show. Today, I've been replaying my one of 23 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,559 Speaker 1: my favorite Simpsons jokes ever over my head. I laughed 24 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: already just hearing. It was from the one of the 25 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: Halloween episodes when um, they did the Nightmare on Elm Street. 26 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:44,200 Speaker 1: Riff is old old ones Um where groundskeeper Willie was 27 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:48,480 Speaker 1: Freddy Krueger and he turned into uh, I think like 28 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: a shredder or a tractor or something and ran over 29 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: people or something and said, when you had, when you 30 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: had done, when I'm done, that they're gonna need to 31 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: do a clumps bordered them. Oh wow, that is a 32 00:02:02,720 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: bad joke. It was really good one of the I mean, 33 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 1: the Simpsons didn't get too funny, but that was that 34 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:10,679 Speaker 1: was a good one. Well, anything goes on a treehouse 35 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: of horror, you know, I agreed. So you know, Um, 36 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: there's a bunch of cities that have kind of gotten 37 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,920 Speaker 1: woke to the idea that we should be recycling or 38 00:02:23,919 --> 00:02:27,679 Speaker 1: composting our food. Did you know that? Sure? I saw 39 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:32,960 Speaker 1: a stat said something like of food gets wasted. But 40 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: I guess suspicious because I also saw that of the 41 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: um stuff that goes to municipal landfills or trash is 42 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: food waste, which doesn't necessarily mean it's wasted food, because 43 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: I don't think you would count like a banana peal 44 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:56,200 Speaker 1: as food waste as wasted food because the box. They're 45 00:02:56,200 --> 00:02:59,320 Speaker 1: not counting food packaging food. No, but I think they're 46 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,640 Speaker 1: counting everything that has to do with food that could 47 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:07,640 Speaker 1: conceivably be eaten as wasted food, which is not the 48 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: same as food waste. The point is, the legitimate stat 49 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: that I saw just about everywhere is that if you 50 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: took all the garbage that the United States throws away 51 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: into a landfill, of that is food waste. And I'm 52 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: sure some of it is a whole cake. Some complete 53 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 1: moron through a whole cake away for no good reason. 54 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,520 Speaker 1: I was on a diet. Well that's actually a pretty 55 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 1: good reason. But you know what I'm saying, Um, of 56 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: all that trash is food. The problem is you might say, well, 57 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: who cares trash? It decomposes. That's great, that's true, it 58 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: does decompose. But in the landfills that the United States uses, 59 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 1: we make sure they're anaerobic. Oxygen doesn't get down there. 60 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: So a whole different decomposition process takes place, and in 61 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: a landfill in anaerobic decomposition, methane is produced, and methane 62 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,119 Speaker 1: is bad news. Methane in is something on the order 63 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: of sevent worse. I know, there's a much more scientific 64 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: way to put it, but it's seventy batter than carbon 65 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: dioxide as far as greenhouse gases go, more potent, how 66 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:20,279 Speaker 1: about that? Okay, So you don't want methane. If you 67 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: have to choose between methane and carbon dioxide, you want 68 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: to go with carbon dioxide. And it just so happens 69 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: that if you compost food waste, mostly carbon dioxide is produced. 70 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: Methane is not. So if you're diverting this food waste 71 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: from landfill, there's a whole bunch of different stuff you're doing. 72 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: Number one, you're saving all that the space for actual trash, 73 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,320 Speaker 1: So you're extending the life of your land sir. You're 74 00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: keeping all that methane from being produced. And as if 75 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: it couldn't get any better, you are creating an amazing 76 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,799 Speaker 1: fertilizer that you can use to grow. You could grow 77 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 1: a tree out of a shoe, for eyes are so 78 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: good the old shoe tree. Uh yeah, it's Um, we've 79 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: danced around this a lot. We we well, you just 80 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: referenced star and I don't like to tutor on horns 81 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,840 Speaker 1: a lot, but that Landfills episode was great landfills And 82 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: don't forget the plasma incinerator one. Yeah, basically any of 83 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,760 Speaker 1: our waste management ones are Yeah, what else? I think 84 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: grilla gardening we touched on this, sum and um, a 85 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,839 Speaker 1: couple of others. We've mentioned composting and to the extent 86 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: where I thought we had done one on composting, but 87 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: we had not until about five and a half minutes ago. Um, 88 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 1: And that's a guess. So if you're rite and say 89 00:05:40,880 --> 00:05:45,320 Speaker 1: it like it was eight minutes, chuck, you're grounded. So, 90 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:47,599 Speaker 1: like you mentioned, we didn't. I don't think these numbers 91 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: are accurate anymore. But we generate. Let's just say a 92 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: lot of millions of tons, hundreds of millions of tons 93 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: of trash, and about twenty five of that is recovered 94 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:04,400 Speaker 1: through recycling, which includes composting, which is good. But that number, 95 00:06:05,640 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: if it was se would be amazing. Does that include composting? 96 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: That that recycling number? Yeah, okay, yeah, fifties seventy would 97 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,480 Speaker 1: be great? Why not let's shoot for ninety. Well, supposedly, 98 00:06:18,520 --> 00:06:22,120 Speaker 1: Seattle itself um has a goal of something like six 99 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: of all of its trash being recycled by the end 100 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: of the year. Of course they do, because Seattle does 101 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 1: it right, and they actually have compulsory mandatory composting. Now, 102 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: like you have to compost if you live in the 103 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: city of Seattle. Why don't I live there? I don't know, 104 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: I don't know. I asked myself that a lot. You know. 105 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: Emily and I went for our two shows ago on 106 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: that lovely spring weekend. It was gorgeous and we we 107 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: stayed extra in Seattle, and after we were like, we're 108 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: moving here. That's it. It's a great town. I've said 109 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,719 Speaker 1: it before on the show Dogs and Bars. That was 110 00:06:55,760 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: all it took, uh Dog bar tenders. But again, and 111 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: I'll explain poker again, it's easy to fall in love 112 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,400 Speaker 1: a Seattle on a perfect weekend in April. Yeah, I 113 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: hear it. Range there a lot though I'd still live there. 114 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,200 Speaker 1: That's a great place. And you know what, you may 115 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: see us again this year's Seattle tease tease. You're such 116 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: a tease, all right, So composting is great for a 117 00:07:19,920 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: thousand reasons. But one, uh, first and foremost is that 118 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,360 Speaker 1: it's it's not hard to do and it's not expensive 119 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:30,960 Speaker 1: to do if you just want to be uh. And 120 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: there are many different levels of composting, from big city 121 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,840 Speaker 1: programs to the home farmer that takes it super seriously, 122 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,160 Speaker 1: to just if you just want to lessen the impact 123 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:45,880 Speaker 1: a little bit on your landfill, your local landfill, feel 124 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: like you're doing the right thing, and get a little 125 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: bit of nutrient rich goodness fertilizer to use. You can 126 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: have it just a little, small, little composting operation going 127 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: on at your house. Yeah, this is all. This is 128 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: all you need organic waste. And we don't even mean 129 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: something that's like organic. We mean like organic, meaning it's 130 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,600 Speaker 1: composed mostly a carbon. It was once alive at one point, right. Yeah, 131 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: and I made a poopy noise, which you can't use poops. No, 132 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,840 Speaker 1: that's night soil. It's the opposite of what I should 133 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: have done. Uh. What's a banana sound? That's a banana souniol. Ah. 134 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: You need soil, you need water, need air or oxygen. Right, 135 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: So the organic waste is the stuff you're gonna have 136 00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 1: broken down, which in this case, in the case of 137 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: a compost pile is food the soil, well partially sure, 138 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: but no, no, it's food for the things that in 139 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:46,439 Speaker 1: the soil, right, it's an energy source and nutrient source 140 00:08:46,520 --> 00:08:49,079 Speaker 1: for what's in the soil. So you add soil. When 141 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:54,400 Speaker 1: you're adding soil, you're basically adding starter culture to the compost. 