winter composting

Building a compost pile right before the snowstorm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKKED6Vii8M I'm long overdue on building a new compost pile- I've been adding to my cubic yard sized compost bin for well over a year, and I'd like to start a new pile so this one is finished 15 months from now in the spring. It's been cold out but not cold enough- I wanted to build my pile when it was below freezing for a few days, and now there's about to be a snowstorm... perfect! The bigger the compost pile the better when it comes to getting through the winter- although I don't have that much to start with (one bucket of food scraps, two bags of leaves), it should be enough to get going. Over the next few weeks I plan on adding various manures to bring…

Continue ReadingBuilding a compost pile right before the snowstorm

Should you bother to compost in winter? (article)

By Beth Botts [ https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/home/ct-home-0131-garden-morton-20190124-story.html ] With snow on the sidewalk and ice on the porch steps, a reasonable person might ask: Do I really have to take the potato peelings out to the compost bin? They wouldn’t break down until spring anyway, would they? In fact, there’s probably action in your compost pile even in winter, according to Meghan Midgley, soil scientist at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle. The bacteria, fungi, pill bugs, nematodes, earthworms and other forms of life that digest dead plants to produce compost may have slowed down, but they didn’t leave for Florida. “All the organisms in your compost pile evolved in the soil,” Midgley said. “They’ve survived in the soil through the winter for millions of years.” The outer, most exposed layers of your…

Continue ReadingShould you bother to compost in winter? (article)