I get quite a few questions via email about whether or not peeps can continue to compost in the winter months. The answer is a simple YES! Composting is totally a year-round sport. While the cold weather might slow down the breakdown process, it will still happen.
In fact, if you have a compost pile, I am sure on a cold day, you’ve seen the steam rise off of it…seriously, is there anything prettier than hot, steaming, fertile garbage?! The key to winter composting is really, really quite simple. Remember that your compost pile is full of little microbes that are munching away at your garbage. Be a good hostess and keep the pile in top shape for them. In the winter months, if time permits, chop your waste a little smaller before tossing it into the pile. It helps the microbes break it down faster–and since they are a wee bit sluggish in the cold, helping them along will move you closer to having ready compost.
Just as you would mulch your winter garden, it’s a good idea to apply the same principle to your compost pile. When you get ahold of brown, dry matter {think: leaves} go ahead and layer it on your compost pile. It will insulate your pile and create more heat–which also breaks down the matter. Speaking of heat, make sure your compost pile is located in a spot where it gets the most possible sunlight it can in the winter months. If you have the option to put it up against a fence, shed, or even the house, it will protect the pile from cold winds and give it a little boost in the heat department.
If you live in a wet or snowy climate, you won’t have the option of managing the moisture content as much, but remember, even in winter, the compost pile needs to stay moist {preferably not too wet}, definitely not dry. Cold winds whipping through the pile will dry it out faster than you think, so check it often, and water as necessary. I like to use the leftover coffee the HH leaves in his cup and toss it onto the pile…I figure it helps two-fold.
Finally, remember to continue adding fresh “fuel” to your compost. Toss new kitchen scraps, and any other compostable materials on the pile, fairly regularly. It’s like fashion–it’s all about layering in the winter. Turn your pile regularly, as well, it will redistribute the heat and the microbes throughout the pile.
I’m certainly not going to let winter stop me from “cooking my garbage.” Compost on, my friends.
~Mavis
Lisa Millar says
lol – “Year-round sport”
I feel guilty we haven’t built our second bin now! 😀
I love our little mulcher – on a slightly bigger than normal yard property, its magic to shred our offcuts!
Mavis says
A mulcher would be rad.
Cindi says
My main compost pile is in the back corner of the yard and currently buried under a foot of snow. But I have been filling 5-gallon buckets with compost and when one gets full I put it in the greenhouse (which doesn’t have anything growing in it right now, since I choose not to heat it in winter._) It gets warm enough in the greenhouse during the day that the compost is breaking down nicely. This spring I will have a couple or three buckets of almost-finished compost to jump-start the main pile.
Julia says
Yes! Still composting up here in Pa! Both bins are almost full. My son raises rabbits and so we have all that lovely waste to add to the garden as well. The beauty of it is that rabbit droppings can go directly into the garden without composting as they will not burn the plants. So I’ve been dumping buckets of it in the bare garden and just turning over the soil when the ground isn’t frozen. Can’t wait to see what the veggies look like this year!!