142 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: What you're doing is grabbing microbes from say, in your yard, 143 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:00,840 Speaker 1: and putting them on the compost pile and say dinners 144 00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:05,679 Speaker 1: on boys. Yes, but you don't want to poop in it. 145 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:07,680 Speaker 1: You need a little bit of water, like you said, 146 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:09,199 Speaker 1: to keep it moist, but you don't want to keep 147 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:13,560 Speaker 1: it over wet because microbes like slightly moist soil. And 148 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:16,880 Speaker 1: then air because again again this is really really important. 149 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: You can let your compost pile um degrade anaerobically, but 150 00:09:23,080 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: it's gonna produce methane, which is bad for the for 151 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: the environment, a for your neighbors, bad for your neighbor's, 152 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: bad for you. It's gonna stink, it might blow up, 153 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:33,840 Speaker 1: who knows. You don't want to smoke near a what's 154 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: called a passive compost pile, so you want to just 155 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:39,719 Speaker 1: introduce oxygen and all this sounds very complicated. It's not 156 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: it's hitting it with your hose. It's um and by 157 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: that I mean spraying water on it with your hose. 158 00:09:45,920 --> 00:09:49,319 Speaker 1: Just realized you can with your host too. Um. It's 159 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:53,280 Speaker 1: like turning it over right the pitchfork to add oxygen. 160 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,400 Speaker 1: It's as simple as that. Yeah, it's really easy. Um. 161 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,120 Speaker 1: So what you're gonna end up with the end, like 162 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: we said, is is really fertilizer. But it's a it's 163 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 1: called humus. I don't call it hummus. No, that's different. 164 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,640 Speaker 1: Has has two ms, right, Uh, this is just one M. 165 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: And um. Those little micro organisms in there, they're gonna 166 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:14,920 Speaker 1: break this stuff down. They're gonna eat it, they're gonna 167 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 1: poop it out, and they're gonna multiply, and there's gonna 168 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:19,880 Speaker 1: be we'll we'll talk about the critters a little more later, 169 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: but they're gonna be different critters along the way that 170 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,800 Speaker 1: eat those gritters than gritters that eat those gritters. And 171 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 1: it's gonna get really hot up in there. It might steam, 172 00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: then it's gonna cool back down. It's gonna get smaller, 173 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:34,880 Speaker 1: and it's just like this little micro environment. It is 174 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:37,440 Speaker 1: really really neat. There's actually a food web in there. 175 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: There's a lot of physics and chemistry that's going on. 176 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:42,760 Speaker 1: It's it is very neat. I'm fascinated by it too. 177 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: But the upshot of composting is that you're taking something 178 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:54,040 Speaker 1: and it's being broken down into its constituent parts so 179 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 1: that it can be reused by plants and the whole 180 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: circle of life can start over again. Yeah, you're sort 181 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 1: of just accelerating the natural process of like rot, you're 182 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:09,679 Speaker 1: optimizing it. Yeah, Like you mentioned a passive composter, which 183 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:14,319 Speaker 1: is to say, you know, lazy hippies, you could you 184 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: could just throw all that junk out of your window 185 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: if you wanted, in a big pile and throw your 186 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,199 Speaker 1: some grass clippings on and throw throw your your fall 187 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: leaves on there. Just leave it there, and that thing 188 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: will eventually compost itself. Well again, it'll produce methane. You'll 189 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:34,920 Speaker 1: blow up, or you can turn you know, you can 190 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,040 Speaker 1: turn it every now and then and maybe avoid that. 191 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: But no, I think that makes it an active pile. Well, uh, 192 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:45,600 Speaker 1: slightly active pile then, I don't mean like every other 193 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 1: day just to avoid methane. Maybe, but that would still 194 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,040 Speaker 1: technically be an active pile, would be a poorly managed, 195 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:59,160 Speaker 1: active pile, slightly active, poorly managed. So I'm serious, that's 196 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:01,720 Speaker 1: what they call it. I know, Okay, I'm just we'd 197 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:03,080 Speaker 1: like to make up our own names for things. I 198 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:05,680 Speaker 1: didn't know you were going to cease that and in 199 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:10,280 Speaker 1: year nine. Sorry, we'll call that the dooby pile. Okay, 200 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: now it's called active management. I just wanted to make 201 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 1: sure that we got it on the record. So, uh 202 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: the big goal here is to reduce your waste. They 203 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: say in this article. Ultimately we'll save you tax money 204 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:26,079 Speaker 1: because your landfill won't. I thought that was hilarious. Yeah, 205 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,000 Speaker 1: I mean, don't count on seeing any any tax breaks 206 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: coming anytime soon. But that that got William F. Buckley's 207 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,120 Speaker 1: attention probably, so, uh so, how do you how do 208 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,679 Speaker 1: you do this? Let's say you want to start composting. 209 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: There's a one, two, three, five step process to get 210 00:12:44,040 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: this thing going. Okay, well, let's talk about them. The 211 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: first thing you want to do is just pick out 212 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: the place you want to do it, all right, because 213 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: it's you know, it's a bit of a mess. It's 214 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 1: it doesn't have to be necessarily, but it depending on 215 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: your neighbors. They might be like, well, great, I'm glad 216 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:06,480 Speaker 1: you started an unsightly pile of kitchen rubbish in food 217 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: waste I can see from my deck. Thanks a lot 218 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: for that. So that's something you want to keep in consideration. Apparently, 219 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: even if you do have a very well managed active pile. Um, 220 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: what would you call that. I'm not making it funny 221 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: name anyway, I've ruined it. Um, It's still it's still 222 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:30,319 Speaker 1: may stink here there. So you want to kind of 223 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:33,839 Speaker 1: away from the house, but not so far away that 224 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:36,240 Speaker 1: if you're feeling lazy, you're not gonna go out and 225 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,040 Speaker 1: tend to it on a daily or every other day 226 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:42,160 Speaker 1: lead basis. Yeah, and if you have that much land 227 00:13:42,679 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: that you have a compost pile a mile from your house, 228 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 1: good for you. Yes, you got some acreage. Uh, there 229 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:53,280 Speaker 1: might be some local rules, either from your h o 230 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: A heaven forbid if you have to belong to one 231 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:00,080 Speaker 1: of those, or maybe just your municipality might have of 232 00:14:00,559 --> 00:14:03,840 Speaker 1: rules and regulations. Yeah, so check with them first. That's 233 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: what everyone does before they started compost pile. They go 234 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: down to city hall and say, what tell men the 235 00:14:09,080 --> 00:14:11,839 Speaker 1: rules and regulations surrounding composting in my yard? And I 236 00:14:11,920 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: think the first thing everyone does is start throwing their 237 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: eggshells out the window. Sure, that's how it always starts. 