Compost during winter

ScissortailFlycatcher

Hey, don't usually post here but I am planning my garden for next year and really want to use a composter. I've had one before, but it was in southern California and we didn't have to worry about freezing.

This will be in Ohio, so what do you do with the compost over the winter? Do you just put all the compost in your garden and work it in before it snows and so the compost is empty? Thanks!

Jen&Joe06

I leave it in the composter. It continues to break down over the winter (and I continue to add to it).

I live in Canada.

littlemissflip

I leave my compost (kitchen + yard waste) in the composter over the winter, but I have to stop adding new material to it.  Our yard is wooded and very shady, so our compost process is sloooow.  We just don't get enough sun to generate enough heat to break down the compost fast enough to continue adding to it through the winter. Three-season composting is all we can manage in our yard.

ScissortailFlycatcher

Thanks ladies!

I'm glad I won't have to try and empty it before winter.

SuperGreen

Jen&Joe06:

I leave it in the composter. It continues to break down over the winter (and I continue to add to it).

Ditto this.  The freeze & thaw cycles help break stuff down, but not nearly as quickly as the heat over the summer.  You don't need to empty it.  I live in VA.

kelbrian

We have two bins. When one gets full, we keep shoveling it and letting it break down and just use the other one to add food scraps to.