Shallow-Pit Garden Composting: The Easy, No-Smell, No-Turning Way to Create Organic Compost For Your Garden

by Caleb Warnock

Many gardeners give up making backyard compost in frustration―the compost pile smells, it requires too much work to turn the heap, and the process requires too many ingredients and too much attention. Gardeners who have used compost barrels or kits know that their experience ends in one a smelly barrel that, after months of care, produces only a tiny amount of compost. What to do? Return to the way that compost has been made for centuries―in shallow pits. With this method, the compost never needs to be turned, never smells, and is ready in half the time. Any backyard gardener can make volumes of sustainable compost without any work. Shallow pit composting works with Mother Nature, letting her do the work!

Genres: Gardening

70 pages, Paperback

Published February 7, 2017

Reviews

[Chrissy Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great idea for those who want to compost but that don't have the time to turn a pile every 3 days. Just like a cold compost pile, it will take some time, however, having a shallow pit composting setup would be like combining a cold compost pile and a worm bin compost set up that you do not have to babysit. Although, the amount of worm castings would be significantly less than a worm bin set up, "NO BABYSITTING NECESSARY" is a VERY attractive concept to those of us who do not seem to have any extra time for whatever reasons (I like to sleep sometimes) ;)

Along with my compost bins, and my worm farm that I will be starting shortly, I will be doing a shallow-pit this year to check it out... and help move some of my excess bunny waste from unsightly piles waiting for the bins to somewhere, hopefully, not so visible. With any luck I will be drowning in rich compost by this time next year.

As a side note. I love Caleb Warnock and his simplifying of concepts that seem too broad to grasp for the "newby" gardener. It always seems that the more I learn, the less I know in the overall view of things. Keep churning the books our sir and I will keep devouring them like the starved for information bibliophile that I am.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly written and easy to follow! This method of composting seems to be easy to maintain, once you've done the work of digging the pit. I would've liked more pictures, and for the pictures to be labelled.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of good useful down to earth information. Happy composting.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really short, quick read packed with information on composting. Good section of questions and answers at the back.