Autumn and Winter Composting Tips
Submitted by allgreen on Mon, 11/26/2007 - 08:31
If you're a keen gardener or just doing all those good things that make up the green lifestyle, then you've probably got a compost bin in your back garden.
At this time of year the decomposition process slows down due to the cold and wet conditions, so here are a few autumn & winter composting tips to keep your composting process healthy during the colder months.
- Use a gardening fork to turn the material over every week to ensure oxygen gets into the compost pile.
- Place a layer of insulation on the top of the compost pile and inside the compost bin itself; sheets of cardboard, and old piece of carpet or reuse old bubble wrap are good insulators.
- Wrap the compost bin with insulation on the outside; again you can recycle and reuse that old bubble wrap packing, the carpets you were going to throw out or big sheets of cardboard that were destined for the recycle bin. Bear in mind it's going to be wet so the cardboard would need a layer of carpet or bubble wrap over it. Tie the whole outer insulation with strong twine. Alternatively you could use hay bales to insulate your composter.
- You might occasionally want to pee on your compost heap. A healthy dose of human urine is high in nitrogen and good for your decomposition process.
- If the composting process slows down too much you may need to keep your kitchen scraps out of the outdoor composter and consider using an kitchen composting bin.