Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting (The Good Guide to Gardening Book 1)

First of all, let me say this. David's wife is a saint. She has to be to allow her husband to do what the title says, compost everything.I bought this book because I have ran into the the same problem gardeners everywhere run into. I can not generate enough compost to full fill the needs of my modest garden plot. I have tried using coffee grounds, leaves, and all the things responsible, careful, people say is appropriate to use for compost. I got at most ten gallons a year.Dave... Well he looked at the problem and noticed that just about everything organic rots. If it rots, you can compost it. Makes sense right? I know we have all been told not to compost meat scraps (Dave composted a goat's head), and only include the right mix of brown, green, and other sources. However, everything does rot, and the simplest way to compost is "Throw it on the ground!". In fact, that is a consistent theme of the book.I have began some rather modest experiments using Dave's ideas. My first worm bed (adjusted for the area) is underway, and my idea of what is compostable and not has changed. Initial results look promising.This is not your typical composting book. This is the composting book your extension agent reads in the back room.

I found this book incredibly useful, and it gave me ideas for how to construct the new gardens on my property. The idea of a banana circle (with fruit trees for the PNW) is awesome, and the warnings about persistent herbicides made it worth the purchase price alone. As my livestock will mostly be fed with imported hay to begin with, I'm thankful for the information.There are a few stretch ideas for me in here, like compost tea, worm tea, and various other liquid forms of fertilization. However, the ease of some of the techniques really makes me happy.The one thing I'd add to it is more diagrams or even illustrations for the various constructions, like the banana circle or the duck pond/fruit tree combo.

I discovered David the Good while browsing YouTube looking for inspiration for my new adventure of tropical gardening. As a fellow expat, David the Good is an excellent source of knowledge. His matter-of-fact approach and refusal to abide by the unfounded rules passed down by mere tradition, make him one of my favorite gardening gurus.This little booklet on composting is chock full of valuable information, great ideas, and a generous splash of quirky humor. My kind of gardening book for sure! He writes like he talks, and it is both informative and entertaining.I highly recommend this as a beginner's guide to composting, as well as an "experts" guide to thinking outside the box.Now I'm eager to read the other DTG books. He wrote a gardening thriller . . . I can only imagine how entertaining that's going to be!

Wonderfully written. Won't bury the beginning composter/gardener in unwanted info. Gets right to the point and is an excellent reference work for home garden projects that require good soil or good growing conditions. Writer seems to be very down to earth and easy to relate to while at the same time maintaining an eccentricity that only a person who apparently performs dozens of composting experiments a year can. His ideas seem very plausible and correct and backed up with hard earned experience. As for reasons to compost he provides sections on the use of Graze-On in agriculture used to feed livestock. Very eye opening as he reveals a very scary possibility of bringing in poisoned manure and destroying your garden if your are not creating your own compost. I will soon be also buying the hard copy for ease of use in the yard.

I love this book. End of story. The middle of the story is that David the Good is entertaining, funny (okay, hilarious), and will tell you things that nobody else will. Example: He composts meat. NOBODY composts meat. EVERYBODY says do NOT compost meat. But, he composts meat. And it's educational - he shares not just his successes but also his failures/mistakes.

As a hobby-gardener who wishes he had time for all that complicated composting stuff, I wish I'd had this book five years ago when I first bought my house. The last time I composted was about 3 years ago, and while I understood the science of composting...well, understanding the science of something can either lead you to enlightenment, or take you down the rabbit-hole of perfectionism and proportionality, and that always got me messed up one way or another. When your compost pile isn't working quickly or properly, it's enough to make you wish Cthulhu would rise from R'lyeh and do what he does best. I just quit composting in frustration, too much work for someone who works all the time.However, David the Good has written what may well be the Necronomicon of composting (and thus, gardening). Now I feel like I can summon the Elder Gods and Old Ones to improve the quality of the vegetables and flowers I grow (when I'm not busy writing or being lazy.) It really is simple: just throw it on the ground. It doesn't matter. I was especially fascinated by the effectiveness of "verboten" compostables like meat, roadkill, bodies, human waste...So if you're into gardening, agriculture, or just want to learn something that is freaking interesting in an incredibly amusing format, then buy this book. I'll be referencing it for years to come, and will definitely acquire a dead tree version should one become available.

It is so wonderful to have books published by a Floridian about growing and composting in this very diverse state. This book in particular dives deep into what all you can compost, so it is not regional like his other books. There is even information about human waste and how to handle it if you choose to go that route, which I found fascinating. One thing I also like in his books, is the amount of references he makes to other gardeners and their perspective or publications. It will give me more to look at later. I can't say enough positive about David the Good. I have learned so much that I can immediately apply in my own garden.

Okay so I’m totally compost obsessed and recently acquiring an allotments taken it to the max. I’ve read probably every standard book on the subject which in the end are all pretty samey...til now! This is a great book and I’ve reread it a few times now. It’s really witty and entertaining but ultimately practical too. He covers what you’d expect and hopefully a lot you wouldn’t; vermicompost (red-neck style), chop n drop, trench composting etc but all in a “just get on with it nd give it a go” style...watch out for the goat innards though they’re not a requirement.

Let’s face it, you’re either interested in Composting or you’re not....If you are, and a relative novice, this book is great. It removed a lot of my fears of what you can and can’t do... and made it easy to understand! If you want a detailed book on the biology of the process then this ain’t for you... if you want to know how to do it... this is it. It’s lacking sequential pictures which would make a good book better, but it’s still super useful and confidence inspiring.

A very disappointing purchase. It's a relatively small book but the majority of it is still irrelevant "padding" - too many convoluted, over-long personal anecdotes and attempts at humour. The useful, practical content could fit into a very very few pages. It's also contradictory. The title is "Compost Everything" but there are some things it says not to compost. The introduction says to throw out the rules about how to make compost, but then it repeats most of those same rules. Very poor. Even though it was very short, I still found it a chore to read. The only reason it got 2 stars from me rather than 1 is because making compost is a good idea and is to be recommended as an activity. This book will make better compost than it does a useful book.

Great little book. Tjeck the YouTube channel if you are in doubt about getting it. That book is as wonderful as David's videos

Content of the book is alright. A couple hours of YouTube browsing has already taught me everything in it however. I got this as a throw-in to push up to the 35$ for free shipping, so I wasn't gung-ho on this book being stellar.However there's been 3 mentions of "God" so far, halfway through the book, so this gets an immediate 1 star from me. "Believing" in a magical sky fairy in this day and age is disgusting and evil so whatever.

Love it, this guy puts into a book so many thoughts I had about composting, have already tried a few new technics and they're great. Light hearted, easy read.

The title says it all! This will definitely make you think outside of the box when thinking about composting. Some of the ideas will be considered too crazy by most people but definitely his passion for composting is transferred to the reader.

I'm big into composting and gardening. This has straightened out much confusion

Livre qui simplifie et clarifie au maximum le principe du compostage ainsi que l'amélioration, et donc la productivité, de n'importe quel bout de terrain, le tout accompagné de petites touches d'humour ici ou là, ...ce qui ne gâche rien !