To keep your compost pile cooking in the cold, just do the things you would do in warmer months: feed it, turn it and keep it moist. Here a few additional tips:
- The type of food that really gets compost cooking is green stuff that contains lots of nitrogen. During the spring and summer months grass clippings and garden refuse supply a lot of this material. In winter months the best source of nitrogen is probably kitchen scraps. If you don't have enough kitchen scraps, toss some blood meal on the pile. It's inexpensive, and only one dose will keep the compost pile active all winter.
- Turning the pile just once a month during winter will provide essential oxygen and help heat things up. Turning will also help in maintaining moisture. If regular turning isn't possible, then cover the entire compost pile with a thick sheet of clear plastic. Not only will it heat the compost pile up, it will also prevent rain from leaching all the nutrients out of the pile. Another option is to insulate the pile with a foot or so of hay or straw. An added bonus: the hay or straw will decompose and can be turned into the pile in early spring. It is also easier to pull back the straw to add other material during the winter than to remove the plastic.
The most important thing is don't stop composting because it is cold outside. The more compost produced during the winter, the more you'll have in spring.
