Several years ago when I began outdoor composting on a larger scale I had a problem. Living in Zone 5 and Winter. Everything I put in the compost pile from December thru March froze solid and didn't begin to thaw and decay until the middle or end of April.

Fortunately I had a walkout basement and I thought as winter approached if it would be a good idea to put the kitchen scrapes, peelings, coffee grounds etc. into a 5 gallon pail with a lid. I figured it would take a good amount of time to fill and the fermentation process would start.

It worked so well that I started a two 5 gallon pail process. I would fill one and put the other empty pail next to the first one and then fill that. When the second pail filled I would take the first and dump it in the compost pile.

There was one problem. It broke down so well in the heated basement it turned into a slurpy smelly mess that stunk to high heaven. Thank God I lived next to a park. I had to wait for the prevailing wind to blow from the west. I also had to do this in the early part of the morning before people would come into the park for sledding etc.

I was always amazed how well it broke down into this sort of slurry. Unfortunately I had to stop the practice because we moved. The houses in our development are now further apart but I wasn't about to offend any of my new neighbors as the foul odor carried a pretty good distance.

I knew what the problem was, but how could it be solved? I thought if I could only absorb some of the liquid.

Newspaper. Yes! Newspaper would be the answer. So I gave it try. Sort of small scale at first. Kitchen waste on the bottom with shredded paper on top of that, following the same procedure until the pail was filled to the top. I excluded things like watermelon rind. Why? Have you ever smelled the rotted rind from a watermelon. You talk about ripe.

No we didn't eat watermelon in the Winter. It just so happens I turned this into a year round process because it works so well.

After filling the pail I did the same as before and dumped in the compost pile and buried. I first noticed there was very little slurry. And that the smell wasn't that offensive. Then I thought what if I put shredded newspaper in the bottom first to start absorbing right away?

Well needless to say it worked. I would dump the pail wash and rinse and start over. But more important under the circumstance I couldn't detect any, what I would call offensive smell. Because of that I started with my 2nd 5 gallon pail process. I also began to add things like watermelon rind with great results.

For me it works great and possibly it would work well for other cold clime organic gardeners. (Although I use this system all year round). In fact during the process as long as the weather is reasonably warm the first pail starts to have an actual warming process.

Unfortunately I don't have the walkout basement anymore so I've had to put the pails in the cellar during the winter as our garage is unheated and the contents freeze. So far so good as my wife is a stickler when it comes to anything that creates odors.

So in brief here's what I do.

2 - 5 gal pails with lids.

I line the first pails bottom with a thick section of hand shredded newspaper.

Then a layer of kitchen waste.

(My wife is good about having a lidded 3/4 gallon container that she puts the waste in, and when it's about full I put it in the pail.)

For each layer of waste goes a layer or section of the shredded newspaper.

When the pail is just over half filled I take a section of newspaper folded in half and don't shred. I place this over the top of what's already in the pail. (I found out after the first couple of times the lid to the pail was full of droplets of moisture.) This unfolded section absorbs the moisture that's coming to the top. If it gets to wet I shread and add a new section.

My compost worms have an added Gourmet newspaper treat. When I take out the coffee grounds from the strainer, I place them on dry newspaper. I do that everyday and change the paper for dry each day. I might use that section of paper 3 or 4 times. Then I use that section as the shredded layer.

I know the worms love it because I have a two container worm farm in the cellar. I occasionally treat them to shredded newspaper soaked from the daily coffee grounds. I check them every once in awhile afterwards. I slowly pull back the paper and the little critters are having a newspaper feasting field day.

I hope all of this made sense.

Jim

Besides the 2 - 5 gal pails I have 2 (small) containers (that I wouldn't call bins) that have red worms in them. Amazingly there's no odors that come from these either. In fact it's more of an earthy smell as the worm casting eventually turn into rich soils.

In fact I'm astonished to see how many worms there are in my larger outdoor composter. Living in a cold clime doesn't allow for much time for decomposition of yard or kitchen scrapes. I used to have to wait for about two years for complete breakdown. Now come every October I empty the outdoor bin and start over continuing to use the pail method and Autuum leaves for covering.

In fact I'm sure the compost is breaking down throughout the winter as I've dug deep into the pile when it was covered with snow and ice and just below the frosted area the worms are present in mid March.

I've been doing the small scale indoor vermicomposting for about two years now and use those worms for fishing with my grandchildren.

Thanks for your interest in possibly wanting to try the pail method. Give it a shot and see what you think? I'm also glad to see that someone might benefit. Of course that's what these forums are all about as I've personally learned a ton from them.

I (and possibly others) would be interested how you make out.

Hi Althea!

I've never given a thought to feed my little critters something like the New York Times. On second thought do you think the Wall Street Journal might make there castings a little "richer" and catch more fish? :>)

Jim

Bill