238 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:21,680 Speaker 1: It's like I'm tired of these things being in my trash. Uh. 239 00:14:22,000 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: They recommend down wind because, like you said, it might 240 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: stink a bit. Uh. Sun it's good in a way, 241 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 1: but you don't want it baking in the sun all 242 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: day no, because it will dry it out. Remember, you 243 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: want it to be kind of moist, and the sunlight 244 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,840 Speaker 1: can actually dry it out, so you want Apparently the 245 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: best place to put it is under a deciduous tree. 246 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: Good spot. Yeah, because in the in the wintertime there's 247 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: no leaves on the tree, so the sun is gonna 248 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: keep it warm when it's cold. But during summer it's 249 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: going to be shaded by the tree so it won't 250 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: dry out. It's just perfect. It is deciduous tree equals love. Uh. 251 00:14:57,600 --> 00:14:59,640 Speaker 1: Wind is good to provide little air, but you don't 252 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:01,600 Speaker 1: want it low and scattering the stuff all over the 253 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 1: place drying it out again. No good. What else drainage? 254 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: Don't start one in that old baby pool that you 255 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: don't want to throw out, especially if your baby's in there. Uh. Yeah, 256 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: you want good drainage, like generally you build either build 257 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,920 Speaker 1: a bin. We'll talk about this stuff actually right now. 258 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 1: But it's off the ground, it's on legs. Yeah, although 259 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: you can't have a pile. But um, you know generally 260 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: you want to you want to build a bin or 261 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 1: buy a bin, and those things sit off the ground, 262 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:40,680 Speaker 1: right because of drainage, that's part of it for sure. Yeah. Um, 263 00:15:40,840 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: you also want dirt rather than say like a concrete 264 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:47,080 Speaker 1: pad or something like that. Yeah, don't come post in 265 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,680 Speaker 1: your driver. It's not a good idea. Um. As far 266 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:52,760 Speaker 1: as structures go, you can, like you said, you can 267 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: go buy one. They're not very expensive from what I understand, right, Yeah, 268 00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 1: it depends on the size. You can also say go 269 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: buy some cinder block and build something like that. Um. 270 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: But basically you can cut compost structures into two. There's 271 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:13,000 Speaker 1: a single bin and there's a three bin system. So 272 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: in the single bin system, you put new stuff on top, 273 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: new banan appeals. This is what I think of when 274 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: I think composting. You know, Um, you put new stuff 275 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: on top, and then you take a pitchfork or shovel 276 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: or something like that and you work you work it 277 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:33,280 Speaker 1: in to the compost and at the bottom of this structure, 278 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,680 Speaker 1: say it's open when you're walking up to it, that 279 00:16:37,680 --> 00:16:40,520 Speaker 1: the finished compost will accumulate at the bottom. And the 280 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:43,480 Speaker 1: reason it accumulates at the bottom because it's of a finer, 281 00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 1: finer grain um and that's it single bin new stuff 282 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 1: at the top, stuff that's in the process in the middle, 283 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: stuff that's finished in the bottom, and it will just 284 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:57,480 Speaker 1: naturally kind of separate like that. And when we're talking 285 00:16:57,480 --> 00:16:59,520 Speaker 1: structure like that, if you want to build one, you know, 286 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:01,760 Speaker 1: build a way frame and it's like got chicken wire 287 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: walls and a chicken wire bottom, and that gives you 288 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,640 Speaker 1: the air. And if you've got something that collected underneath, 289 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,200 Speaker 1: it's gonna fall, you know, when it's small enough, Uh, 290 00:17:11,359 --> 00:17:12,960 Speaker 1: some other stuff might fall. You may need to add 291 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:16,480 Speaker 1: it back in. But with the three bend system, you've got, 292 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:19,479 Speaker 1: well you've got three bends, you've got the starter stuff, 293 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: you've got the once it starts to break down a 294 00:17:22,000 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: little stuff, and then you have the more finished product 295 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: and you have to actively manage that system. Yeah, that 296 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:34,080 Speaker 1: system sounds unnecessarily difficult, kind of like it. Oh you're 297 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:36,680 Speaker 1: a three bing guy. Well, we're about to get into 298 00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,480 Speaker 1: this for real. We've been um, lazily composting for a while, 299 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,520 Speaker 1: but um, we're we're doing our whole backyard, like we're 300 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: getting rid of our grass. Basically, what are you gonna 301 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:54,639 Speaker 1: do compost mulch in beds and plants and herbs and 302 00:17:55,280 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: cacti in and all that. Uh no cacti that we 303 00:17:59,119 --> 00:18:02,360 Speaker 1: do have a palm tree. We've that forever though. Um, yeah, 304 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:04,640 Speaker 1: just getting rid of the grass basically because it takes 305 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:09,520 Speaker 1: up so much water. Just it's just it's not good 306 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: grass to begin with. And I'm not the best about 307 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: cutting it. Lawnmowers are terrible enough. You never let a 308 00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: quarter inch of water accumulating exactly, Yeah, just into you know, 309 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:24,879 Speaker 1: it'll it'll look nicer. So part of this in this 310 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:28,359 Speaker 1: company that's doing it is it's not just a landscaping 311 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,480 Speaker 1: company there there. They are a bunch of hippies. So 312 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:34,760 Speaker 1: they're they're designing it in such a way that that 313 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:39,000 Speaker 1: feeds itself. And part of that is composting anyway, A 314 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:41,679 Speaker 1: long long way of saying, we're gonna start like for 315 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,560 Speaker 1: real composting very shortly, and you're going with the three 316 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: bin structure. I don't know, I think I'm gonna build 317 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:52,320 Speaker 1: it it's well, it's the structure Emily tells me to build. 318 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:56,080 Speaker 1: It's the easiest way to say it. Yeah, but if 319 00:18:56,080 --> 00:18:58,480 Speaker 1: you buy one, like you were saying, Um, there's all 320 00:18:58,520 --> 00:19:01,119 Speaker 1: different kinds, just you know, look look it up online 321 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: or go to a hardware store, and you know, many 322 00:19:03,359 --> 00:19:07,360 Speaker 1: of them will look like a big barrel on legs 323 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:10,679 Speaker 1: and it literally turns like has a crank on it 324 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,119 Speaker 1: where you can turn this thing in circles. It's old timing, 325 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:16,960 Speaker 1: so you don't have to use a pitchfork at all. Right, 326 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: you don't have to muss your hands or your hair. 327 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: It's like a bingo, yeah, spinner, but with banana pill. 328 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,000 Speaker 1: Have you ever played bingo, like legit bingo in a 329 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:30,920 Speaker 1: room with hundreds of people, not hundreds, well more than 330 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: like you and you me, yes, like a bingo parlor? 