Compost piles generate a fair amount of heat.
Some composters record temperatures in excess of 160°F in a fast compost pile.
However, the cold days of winter can force the heat to drop and the composting action to stop.
How then, might one keep a pile active over winter? Generally we think of compost piles needing food, air and moisture but they also require heat.
If the temperature drops too much the bodily functions of the microorganisms that accomplish the composting work simply stop.
Some of the creatures grow dormant and others freeze, but they all stop.
Keeping a pile going in winter means keeping up the heat.
One method is to build a pile all at once and keep it insulated.
A pile three feet high, wide and deep is sufficient to develop the necessary heat but it must be retained by means of insulation.
At the same time air must be allowed to approach the pile so solid insulation is not feasible.
A layer of leaves two or three feet thick has been found to work as has building the pile surrounded by bales of hay.
Another method is to build the pile indoors.
For this a garage heated enough to prevent freezing should work well.
The pile will need to be turned at regular intervals of about three days to prevent ii going anaerobic and producing unseemly odors.
One of the older methods of winter composting was to bury the pile.
At a depth of two feet the ground in most areas of the world will maintain a temperature of about 42°F, sufficiently warm for compost to work.
In fact, in former days a compost pile would be built like this in early spring when snow was still on the ground.
A mix of spoiled hay and manure from winter bedding would be added and the pile topped with earth.
After about a week when the compost was well started and heat began to build, seeds would be planted in the bed and a glass cover mounted over it.
The hot bed would produce seedlings for the spring garden.
I tend to be more of a lazy gardener.
Since I have little use for compost in the winter, I let material for the spring pile accumulate and freeze out of doors.
The last pile of the fall or early winter freezes solid although I try to have it as finished a compost as possible before that happens.
In spring as it gradually thaws I gradually add it to the garden beds and begin a pile with the winter accumulation.
Winter does not have to mean an end to composting and anything done for the compost in the winter is a good way to dream of the spring garden.