Just after Thanksgiving I ordered a compost tumbler and chatted-up my intention to fill it through the holidays and winter in Begin a New Routine This Holiday Season: Composting. Everything was going well—I was adding equal parts brown and green matter, just as the instructions advised—until this week when my compost froze...
I hadn't thought about it, but now that I have, my compost freezing seems absolutely obvious. (Please no comments about my lack of foresight. Thanks!)
So, I called Envirocycle just to be told this is completely normal (duh on me!) and to hang tight. I was advised to not tumble the unit, which is how I discovered it was frozen to begin with—tumbling the unit nearly knocked me to the ground.
I learned three things from the Envirocycle representative: the center of the compost is warm and is still decomposing; I can continue to add food scraps and leaves; the compost's frozen state would actually help decompose the matter faster once warmer weather arrives.
The adventure continues with more updates to come.
If you have experience with frozen compost, please chime in. Tell us your story below!
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Yes, frozen compost ... same advice here just wait it out. Also, my husband is vermiposting and he has constructed a lovely little hut for his worms and their condo o' scraps so they don't freeze out in the garage. I think he's using a heating pad to help them out. Come spring I expect to hear a chorus of "Daddy!" when he unwraps them. So proud.
I wondered about this. I want to start a compost in the city where I go to school. At home (in the country) we have a huge compost so it doesnt matter if it freezes solid we could never fill it in 5 months-ish of below freezing temperatures. Good to know that it still composts in winter! :)
You'll find that once things defrost in Spring things will decompose FAST.
Yeah, this is why I don't like tumblers, they're not big enough to go thermophilic and generate their own heat to keep from freezing.
The water in the cells expanding when freezing and bursting cell wall. This mechanical breakdown of the matter should speed things up.
Here is an experiment. Freeze your vege waste before putting it on your compost pile. In this case freezer burn or rough treatment is your friend. An idea
Compost piles generate a lot of heat. If the microbes are going strong, they will heat a compost pile to 120F or more, and in the winter, the core of the pile should never freeze. One problem with using bins like the one above is that they are so insulated to prevent an odor from escaping, that beneficial bacteria can't get in. We have an outdoor pile in Chicago right now, in just a wooden frame surrounded by hardware mesh, and you can stick a pitchfork into it without a problem. If your pile isn't getting very hot, it's going to take forever to break down.
The dark color and insulation may make up for the lack of size, usually unprotected ones are about 3' x 3' so the center keeps warm. If your bin hasn't seemed to be heating itself from within, you can add microbes. (A sample from a friend's healthy compost heap has the perks of being free, something like compost plus would probably work too.)
Since I compost with worms outside, it is important for me to keep my compost from freezing. I add a higher concentration of "Green" refuse (mostly coffee grounds) to keep the internal temperature up.
My compost also froze in my Sun Mar composter but now that it is spring it seems to be more composted from freezing and it is working great. I just bought a Compostumbler. I am very happy with it and it holds a lot of kitchen and garden scraps for composting.