331 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: Is that what they're called. I've actually gone to um 332 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: a couple of like uh senior retirement homes and helped 333 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: out with bingo And that's a pretty pretty cool experience actually, 334 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:52,160 Speaker 1: because do you run the bingo? It's qualified to run 335 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,040 Speaker 1: the bingo, right, just walk around and point out if 336 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 1: somebody missed one that they you know, it was called 337 00:19:57,960 --> 00:19:59,720 Speaker 1: that kind of thing. But did you want to talk 338 00:19:59,720 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: about taking it seriously? Oh my god. And then you 339 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,920 Speaker 1: have to be a certified bingo master to run the show. Yeah, 340 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,520 Speaker 1: and they'll like tell you to hurry up and like 341 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:12,359 Speaker 1: shout if you're if you're not like loud enough for 342 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 1: fast enough, for going too fast. Like. So the point 343 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 1: is not to have fun now, the point is to win. Wow. 344 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: What do they win their prizes? Yeah? Nothing much usually, 345 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:24,639 Speaker 1: I mean, but you can, I think, like you can 346 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,120 Speaker 1: play bingo and casinos for thousands and thousands of dollars 347 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: usually at old folks humes. They don't, you know, sure 348 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:35,360 Speaker 1: there's not thousands of dollar prizes like honey bunds ugarettes, 349 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: right exactly. All right, Well let's take a break here 350 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:42,680 Speaker 1: after we have talked structure and uh, we'll talk a 351 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: little bit about what you want what kind of junk 352 00:20:44,600 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: you want to throw in that pile? All right, chuck, 353 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,520 Speaker 1: So we're talking what you want to throw on the pile. Right, 354 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:14,400 Speaker 1: you got your ben either a triple three banger cat 355 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:16,920 Speaker 1: your site or single. You got your site. You bribed 356 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:20,800 Speaker 1: your neighbor to look the other way, right, your neighbor exactly, 357 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:24,359 Speaker 1: You bought a goat, oh man talking about green living. 358 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,360 Speaker 1: My neighbor has goats now, like five of them. Are 359 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:30,880 Speaker 1: they loud? No? Oh that's great. Everyone's while to hear them. 360 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,400 Speaker 1: But it's a joy to hear. So it's like it's 361 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: not like a rooster. Do you wake up and look 362 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: out and say morning satan. No, Well, goats one of 363 00:21:40,359 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: my favorites, so it's kind of nice to have them around. 364 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: But baby goats or adult goes, No, they're big ones. 365 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 1: I mean she got them to maintain the property because 366 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:49,680 Speaker 1: she was started cutting. I guess she didn't want a 367 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: zero escape it, so she bought goats. Anyway, it's it's awesome. 368 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,040 Speaker 1: Uh kitchen waist, Josh, that's what you want to throw 369 00:21:58,080 --> 00:21:59,840 Speaker 1: in there? Well, yeah, that's the first one. That's the 370 00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: one that everybody says. That's why you compost, right, And yeah, 371 00:22:04,760 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: banana peels everybody knows that. But did you also know 372 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: you can compost apple cores in orange rins. You can 373 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,159 Speaker 1: also eat apple cores. Yeah? You you believe there is 374 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 1: no such thing as a core, right, that's because there's 375 00:22:17,359 --> 00:22:22,160 Speaker 1: not um seeing people who leave their apple cores left over. 376 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: They can compost those things. Those are the easy ones. 377 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: You can also do coffee grounds. Yeah, that's a good one. 378 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,560 Speaker 1: Paper filters through that filter and all in there. Okay, 379 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 1: So let's just say I a maybe a whole pizza 380 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:37,800 Speaker 1: to myself. I've got a couple of napkins wadded up. 381 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: What do I do with those? Chuck? Uh? I think 382 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 1: you can throw those napkins in there, Josh, Yeah, isn't 383 00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:49,840 Speaker 1: that crazy? It is crazy. Newspaper Yeah, corn cobs if 384 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:51,760 Speaker 1: you still read a newspaper, if you get your news 385 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:58,280 Speaker 1: on the internet, throw your laptop in there. Watermelon rins, yeah, seeds, 386 00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: leaves uh, you know the butt end of the asparagus 387 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,840 Speaker 1: that no one cooks, but that junk in there. Um. 388 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:10,119 Speaker 1: You can also do yard waste too, sure, right, So 389 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:12,840 Speaker 1: you've got grass clippings, which we'll talk about in a second. 390 00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:14,680 Speaker 1: We got a couple of warnings as far as grass 391 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:18,280 Speaker 1: clippings goes, not too much. Um. But like, let's say 392 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:21,200 Speaker 1: you're raking leaves or something like that, throw some leaves 393 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:24,040 Speaker 1: on their good crunchy brown ones. And you can also 394 00:23:24,080 --> 00:23:28,159 Speaker 1: throw like, um, trimmings from your like shrubs if you 395 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:33,119 Speaker 1: trim your woody shrubs. Um. The key here is this, chuck. 396 00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 1: You want to cut all this stuff up in small bits. Yeah, 397 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: don't throw a whole corn cob in there. You can 398 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: know your compost pole. Just throw it right back out. Yeah, 399 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: it'll just spit it right back out right. It's very funny. 400 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 1: It'll make a burping noise. Uh. They say to shred 401 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:53,160 Speaker 1: the corn cob. I don't have a corn cobs shredder. 402 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: I don't either. Um, I've never thought about that. I 403 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 1: wouldn't waste like my blender blade on chopping up corn cops. 404 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: I think the point is breaking into little pieces. Sure, 405 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: you can breaking into little pieces though, yeah, you probably 406 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,640 Speaker 1: a corn coup up. Yeah, and you can also like 407 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: you can take all this stuff and chop at anything. 408 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:17,719 Speaker 1: You can put in smaller pieces the better because, as 409 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:19,879 Speaker 1: we'll see, what you're really doing is you're not just 410 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:22,280 Speaker 1: breaking it up. You have to look at it like 411 00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: what you're doing is increasing the surface area so more 412 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:28,160 Speaker 1: microbes can work on it at once. Yeah. Like, if 413 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:30,600 Speaker 1: if you have I know you hate broccoli, but I 414 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:33,960 Speaker 1: hate broccoli. You cut the little florets off, and you've 415 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:37,960 Speaker 1: got that big green broccoli stalk. Uh, cut that thing 416 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 1: up as small as you can and set it on 417 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: fire you have patience for and throw that junk in there. Yeah, 418 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 1: basically channel your inner anal chef. You remember him, the 419 00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 1: anal Chef? Yeah, is that a real thing? Yeah? And 420 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 1: Saturday a Live Bill Hartman. No, I don't retain of chef. Okay, 421 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,159 Speaker 1: I forgot the retinive part that. Yeah, I remember qual 422 00:25:00,160 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: of fire. It's like, I don't get that joke. Mommy, 423 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:07,679 Speaker 1: remember the anal retentive chef? Yeah? I do remember that. Now. 424 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,880 Speaker 1: He'd like start to if he was dicing like green 425 00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,040 Speaker 1: peppers and one of them was bigger than the rest, 426 00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,040 Speaker 1: he'd just be like, Okay, well you want to take 427 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: those chunks and you want to put him into a 428 00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:18,480 Speaker 1: paper towel, and then you want to fold that up, 429 00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:20,800 Speaker 1: and then you put that into some aluminum fole and 430 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:22,399 Speaker 1: you fold that up, and you put that in a 431 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:24,239 Speaker 1: paper bag and you roll it up and then you 432 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:27,440 Speaker 1: staple it and then you throw it away. Boy man, 433 00:25:27,480 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: what that was? Oh it still makes me sad. So 434 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,199 Speaker 1: you mentioned newspaper earlier. Um, if you live near the 435 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: ocean and you've got your hands on some seaweed or 436 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:44,119 Speaker 1: some kelp, you can rinse that stuff off. So you 437 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,720 Speaker 1: don't want all that salt content in there. But it's 438 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 1: really good and nutrient rich if you rent that off 439 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:52,520 Speaker 1: and put it in your compost pile. And it's also 440 00:25:52,560 --> 00:25:54,160 Speaker 1: good for you to eat too. I know I saw 441 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,919 Speaker 1: him nuts, but just eat that stuff. What do you 442 00:25:56,960 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: mean so good for you? Yeah? Sawdust? Do you know 443 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: any that? No, But like I'm building my compost, then 444 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:08,880 Speaker 1: I can put that saldust back in it. How about that? Yeah? 445 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,960 Speaker 1: Pretty neat circle of life. Baby? What should not you 446 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: compost night soil? Which is poopy soil? Cat You don't 447 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 1: go take a big dumpost dumps? You want to know 448 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:30,080 Speaker 1: that's not good. UM disease garden plants, that's a big one. 449 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 1: Some of this stuff though, as we'll find, it doesn't 450 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:35,479 Speaker 1: quite make sense. But it's just good to air on 451 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:41,080 Speaker 1: the side of um. Garbage in, garbage out, except with compost. 