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| I'm looking to start a compost pile in the winter. Two weeks ago our high temps were in the 50's. Last week we never got above 10 degrees for a couple of days. when in the 50's I am sure composting would be more active. I do not have any dried leaves or really anything "brown" to add to the pile. Any ideas? I was going to transform a couple of garbage cans into my composting bins. I was going to use a sealable rubbermaid bin for storing kitchen scraps.
Or should I just scrap it for now and wait until spring? Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by piedmontnc 7b-8 (My Page) on Fri, Feb 4, 11 at 15:25
| It won't hurt to start stockpiling those scraps now. |
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| If you want to try 'hot' composting; or have a lot of problematic ingredients that might smell or be dragged off by animals; then you want to do everything the 'right' way. This means: I have never made a new pile in the middle of winter. I have started a pile when the weather was 40F. Instead of high 160F summer core temp, the winter core temp might be a high of 120 or 130F. If you made a optimal 'hot' pile, the max. temp will occur two to three days after starting (at least in the summer, it could be a bit longer in winter). You don't have to do this, you could make a 'cold' pile instead. The terms cold and hot refer to how how much heat in generated in the core of the pile, not anything to do with the outside ambient temperature. |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Fri, Feb 4, 11 at 23:22
| Start layering everything you have now. You won't be getting garden ready compost in a couple of weeks, but you will start seeing some decomposing if you turn, water and turn again. Things will start really happening when it starts warming up! Good luck! Nancy |
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- Posted by shermthewerm (My Page) on Sat, Feb 5, 11 at 21:09
| I have a 3-bin composter and I just started bin #2 3 weeks ago. Our temps have been pretty erratic here--spring-like weather for a couple of days and then below freezing the next. For browns, you can always use shredded junk mail or other paper, cardboard, TP and paper towel rolls. If you want to keep the pile hot, you can always add som UCG to keep reheating the pile whenever it cools off. I've been pretty successful this winter keeping the pile hot (I have chickens, so I like to keep the temps around 130). Anyway, hope this helps. |
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