Online Compost Making Workshop

Every garden needs a heart to pump nutrients through its veins. For us compost making is the heart and soul of our farm. Compsot feeds life, cycles nutrients, and keeps the system thriving. At KoruKai Herb Farm, compost making is central to everything we grow, because we see it as the foundation of healthy soil, resilient plants, and nutrient-dense food.

High-quality compost is surprisingly difficult to find commercially. In our experience, the differences in quality between sources are enormous, particularly when it comes to microbial diversity and balance. We have yet to find a commercial supplier that consistently provides compost with the full spectrum of beneficial microorganisms needed to support strong, disease-resistant plant growth. Often municipal compost falls short of these biological standards.

Over the past 10+ years, we have produced compost in a range of environments—from a small urban section (500m²) to a working farm producing 4–5 tonnes annually. This hands-on experience has given us a deep understanding of what it takes to create reliable, high-performance compost in both city and rural settings.

In this workshop, we share our refined no-turn hot composting method, developed through years of observation, testing, and practical refinement. This system is designed to be efficient, low-maintenance, and highly effective—even in urban environments. With the right setup, you can produce a hot, active compost pile in the middle of a city without disturbing your neighbours.

You will also learn how to make and use compost extract, a powerful way to multiply and apply the biology from your own compost directly into your garden soil, helping to accelerate soil regeneration and plant health.

Compost is more than just decomposed organic matter—it is a living system that restores vitality to soil. It reintroduces essential microbiology, rebuilds soil structure, and creates the conditions for plants to thrive. With high-quality compost, we consistently grow plants that are more nutrient-dense, resilient, and naturally resistant to pests and disease.

This workshop is designed to give you the knowledge and confidence to create your own living compost system, wherever you are growing.

Healthy soil is the foundation of all life—environmental, animal, plant, and human health. It is the base of resilient ecosystems and one of the most powerful solutions to many of the challenges we face today.

Compost plays a central role in rebuilding and maintaining this foundation. It recycles nutrients, feeds soil microorganisms, improves soil structure, and supports the growth of healthy, nutrient-dense food that is naturally more resilient to pests and disease. At KoruKai Herb Farm, we are passionate about sharing our knowledge and practical experience so you can confidently produce your own high-quality compost.

This online course is self-paced and accessible 24/7, allowing you to move through the material quickly or take your time and revisit sections as needed. The course includes approximately 5 hours of high-quality video content, along with supporting reading material, diagrams, graphs, and charts. In total, you should allow around 15 hours to complete the workshop, plus additional hands-on time to gather materials, build your compost, and monitor its progress.

You will also receive a downloadable personal workbook to support your learning, deepen understanding, and guide you through practical application.

In this online course, you will learn:

• The benefits of compost in regenerative systems
• The difference between hot compost and static piles
• Suitable materials for high-quality hot compost
• Carbon-to-nitrogen ratios and how they change during decomposition
• The role of inoculants, additives, and activators
• The six essential requirements for successful hot composting
• How to build a no-turn hot compost system
• The importance of temperature, oxygen, and moisture balance
• How to perform a squeeze test for moisture assessment
• Site selection, layout, and materials needed for composting
• Bin design and base preparation
• Creating an effective buffer zone for no-turn systems
• Step-by-step construction of a hot compost pile (no turning required)
• Seasonal considerations, including winter composting strategies
• The three biological phases of a compost pile
• How to measure and interpret temperature and moisture changes
• Oxygen and low-oxygen indicators in compost systems
• Understanding temperature development over time
• Troubleshooting common composting issues
• Signs of finished, high-quality compost
• Simple at-home compost analysis techniques
• Proper storage of finished compost
• Application rates for garden and farm use
• Making liquid fertiliser, compost extract, and a few notes on compost teas

This workshop is suitable for beginners through to experienced gardeners, as well as lifestyle block owners and farmers interested in organic systems or transitioning from conventional agriculture to biological and regenerative practices.

A practical, in-depth course designed to help you build living soil and create healthier, more resilient growing systems from the ground up.

Above: Materials are gathered and composting site is prepared. 


Above: The cleaned up site and the compost is starting to heat up.


Above: Temperatures are measured to ensure the compost is ticking along nicely.

Tutors

Cornelia Holten

Qualifications & training:

• Master of Education (Integrative Learning), Endicott College
• Certificate in Organic Horticulture
• Apprenticeship in Herbal Medicine, Valmai Becker’s Phytofarm
• Training with Dr. Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web School
• Certified Soil Food Web Lab Technician (training level)
• Training in Allan Savory’s Holistic Management
• Permaculture Design Certificate (Geoff Lawton)
• Holistic grazing and soil resilience training with Nicole Masters
• Soil health workshop with Dr. Christine Jones

Cornelia is passionate about compost and produces a new hot compost pile every 2–4 weeks to maintain a continuous supply for KoruKai Herb Farm. She is an herbalist, soil educator, and slow food advocate with a strong focus on simple living, DIY skills, herbs, and self-sufficiency.

Her training in organic horticulture, soil biology, permaculture, herbal medicine, and regenerative farming—combined with years of hands-on experience living and working on a farm in Pigeon Bay—gives her a grounded, practical understanding of how to grow nutrient-dense food and restore soil health.

She teaches workshops on sustainable food systems, composting, whole foods, fermentation, primal nutrition, and organic gardening. Her curiosity and ongoing engagement with emerging soil and health science keep her work current and evolving.

Kai Holten

Qualifications & training:

• BSc (Computer Science)
• Permaculture Design Certificate (Geoff Lawton)
• Pruning and propagation training, Lincoln University
• Training in Allan Savory’s Holistic Management

Kai is passionate about permaculture design and the regeneration of landscapes through intelligent, practical systems. With a strong design and technical background, he focuses on creating solutions that work with nature rather than against it.

He enjoys observing natural systems and designing self-regulating, low-input solutions that improve over time. On their steep Banks Peninsula farm, this includes practical innovations such as portable compost slurry sprayers and systems adapted for terrain that cannot be accessed by machinery.

Forest gardens, resilient ecosystems, and functional design are at the core of his work.

Kai also provides technical support for online courses and is available to help with login issues or course access when needed.