452 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,040 Speaker 1: If you put garbage garbage in, then it's going to 453 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:48,320 Speaker 1: be really bad. If you put good, healthy garbage in, 454 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:50,920 Speaker 1: it's going to come out is quite good. So you 455 00:26:50,960 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 1: don't want to put any disease plants in there. UM 456 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:56,920 Speaker 1: invasive weeds or another one too. Yeah, but it says 457 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 1: you can also put weeds in there, so I guess 458 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:01,280 Speaker 1: you just need to figure out which one are the 459 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:07,560 Speaker 1: bad ones. Yeah, so this specifically calls out buttercups, morning glory, 460 00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:11,159 Speaker 1: and quack grass. I'm quite sure that there's plenty of 461 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:15,840 Speaker 1: seeds that wouldn't survive the composting process, but apparently these two. 462 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:20,280 Speaker 1: So stay away from the quack grass. That was I 463 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:24,400 Speaker 1: think that was the big mantra woodstock. It's a gateway drug. 464 00:27:24,520 --> 00:27:26,639 Speaker 1: Don't have the yellow sunshine or the quack grass. It 465 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: was the brown the brown as which I mean, who 466 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:34,720 Speaker 1: wants brown acid? You know? And what about uh you're 467 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: talking abou kitchen stuff? What about meat and dairy? Okay, 468 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: that's that's controversial. It is because Emily had taken classes 469 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,400 Speaker 1: and they were like, no, don't use any of that. 470 00:27:45,400 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: That's like a animal cells and and fats in particular, 471 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:55,159 Speaker 1: they putrefy, they don't decompose, and future faction makes some 472 00:27:55,280 --> 00:27:57,879 Speaker 1: stinky stuff and I think it can also generate a 473 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 1: lot of disease bearing pathogen. So I was surprised to 474 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,520 Speaker 1: see this article say yeah, put it in there. Well, 475 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,399 Speaker 1: and they kind of said this article if you if 476 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 1: you're really heavily managing this thing, you can do it 477 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:12,640 Speaker 1: but I don't know. I've just heard, don't They said, 478 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 1: turn it into a slurry, which I don't want to 479 00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:20,440 Speaker 1: see freud and Riches blender at home with corn cob 480 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:24,840 Speaker 1: leavings on it. But um, he said, whip it up 481 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,760 Speaker 1: into a slurry, and as long as it's a good, hot, 482 00:28:27,880 --> 00:28:32,159 Speaker 1: actively managed pile, it'll it won't be a problem. I'm 483 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:33,880 Speaker 1: gonna go ahead and say, I don't think you should 484 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,360 Speaker 1: do that. Okay, I don't know what to do with 485 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: the animal leavings, but I don't think you should compost it. 486 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,360 Speaker 1: All right, Uh, it might make sense to you to say, hey, 487 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,200 Speaker 1: I have an outdoor fire pit. I bet that would 488 00:28:49,240 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: be great in my composter. Incorrect, although this specifically says 489 00:28:55,120 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: charcoal ashes. I think that's any kind of charred ashes. Yeah, 490 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 1: like burnt wood is called charcoal. So are you sure? 491 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,440 Speaker 1: Because I know what I know what you just said 492 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 1: was true. But supposedly the entire Amazon Basin and I 493 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: learned this from the Greatest Book of All Time by 494 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:19,400 Speaker 1: Charles C. Mann, The entire Amazon Basin was a managed forest, 495 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: um that the indigenous people's down there had made completely 496 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: fertile and fikoned by instead of slash and burn. They 497 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,680 Speaker 1: were using slash and char techniques, and there was way 498 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:36,640 Speaker 1: more carbon locked into the charred tree stumps and there 499 00:29:36,760 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: was the ashes, so it became more fertile. So I 500 00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:42,520 Speaker 1: have a question about that one. You know, I'm gonna 501 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 1: back off of my determined stance because I don't know 502 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: it would make sense if it was coal like it 503 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: it was like charcoal briquettes because they have cement and 504 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,040 Speaker 1: all sorts of chemicals and jump on them. But if 505 00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: it's charred wood or wood ash, I wonder, all right, well, 506 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: some boy, do you let us know Charles Man, tell us, uh, 507 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:06,280 Speaker 1: the pesticide treated plants. You you know, you know my 508 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: stands on pesticides period, don't use them. But if you do, 509 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:12,560 Speaker 1: definitely don't put that stuff in there. Because your whole 510 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: thing here is you want to you want to more 511 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,520 Speaker 1: or less organic compost pile right in the end, and 512 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 1: so one of the things that people love about composted 513 00:30:21,600 --> 00:30:24,760 Speaker 1: is it actually is organic. And we're going to explain how. 514 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,480 Speaker 1: I didn't know this until um we did this research, 515 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: but we'll explain how because we're going to go through 516 00:30:29,880 --> 00:30:54,440 Speaker 1: the process that your compost pile undergoes. Right after this, Alright, 517 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,360 Speaker 1: I did something we rarely do, which is looks something 518 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: up as we're podcasting, because it just sounded lazy to 519 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: be like, oh, we don't know this one. Um. Gardens 520 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 1: alive dot com says, um, wood ashes are so strongly 521 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: alkaline that it doesn't take a lot to upset the 522 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: balance in the pile and stop the processing. You can 523 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,160 Speaker 1: add a very small amount of wood ash from like 524 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:24,800 Speaker 1: your fireplace or woodburning stove. Um, but apparently not much 525 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,120 Speaker 1: so I think, you know, like you're kind of right, 526 00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:31,360 Speaker 1: and then it's it's not completely for boating, but it 527 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 1: sounds like too much is not a good thing. I 528 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: think that's what Freud was just saying, like, don't even 529 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: mess with it. Put in animal fats instead. Well, and 530 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: that's what the person from gardens alive was saying this, 531 00:31:42,440 --> 00:31:44,200 Speaker 1: like it's so little that it's not really going to 532 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: make a difference. And if you're trying to get rid 533 00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: of it in a different way, she's like, it's not 534 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: really gonna matter. But the but it raises a great question, Chuck, 535 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: why in the name of all things holy would it 536 00:31:54,120 --> 00:31:58,680 Speaker 1: matter what the alkalinity is of your compost pile and 537 00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:02,560 Speaker 1: I'll tell you why. Because it's a chemistry experiment. It 538 00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: is it's a it's a chemistry experiment, it's also a 539 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:10,360 Speaker 1: biological experiment. You have a microcosm growing there, and there's 540 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:13,680 Speaker 1: actually really easy things you can do to optimize this 541 00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: and basically create a Zanna do paradise for the the 542 00:32:18,520 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 1: microbes and primary and secondary and tertiary um consumers of 543 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:25,880 Speaker 1: this stuff that you're putting in there to break down 544 00:32:26,520 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: so that they just have the greatest life that any 545 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:32,959 Speaker 1: invertebrate or microbe ever had. All right, should we talk 546 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: chemistry a bit then come back to just uh the 547 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: management and stuff. All right, what you're really talking about 548 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: here for an ideal composting scene, you need a disco ball, 549 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:48,480 Speaker 1: and you need a proper uh C in ratio, which 550 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: is carbon to nitrogen ratio. And depending on how walky 551 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,720 Speaker 1: you want to get, if you want to start measuring things, 552 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,680 Speaker 1: you can do that. But from what I gather, just 553 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,800 Speaker 1: eye and do a lot to a little about thirty 554 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:08,680 Speaker 1: to one carbon to nitrogen and and eyeball it. When 555 00:33:08,680 --> 00:33:11,880 Speaker 1: the rule of thumb is this, if it's green and 556 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:18,400 Speaker 1: um recently deceased and by green like a nice banana 557 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:22,760 Speaker 1: peel would qualify as this. Right, if it's pliable and 558 00:33:23,040 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 1: green or you know, again recently deceased, it is um 559 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:34,200 Speaker 1: high in nitrogen. Right, if it's brown and dried, it's 560 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:38,000 Speaker 1: high in carbon. So you want to actually when you're 561 00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,400 Speaker 1: adding the compost, you want to just kind of layer 562 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,480 Speaker 1: this stuff in about those ratios thirty to one, And 563 00:33:43,520 --> 00:33:45,920 Speaker 1: there's actually tables, like if you're a big time into this, 564 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:48,280 Speaker 1: there are tables out there that tell you just about 565 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 1: exactly the carbon and nitrogen ratio in each individual thing. 