The Complete Compost Gardening Guide: Banner Batches, Grow Heaps, Comforter Compost, and Other Amazing Techniques for Saving Time and Money, and ... Most Flavorful, Nutritious Vegetables Ever

Invest composted for decades and first read this book as a digital edition borrowed from the local library. I liked it so much I bought a hard copy for myself. Most composting books focus on a very few techniques and the strength of this book is it covers a very wide variety of home composting methods as well as practical applications for each all in an easily accessible format. It also provides guidance on “hot” techniques vs “cold” techniques as well as ways to save effort and unlike most writers the authors don’t dismiss anaerobic compost out of hand though rightfully not much time is spent with the topic either.Another strength of this book is it provides information on how to integrate compost and even active compost piles into the growing process as well as providing a short but pretty in-depth section on vegetable plants that like (or hate) growing in compost as well as information on a few specific cover/compost plants including a superstar plant that is easy, super hardy, drought and bad soil tolerant, non-invasive, inexpensive and widely available but virtually no authors acknowledge. Also I found the section on using compost for making specialty soils to be brief but useful.Gardening related books rarely earn 5 star ratings from me but this book deserves the high rating because it is very readable, has lots of high quality photos/illustrations, well researched and virtually no material that I’d say is of questionable science or practicality even from my vantage of over 40 years actively composting using a variety of techniques. One could quibble and say the 47 pages (out of 319 total) spent on specific vegetables and compost/fodder plants is off topic and could have been spent on additional detail regarding composting but the entire book was focused on practical uses of the composting techniques (I.e. growing things) and while a bit of a surprise to see the plant information I was fully engaged by the information and it is a nice way to end the book.

Great resource for the home gardener. Pictures, charts and diagrams add to the understanding of the text.

I was hoping this book would offer something "more" than the other books and articles I have read. Forget just the basics of composting, this book provides the how-to for almost any situation you could encounter. Its great for the owner of a small lot to the owner of acres. I've already started putting some of the techniques into practice and hope to have some useful brown gold by the end of summer. Other techniques I am also trying will take longer but don't require any active participation on my part.This book fits your needs no matter what your level of involvment or your lot size.

I love this book for a guide to composting. It has taught me a great deal and introduced me to a few new methods of composting.

This book offers many, many ideas for composting that I have not found elsewhere. Even if you only had a small amount of materials, this book tells how to bury it underground amongst garden plants to create a little subsoil-compost pocket. Takes the emphasis off generating perfect finished compost (which never seems to happen for me anyway!) and encourages readers to make use of compost at many stages. Encourages "on-site" composting with attractive material layered on top, so the pile can be built right where it's needed, even in a flower garden, without creating an eyesore. Even tells which plants will grow in a heap of unfinished compost! Clear instructions, nice illustrations, LOADS of ideas.

This book is very well written and thorough. The writing style is informal and somewhat breezy, but it covers a large scope at reasonable depth and completeness. There are inserts of helpful tips every few pages that are both interesting and useful. There are internal references to other sections of the book when they discuss specific topics, so initially, I was going back and forth. In retrospect, this tied together the topics nicely...covering both the casual reader to the determined "deep dive, don't waste my time" reader.The scope of reader ranges from the casual "as little work as possible" to the hard-core, "I want daily involvement to get my compost NOW."

great ideas on composting. I taught composting in my little city for seven years. I didn't have as many good ideas as these authors do. I really enjoyed their attitude. I feel energized even though I don't have many perfect piles left in me. My only gripe was with the publisher because I found too many interrupted paragraphs -- paragraph should come to an end, but a photo or new section begins. Probably poor or hurried paste-up.I still give the content 5 stars.

This is a very good collection of information, describing methods of composting suited to diverse living situations from inner-city apartments to country homesteads. The authors take composting "out of the box" and suggest ways in which imaginative readers can devise composting projects adapted to their own individual situations.I personally thought that the alliterative names, such as "Banner Batch", "Treasure Trench", "Honey Hole", etc., were rather contrived and "cutesy" - getting in the way rather than helping the reader to understand and remember the concepts being presented - but once you get past the stylistic quirks, the information itself is quite useful.

I have read a few books on composting, soil building, etc., and this was the best!

Excellent book. Covers all aspects of composting. Highly recommended.

A great book. It reads like it is written by two old ladies, which it basically is. All bubbly enthusiasm for gardening and soil biology. Although not every technique or bit of information is correct for northern areas like Saskatchewan.

Ok, first of all let me say the author clearly knows everything there is to know about composting.I'm new to composting and have a small garden where I grow some veg. I like to re-use waste from the garden and from my kitchen and make use of it. Our council also run out of green bins and advised I compost my garden waste instead of sending it in a green bin for the council to collect. I was looking for a book to find out more what i can and cannot compost, and some practical advise. I do have a life otherwise, job, kids etc. so not really enough time to have "hospital" compost and whatever else and spend my life doing it.This is a bible on composting - but not for me. It's a great book, hence the 4 starts but not for the average gardener. It has extensive explanation about how to collect manure, have several heaps and holes etc. to compost in. It also has a whole chapter about growing weird stuff like wheat (obviously not weird but not for the average gardener to grow in a raised bed). I just want to know what to do with some of the weed I pick up, basic stuff like that - which is probably buried somewhere within the book.I found no useful information in here whatsoever. Sorry, my copy is going back and I hope someone can make more use of it. I think it's perfect if you spend every day in your farm, small holding or allotment and willing to spend a lot of time and effort on your compost. I just have a little bin.

Love the book. Very informative with lots of different ways of making and using compost.