Compost and Seasons
Compost heaps function at their peak efficiency in the summer. All of the organisms that break down
your materials thive in heat. Altough spring is not as warm it is a wonderful time to start your composting
efforts. This will give you all spring, summer, and fall to complete a couple or three batches. Heat containment
may be a minor issue in the fall for some northern locations, so it may be necessary to insulate your compost heap if fall is
really cold in your area.
As the leaves start to come down in the autumn, you have an immense supply of compost material just begging to be
utilized. However, if you want to keep your C/N ratio balanced all year long, you may need to store leaves in their own
seperate coverted bin to use in other seasons. Some decomposition will occur over the winter but that will only add to the
effectiveness of your compost heaps later. In some situations, you may even get a batch of leaf mold. A 4x4x4 bin can store
up to 100 bags of leaves year round.
These same leaves can also fuel a batch of your compost well through the winter. Heat retention is an absolute for compost creation, so insulating your heap or bin will be necessary especially in northern climates. You can use a tarp hay bails on top or whatever you have that holds heat. Just make sure that if your insulator is biologic in nature, seperate it in some way from your compost heap so that it doesn't decompose as well. A tarp performs this task well. Keeping your compost heap as large as possible in the winter will help as well. The larger the heat, the better it will retain heat on its own.