566 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:57,600 Speaker 1: But what we said earlier, you want to avoid grass clippings. 567 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:01,720 Speaker 1: This is why, because they're too high in nitrogen. And 568 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,200 Speaker 1: what happens when you have too much nitrogen it's bad, right, 569 00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:08,919 Speaker 1: It makes your pile stinky. Yeah, that's is that where 570 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: the methane starts creeping in. That actually leads to ammonia gas. Right. 571 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: But you also don't want too much carbon either, chuck, 572 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:20,759 Speaker 1: because so you carbon and nitrogen. Carbon is like the 573 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:23,759 Speaker 1: building block and it's an energy source for these microbes. 574 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:28,279 Speaker 1: Nitrogen is um essential to their growth and their metabolic 575 00:34:28,360 --> 00:34:32,360 Speaker 1: activity as well. But when they have this in these concentrations, 576 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:35,120 Speaker 1: that's when they flourish. Yeah. And the other problem with 577 00:34:35,160 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: carbon two is just just it breaks down so slowly. Um. Well, 578 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,800 Speaker 1: it depends on the source. Yeah that's true. But generally 579 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:45,920 Speaker 1: a lot of the carbon sources like newspaper and corn 580 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:48,840 Speaker 1: cobs and stuff like that, it's just a much slower process, 581 00:34:49,120 --> 00:34:53,439 Speaker 1: right right, So like they have um much tougher uh 582 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:58,920 Speaker 1: structural support in their cells. If structural integrity exactly. Um, 583 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:02,920 Speaker 1: they need to have a good dang it rhymes. If 584 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 1: it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down. Um. 585 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:08,040 Speaker 1: I thought you were heading towards that. I was just 586 00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:10,080 Speaker 1: kind of like on the edge of my seat, like 587 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:14,040 Speaker 1: a bit screen. Maybe maybe there is one that we 588 00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:17,239 Speaker 1: don't know, or maybe someone can write one like a 589 00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 1: creative listener. I would love to hear it. I'll bet 590 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:23,040 Speaker 1: we get a bunch of those, all right, oxygen if 591 00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:27,920 Speaker 1: you're talking uh, if we're talking ratios, and again, you 592 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,160 Speaker 1: can walk out as much as possible. But the good 593 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:32,880 Speaker 1: news is about your compost piles that it's not like 594 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:35,000 Speaker 1: it needs to be like the oxygen that you need 595 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:39,879 Speaker 1: walking around to breathe, which is in the atmosphere. Yeah, 596 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,560 Speaker 1: that's what we have going on. It can get by 597 00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:46,680 Speaker 1: these aerobic microbes as low as five percent. Yeah, that's 598 00:35:46,680 --> 00:35:49,080 Speaker 1: cutting it close. That's getting close. They say, try to 599 00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:52,640 Speaker 1: hover somewhere around ten or up. And how do you 600 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,600 Speaker 1: measure that? You don't? You just airate your pile and 601 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:57,759 Speaker 1: it's fine by either turning it or you can do 602 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:01,680 Speaker 1: hold PVC. And I guess that brings U kind of 603 00:36:01,719 --> 00:36:06,759 Speaker 1: to the management part. Um. You don't just sit there 604 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 1: unless you want to have a totally passive pile. And 605 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:13,240 Speaker 1: who wants that? You have to manage this thing, either 606 00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 1: every day or every other day. Turn it, like we're saying, 607 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:17,840 Speaker 1: either with the little crank if you've got a handy 608 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:21,319 Speaker 1: little barrel unit, or with a pitchfork or they call 609 00:36:21,400 --> 00:36:25,399 Speaker 1: it a composting fork in here. That's pretty fancy. Probably 610 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,280 Speaker 1: the same thing. And it's the same thing as a pitchfork, 611 00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:31,439 Speaker 1: except like fifty dollars more. Uh, you want to water 612 00:36:31,520 --> 00:36:34,200 Speaker 1: it some, but again, um, do you want to give 613 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:38,279 Speaker 1: watering advice? You don't want it for me. You don't 614 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,360 Speaker 1: want it to be soaking wet. No, you want to 615 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:44,680 Speaker 1: be moist damp. People hate that word, so we'll see 616 00:36:44,760 --> 00:36:49,000 Speaker 1: damp um. And again I mentioned the perforated PVC pipes 617 00:36:49,040 --> 00:36:52,040 Speaker 1: that can help. Uh. It says you can avoid turning 618 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,480 Speaker 1: it by having those pipes. I would still turn it. 619 00:36:54,520 --> 00:36:56,520 Speaker 1: I would too, just to mix it up right. Yeah, 620 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:59,640 Speaker 1: but putting PBC pipes throughout your pile would make it 621 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,920 Speaker 1: really if cult to turn. So well, you can pull 622 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 1: them out, I guess you could, you know, but getting 623 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:06,719 Speaker 1: them back in is a real pain. You can stick 624 00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:10,600 Speaker 1: him back in. Another way to get to introduce oxygen 625 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: is earthworms. Oh man, this is where I go crazy. 626 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:17,280 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we have a lot of worms on our property. 627 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,560 Speaker 1: And just because there's a lot of worms in Georgia. Um, 628 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,279 Speaker 1: we did a great episode on earthworms, remember, yeah, And 629 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:26,120 Speaker 1: every time I find them, Um, I picked them up, 630 00:37:26,840 --> 00:37:30,759 Speaker 1: I show them to Emily and she immediately says, throw 631 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:33,600 Speaker 1: it in the garden, you know. And that's because we 632 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:35,440 Speaker 1: weren't composting heavily. Now it's gonna be throw them in 633 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:38,399 Speaker 1: the compost pile. But these guys are great because they 634 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:40,000 Speaker 1: naturally It made you a lot of things. But one 635 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:42,000 Speaker 1: of the things they do is naturally aerate by just 636 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:45,640 Speaker 1: tunneling through that stuff. Yeah. So earthworms and then worms 637 00:37:45,680 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 1: in general are probably the most important non microscopic resident 638 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:56,200 Speaker 1: in your compost pile. Yeah, because they do so much. 639 00:37:56,280 --> 00:38:02,160 Speaker 1: So worms and especially earthworms and most types of nematodes um. 640 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:05,040 Speaker 1: They actually go in and like eat a lot of 641 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,239 Speaker 1: the stuff that's in the compost pile, a lot of 642 00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: the food waste, right or organic waste, and in doing 643 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,840 Speaker 1: so they break it down, and as they break it down, 644 00:38:14,160 --> 00:38:18,600 Speaker 1: they make it easier for the microbes to digest themselves. 