This awesome weather and the fact that my compost bin is defrosted from the frozen tundra we like to call "Minnesnowta." I can start using it again! There's hardly a trace of winter left in my backyard aside from this one last stubborn pile of snow refusing to melt.
I worked really hard on my pile last year and I'm excited to use the 52 gallons of compost I've generated in my flower pots and beds when I plant in a few weeks. The rich black dirt is a product of six months of kitchen food scraps, leaves and grass clippings. The last thing to hit the pile before winter were our Halloween pumpkins.
People say you can compost all year round, but I've found it doesn't work very well in Minnesota winters so I stop contributing to my bin during the months of October - April. The food doesn't break down in the pile because it's too cold to heat up and decompose and my circular bin actually freezes into place by the time Old Man Winter bears down on us. I simply leave my compost as is during those months and then scoop out the rich soil in the springtime when I need it anyway. It also leaves me with an empty bin to use all summer long.
Hooray for springtime!
No comments:
Post a Comment