Let Compost Hibernate

Guest post from Susan Schumacher.

Well, bears, skunks, prairie dogs, and bats do it, right? Let your compost hibernate for the winter.

I would love to be one of these creatures that can stay warm and sleep all winter. But, that thing called work/life gets in the way. One thing I don’t do in the winter is turn my compost pile (OK, so I don’t use a bin and you don’t have to either. That aside, the material is frozen anyway!)

Take all your compost goodies and freeze them in some sort of re-sealable bag, plastic container, etc. Yes, I realize they will get freezer burn but you weren’t going to eat it anyway. It’s much easier (and warmer) for me to put the compost scraps in a plastic bag and throw in my freezer.

Usually in February, there is a somewhat “warm” day that I can tolerate the time it will take for me to be outside long enough to use my pitchfork and lift up (or maybe I should say “pull the covers back” on) the compost bed enough so I can throw the frozen banana peels, coffee grinds, potato skins, apple cores, etc. into the center of the pile.

A lovely winter compost pile, but unfortunately it's not mine.
Check out our friends at Organic Gardening 365.

Once it finally turns spring, your pile will have a great head start to “working it’s magic” to create a beautiful lawn, flower garden, or vegetable garden (the food scraps from this will go where?).