645 00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:23,279 Speaker 1: Should we start with the microbes? Okay, So again this 646 00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:25,560 Speaker 1: compost pile, when you add food waste to the pile 647 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:31,719 Speaker 1: and add soil, you're introducing energy source to energy consumer. Okay. 648 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:35,960 Speaker 1: And at the base of this is the is microbial 649 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: life bacteria mostly but um. The bacteria go to town, 650 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:43,719 Speaker 1: they start eating this stuff, and the smaller it is, 651 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:46,160 Speaker 1: the more service area there is, the more the bacteria 652 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:49,160 Speaker 1: can eat. And they actually take the nutrients out of 653 00:38:49,200 --> 00:38:52,359 Speaker 1: this and use it for cellular respiration, which is why 654 00:38:52,360 --> 00:38:55,399 Speaker 1: they need oxygen, because they take oxygen and combine them 655 00:38:55,400 --> 00:38:58,200 Speaker 1: with the carbon and they create a t P which 656 00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:00,520 Speaker 1: they use as an energy source to power their cells 657 00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 1: and live and frolic and play, and in doing so 658 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:08,040 Speaker 1: they create carbon dioxide. That's right. So um as they're 659 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:12,560 Speaker 1: doing this, they're they're actually breaking the stuff down from 660 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:15,480 Speaker 1: what you'd recognized as a banan appeal closer and closer 661 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,080 Speaker 1: to that finished humus project product. So you've got bacteria 662 00:39:19,360 --> 00:39:21,200 Speaker 1: and they're a big part of it. And depending on 663 00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:25,160 Speaker 1: the phase that the compost pile is in, uh, the 664 00:39:25,360 --> 00:39:29,640 Speaker 1: there will be different kinds of bacteria in your compost pile. Yeah, 665 00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,680 Speaker 1: and it's not you know, just bacteria. There's a fun 666 00:39:32,719 --> 00:39:38,160 Speaker 1: guy doing lots of work. Um. We mentioned neba toads there. 667 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:42,040 Speaker 1: You're gonna eventually get mites in there, and slugs. You've 668 00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:46,120 Speaker 1: already thrown your worms in, some millipedes doing some action 669 00:39:46,600 --> 00:39:49,799 Speaker 1: with all this cute little legs. And overall these are 670 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:53,920 Speaker 1: known as primary consumers. Uh some are are there are 671 00:39:53,960 --> 00:39:58,160 Speaker 1: all of them primary consumers while they're listed okay by 672 00:39:58,200 --> 00:40:01,319 Speaker 1: this person who made this fancy chart. So then above that, chuck, 673 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:05,279 Speaker 1: you get the secondary consumers and those are right, those 674 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:09,799 Speaker 1: are the um those are the predators of the primary consumers, right, 675 00:40:10,920 --> 00:40:13,480 Speaker 1: and then you have tertiary consumers. They're the predators of 676 00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:16,680 Speaker 1: the secondary consumers. And so you put all this together 677 00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:19,360 Speaker 1: and what you have is a food web. If microbes 678 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:22,560 Speaker 1: breaking the stuff down, worms and stuff doing the same 679 00:40:22,600 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 1: thing in some ways. Um, and then other predators, different 680 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:30,520 Speaker 1: graduated levels of predators preying on the smaller animals to 681 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:33,160 Speaker 1: keep their population in check and to keep everything in 682 00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:36,239 Speaker 1: a perfect balance so that it's as efficient as possible. 683 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:39,960 Speaker 1: And eventually a great white shark comes along. What gets me, 684 00:40:40,920 --> 00:40:44,239 Speaker 1: eats the whole pile thanks to a shark. Nato. What 685 00:40:44,360 --> 00:40:46,840 Speaker 1: gets me though, um the best. The best part of 686 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:49,439 Speaker 1: all this to me is that if you look at 687 00:40:49,520 --> 00:40:54,279 Speaker 1: the lifespan of a compost pile from brand new to 688 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:59,399 Speaker 1: finished humus to humus, it's a it forms a bell. 689 00:40:59,680 --> 00:41:02,479 Speaker 1: It's as the temperature gradient goes right, Yeah, it's really 690 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:05,800 Speaker 1: kind of cool. So the first stage is the mesophilic stage. 691 00:41:06,080 --> 00:41:10,400 Speaker 1: Temperatures get up to I think forty degrees celsius. I 692 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:12,759 Speaker 1: can't remember what that is in fahrenheight. Yeah, we'll go 693 00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:18,359 Speaker 1: with celsius. Okay, Um, so it's warmish. And then as 694 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:23,040 Speaker 1: the cellular respiration mounts and builds, a more more bacteria 695 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:27,120 Speaker 1: born and start eating and carry this cellular respiration out. 696 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:31,400 Speaker 1: The byproducts are c O two and heat, and heat 697 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:34,359 Speaker 1: starts to accumulate in the compost pile so much so 698 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:37,160 Speaker 1: that it gets up to something like UM fifty to 699 00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:39,279 Speaker 1: sixty degrees celsius, which is like a hundred to a 700 00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:43,000 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty degrees fahrenheit, and it's hot. At this point, 701 00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:46,240 Speaker 1: your organisms are gonna change. You're gonna have thermophilic. These 702 00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:49,000 Speaker 1: are a little heat loving critters, and they move in 703 00:41:49,040 --> 00:41:52,360 Speaker 1: because it's nice and warm. There snowbirds, their desert dwellers, 704 00:41:53,360 --> 00:41:56,959 Speaker 1: and they like it when it's warm. Um. But here's 705 00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,480 Speaker 1: the thing is you want to like you want you 706 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:01,360 Speaker 1: don't want to get too hot, so you want to 707 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:04,440 Speaker 1: continue to airate and keep that temperature and check. What 708 00:42:04,520 --> 00:42:06,839 Speaker 1: you want is that natural bell to happen on its 709 00:42:06,840 --> 00:42:12,320 Speaker 1: own right. So the mesophilic Um bacteria die off or 710 00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:16,440 Speaker 1: they go kind of dormant as it enters the thermophilic phase, 711 00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:19,520 Speaker 1: and then after the thermophilic phase ends. The reason it 712 00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:23,120 Speaker 1: ends is because they've eaten up all of the stuff 713 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:27,640 Speaker 1: that's there to eat and only the hard stuffs left over. 714 00:42:28,239 --> 00:42:31,000 Speaker 1: And so the thermophiles go away and some of the 715 00:42:31,040 --> 00:42:34,960 Speaker 1: mesophiles come back and new stuff comes in like um 716 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:38,839 Speaker 1: acts in of my seats, actin of my seats, which 717 00:42:38,880 --> 00:42:41,680 Speaker 1: are kind of like a weird fungi bacteria cross and 718 00:42:41,719 --> 00:42:44,600 Speaker 1: they break down like the really hard woody shrubby stuff. 719 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:47,600 Speaker 1: Um and they finish it off. And this third phase 720 00:42:47,719 --> 00:42:51,880 Speaker 1: is called the curing phase, right, And at the end 721 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:55,359 Speaker 1: of all of it, you have this great nutrient rich 722 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:58,960 Speaker 1: hummus humus. But in the middle of that, when it 723 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:02,279 Speaker 1: gets really hot, Yeah, it gets so hot, chuck that 724 00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:05,439 Speaker 1: pathogens that can make you sick, that can make animals sick, 725 00:43:05,440 --> 00:43:08,400 Speaker 1: that can make plants sick, are actually killed off in 726 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:11,480 Speaker 1: the face. Which is why when you get your hands 727 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:16,360 Speaker 1: on compost on humus, it's organic. It's been basically treated 728 00:43:16,680 --> 00:43:21,440 Speaker 1: naturally to rid itself of parasites, pathogens, all sorts of 729 00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:25,120 Speaker 1: bad stuff. And all that's left is the nutrients that 730 00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:27,800 Speaker 1: have been broken down in the process that a plant 731 00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:31,120 Speaker 1: can use very easily. And again the circle of life 732 00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,759 Speaker 1: starts over again. Yeah, and you know I mentioned sun 733 00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:36,799 Speaker 1: earlier can dry it out, but if if it gets 734 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:40,399 Speaker 1: over sixty five celsius, it's gonna kill off so many 735 00:43:40,480 --> 00:43:43,799 Speaker 1: microbes it's gonna really slow down your process. Uh. So 736 00:43:43,880 --> 00:43:46,160 Speaker 1: that's another reason you turn it is to kind of 737 00:43:46,239 --> 00:43:48,560 Speaker 1: keep and again don't have it direct sunlight, but it's 738 00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:52,360 Speaker 1: gonna keep that temperature where it does its thing naturally. 739 00:43:53,480 --> 00:43:55,160 Speaker 1: Where you don't want to, you know, put a heat 740 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:57,440 Speaker 1: lamp on it. I just want to keep it moist, 741 00:43:57,760 --> 00:44:00,319 Speaker 1: turn it over and let it do its thing, and 742 00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:03,000 Speaker 1: you might come out there on a chilly morning there 743 00:44:03,080 --> 00:44:06,080 Speaker 1: might be steam coming off of that sucker and dude, 744 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:10,240 Speaker 1: that's when you just like you go hot dog dog. 745 00:44:11,160 --> 00:44:13,640 Speaker 1: You go inside and you eat a banana. Yeah, and 746 00:44:13,640 --> 00:44:16,279 Speaker 1: you throw it on the on the pile. All right, 747 00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:18,600 Speaker 1: So when is it all over? Man? I just love 748 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,359 Speaker 1: this is why I love earth science. Yeah, it's really 749 00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:23,719 Speaker 1: amazing because it's like it requires a little bit of 750 00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:25,880 Speaker 1: human management. But then you kind of just step away 751 00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:28,839 Speaker 1: and say, do your thing. It's really neat. Uh when 752 00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:30,919 Speaker 1: is it over? Well, you can tell. There's a few 753 00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:34,040 Speaker 1: ways of being able to tell. Um the temperature starts 754 00:44:34,080 --> 00:44:37,759 Speaker 1: to go down. If it's below a hundred degrees fahrenheit, 755 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,480 Speaker 1: it's out of the thermophilic phase and it's now into 756 00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:45,560 Speaker 1: the mesophilic phase. This says that it's probably done. I disagree. 