5 Tips for Winter Composting

Learn how to keep composting all winter long with these tips.

Just because the temperatures are cooling down doesn’t mean your compost pile needs to slow down, too. Even in the winter, you’ll still produce kitchen scraps.

Keeping your compost pile active through the winter months can help produce fertilizer for the spring. If you have a greenhouse, the compost can actually act as a secondary heat source.

To continue composting through the winter, there are a few things you’ll need to do to get ready.

With these five tips from Blain’s Farm & Fleet, you can keep your compost pile active throughout winter and be ready for spring.

1. Add Insulation

To keep your compost pile warm and safe from the cold elements, you’ll need to build a shelter. There are plenty of ways to build a shelter using plywood, sandbags, tarps, and cinderblocks.

As long as the interior of the compost bin stays heated, it will continue to actively decompose.

2. Add a Cover

You should keep your compost pile moist. However, winter snow and rain can drench the pile, killing any helpful bacteria in the pore spaces of the compost pile.

It’s best to cover your compost pile during the cold and wet months. You can build a roof or stake down a tarp over the pile. This not only keeps the wet out, but it keeps the internal heat in.

3. Add More Brown Materials

Carbon-rich brown materials include sawdust, house plants, dried leaves, dried grass clippings, straw, and paper. You’ll want to layer green and brown materials. Green materials are food scraps like fruits and vegetables.

In the winter, you’ll want to add more brown matter, which helps continue decomposition during the colder temperatures.

4. Use Less Green Materials

Green materials are nitrogen-rich materials and food waste, such as vegetables, fruits, fresh grass clippings, and coffee grounds. Try to minimize green materials, or shred them down.

Keeping the green matter small can help insulate the pile and evenly heat it. Composts move slower in the winter, and smaller pieces are easier to break down.

5. Don’t Turn It

There’s no need to turn your pile in the wintertime. Doing so can cause the decomposition process to go much slower. You want the compost pile to hold as much heat as possible, and turning it can cause that built-up heat to get lost.

With your own compost pile, you have access to homemade mulch and fertilizer. For more tips on getting started and caring for your compost pile, visit our Gardening Blog.