757 00:44:46,040 --> 00:44:48,960 Speaker 1: I think you probably wanted even cooler than that, because 758 00:44:48,960 --> 00:44:52,920 Speaker 1: the longer you let it cure the more um diverse, 759 00:44:53,040 --> 00:44:56,040 Speaker 1: the microbes inside are gonna be the better. The soil 760 00:44:56,120 --> 00:44:58,000 Speaker 1: that you use to amend it with is going to 761 00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:02,400 Speaker 1: be sure. Temperatures one uh, one of it is just 762 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:07,080 Speaker 1: eyeball it. And if it's if it's about decomposed, like 763 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:10,399 Speaker 1: if you still see clearly a banana peal, then it's 764 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:13,000 Speaker 1: not done right. You don't want to recognize this stuff 765 00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:18,600 Speaker 1: is food at this point, um or an eggshell or whatever. Um? 766 00:45:18,680 --> 00:45:20,879 Speaker 1: And is it is it smaller? Is if it's been 767 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:27,040 Speaker 1: reduced by and it's dark brown or black and crumbly 768 00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:30,239 Speaker 1: and it looks kind of like soil, then you're you're 769 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:34,040 Speaker 1: cooking with gas. That's my dad used to say. Um, 770 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:38,279 Speaker 1: the texture, did you say, smooth, crumbly? Yeah? What about 771 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,640 Speaker 1: the smell, Well, it shouldn't um, it shouldn't stink bad 772 00:45:41,719 --> 00:45:44,920 Speaker 1: at this point. No, it should smell earthy. And actually 773 00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:49,080 Speaker 1: one of my favorites the actin of my sites, the 774 00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:53,520 Speaker 1: actin of my seats. Okay, they are the reason that 775 00:45:53,719 --> 00:45:57,200 Speaker 1: soil and dirt has its smell. It's those guys, Yeah, 776 00:45:57,440 --> 00:46:00,080 Speaker 1: they give it. It's earthy smell. That cool. Yeah, And 777 00:46:00,120 --> 00:46:02,640 Speaker 1: I think we didn't mention you know that it's doing 778 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:05,200 Speaker 1: well along the way if it stopped smelling like it 779 00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:08,279 Speaker 1: doesn't just stink the whole time, right, And it's not 780 00:46:08,320 --> 00:46:11,480 Speaker 1: gonna smell earthy. The soil that you add will smell earthy. 781 00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:15,360 Speaker 1: But when you grab a handful of humus, it should 782 00:46:15,360 --> 00:46:17,720 Speaker 1: just fall through your fingers. It should be the closer 783 00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:21,359 Speaker 1: to black, the better. And it should smell like every 784 00:46:21,400 --> 00:46:25,000 Speaker 1: everything associated with earth should smell like. It's like the 785 00:46:25,040 --> 00:46:27,160 Speaker 1: word earth. That's what it should smell like. Like, you'll 786 00:46:27,239 --> 00:46:30,399 Speaker 1: understand what earth smells like. Yeah, they said pete moss. 787 00:46:30,440 --> 00:46:32,560 Speaker 1: If you if none of this makes sense, go to 788 00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:35,880 Speaker 1: your local hardware store or lawn and garden center and 789 00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:40,520 Speaker 1: smell the pete moss exactly. Um. So, now that it's done, 790 00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:46,919 Speaker 1: you've got your wonderfully natural fertilizer. Use it, Put it, 791 00:46:47,000 --> 00:46:49,319 Speaker 1: spread it out in your garden, spread it out around 792 00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:51,840 Speaker 1: your trees, through it in your yard, spread it around 793 00:46:51,880 --> 00:46:54,200 Speaker 1: your naked body, and run around your yard if you 794 00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:58,279 Speaker 1: want to. Um, it's got a doobie pile, make you 795 00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:05,800 Speaker 1: or quack grass. Yeah, stay away from that stuff. Um. 796 00:47:05,840 --> 00:47:09,320 Speaker 1: It's basically like the easiest way to put it without 797 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:12,640 Speaker 1: getting too scientific, is it's gonna make everything better. It's 798 00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:16,640 Speaker 1: gonna increase soil microbes, it's gonna increase nutrients and enhance them. 799 00:47:17,000 --> 00:47:20,400 Speaker 1: It's gonna improve the pH and chemistry of your soil, 800 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:24,759 Speaker 1: your yards structure. And again, like what you've just done 801 00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:28,680 Speaker 1: is taken stuff and had it broken down into its components, 802 00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:31,759 Speaker 1: unlocked it for your plants to use. So your plants 803 00:47:31,800 --> 00:47:36,560 Speaker 1: are gonna say thank you brother. Pretty amazing. Uh. Some 804 00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:38,399 Speaker 1: people create a lot of it and sell it, but 805 00:47:38,600 --> 00:47:41,160 Speaker 1: you know, mainly people do this to just use around 806 00:47:41,160 --> 00:47:43,960 Speaker 1: their house. Yeah, and increasingly towns are starting to do 807 00:47:44,080 --> 00:47:49,600 Speaker 1: curb side composting. Pickup food waste, pickup where you got trash, recycling, 808 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:55,120 Speaker 1: been food waste, been anipelesnipples Right, that's it, all right, 809 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:57,920 Speaker 1: go forth and composts. If you want to know more 810 00:47:57,920 --> 00:48:00,439 Speaker 1: about composting, you can type that it in the search 811 00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:03,279 Speaker 1: part house to work dot com. Cornell actually also has 812 00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:05,840 Speaker 1: a really great site about composting if you want to 813 00:48:05,840 --> 00:48:08,120 Speaker 1: know more about the science of it. You were very excited. 814 00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:11,759 Speaker 1: I love that. Um And since I said Cornell, it's 815 00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:17,000 Speaker 1: time for listening mails, I'm gonna call this child Life 816 00:48:17,120 --> 00:48:20,279 Speaker 1: Specialists made a couple of these road and remember we 817 00:48:20,280 --> 00:48:23,759 Speaker 1: talked about this in the Pain scalops and we kind 818 00:48:23,760 --> 00:48:25,560 Speaker 1: of surminds what it was, and we turns out we 819 00:48:25,560 --> 00:48:28,520 Speaker 1: were right. And by the way, we heard from paramedics 820 00:48:28,760 --> 00:48:33,120 Speaker 1: doctors quite a few people about the worst pain. Yeah, 821 00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:36,600 Speaker 1: you don't want a long bone fracture. Yeah, almost of 822 00:48:36,640 --> 00:48:39,560 Speaker 1: them said of broken femur is like the worst pain 823 00:48:39,560 --> 00:48:42,720 Speaker 1: you can experience. And should we say why? Yeah, go ahead, 824 00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:46,440 Speaker 1: So several reasons. Right, we are right because apparently it's 825 00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:50,520 Speaker 1: a very sensitive area, but also because without that structure, 826 00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:55,080 Speaker 1: your muscles start um spasm ing, which just rocks the 827 00:48:55,120 --> 00:48:57,839 Speaker 1: whole thing back and forth even more. And then then 828 00:48:57,880 --> 00:49:04,040 Speaker 1: like fragmented bone hitting nerve and like all kinds of badness. 829 00:49:04,080 --> 00:49:08,520 Speaker 1: So steer clear of that, all right. So, uh, we 830 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:10,680 Speaker 1: heard from from two I'm gonna read the one, but 831 00:49:10,719 --> 00:49:13,160 Speaker 1: I'm gonna shout them both out. Hey, guys, very excited 832 00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:15,080 Speaker 1: to hear you mentioned child life specialists during a recent 833 00:49:15,120 --> 00:49:18,560 Speaker 1: episode on Pain Scales. As a childlife specialist myself, I 834 00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:20,600 Speaker 1: thought we'd take the opportunity to tell you a little 835 00:49:20,600 --> 00:49:24,120 Speaker 1: bit about our profession. You are right, Chuck, a childlife 836 00:49:24,160 --> 00:49:28,200 Speaker 1: specialists is uh, we help kids deal with being hospitalized 837 00:49:28,520 --> 00:49:31,480 Speaker 1: that's really the essence of our job. We support children 838 00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:35,560 Speaker 1: and families throughout stressful situations such as hospitalizations, using our 839 00:49:35,600 --> 00:49:39,879 Speaker 1: knowledge of child development and play to facilitate coping. Child 840 00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:44,560 Speaker 1: Life specialists UM provide children with developmentally appropriate education about 841 00:49:44,560 --> 00:49:49,600 Speaker 1: diagnoses and treatments, preparation and support for procedures and opportunities 842 00:49:49,600 --> 00:49:53,920 Speaker 1: for normalization and play. UM. What a great job. Seriously, 843 00:49:54,120 --> 00:49:55,960 Speaker 1: I can't think of too many jobs that are more 844 00:49:56,040 --> 00:49:59,800 Speaker 1: rewarding than that. Seriously. We also provide support for siblings 845 00:50:00,280 --> 00:50:02,719 Speaker 1: and provide legacy building and memory making and end of 846 00:50:02,719 --> 00:50:08,080 Speaker 1: life situations. Our profession is very rewarding. Josh, you are right. 847 00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:11,200 Speaker 1: She predicted that you would say that, and I love 848 00:50:11,239 --> 00:50:13,880 Speaker 1: going to work every day. To become a c l 849 00:50:14,160 --> 00:50:16,560 Speaker 1: S you must have a bachelor's or master's degree in 850 00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:20,440 Speaker 1: child development or a related field, complete a six hundred 851 00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:26,520 Speaker 1: and forty our Childlife Internship, and past a national certification exam. 852 00:50:26,840 --> 00:50:31,080 Speaker 1: You can visit UH www dot child life dot org 853 00:50:31,239 --> 00:50:34,400 Speaker 1: to learn more about it. UH thanks for what you 854 00:50:34,440 --> 00:50:37,160 Speaker 1: guys do. You've made all my road trips interesting and 855 00:50:37,200 --> 00:50:39,360 Speaker 1: thanks for spreading the word about child life. Maybe you 856 00:50:39,360 --> 00:50:42,400 Speaker 1: can do entire episode on our profession in the future, 857 00:50:43,280 --> 00:50:47,400 Speaker 1: she said, and that is Natalie Valentine. And also a 858 00:50:47,400 --> 00:50:51,080 Speaker 1: big shout out to Amanda Butler from Auburn University who 859 00:50:51,120 --> 00:50:54,480 Speaker 1: does that there. Thanks for writing in Ladies, it sounds 860 00:50:54,520 --> 00:50:58,600 Speaker 1: like just a really, really great job. Thanks to you 861 00:50:58,640 --> 00:51:00,520 Speaker 1: both for that, and thanks for every buddy who has 862 00:51:00,560 --> 00:51:05,400 Speaker 1: anything to do with making kids who are hospitalized feel better. UM, 863 00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:07,680 Speaker 1: hats off to you. If you want to get in 864 00:51:07,719 --> 00:51:10,600 Speaker 1: touch with us, you can tweet to us at s 865 00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:13,480 Speaker 1: y s K podcast or Josh m Clark. You can 866 00:51:13,560 --> 00:51:16,920 Speaker 1: hang out with us on Facebook dot com, slash Stuff 867 00:51:16,920 --> 00:51:19,640 Speaker 1: you Should Know or slash Charles W. Chuck Bryant. You 868 00:51:19,640 --> 00:51:22,440 Speaker 1: can send us an email to stuff Podcast how stuff 869 00:51:22,480 --> 00:51:24,719 Speaker 1: Works dot com and has always joined us at our 870 00:51:24,760 --> 00:51:32,360 Speaker 1: home on the web, Stuff you Should Know dot com 871 00:51:32,360 --> 00:51:34,800 Speaker 1: for more on this and thousands of other topics. Is 872 00:51:34,840 --> 00:51:46,600 Speaker 1: it how Stuff Works dot com