Hello all! If I seem "new" it's because I joined just to ask this question! Been lurking for several months and this community just seems filled to the brim with knowledgeable, nice people! Can't wait to start commenting on all the threads I've been reading.
But now - to the point of the question. I live in an urban area where some neighbors have had their outdoor compost piles called in to health officials for attracting "pests." My neighbors are close enough to me to directly watch my composting process, so I do have to be a bit careful. I want conversations to be great eye-openers to the benefits of composting, instead of complaint-generators! To this end, I've been using a "2 stage" composting system.
1. All my kitchen scraps go into a turnable bin composter directly outside my kitchen door. I mix them with dried leaves to get a good C:N ratio. This bin is extremely pest-proof, and, correctly managed, doesn't smell at all. No complaints so far!
2. Once they've broken down past the point of looking like kitchen scraps, but not quite to "soil" status, I remove them from the bin and add them into 2 chicken wire towers along my back fence, where I also place most of my yard waste throughout the year.
The problem? Living in zone 6b, we've gotten our first couple of hard freezes, and the compost tumbler has cooled down significantly. I don't think it's going to make it through the winter, even on the south side of the house, on a black driveway, and rotated regularly. The chicken wire towers, by contrast, remain warm and full of worms/other great stuff - I believe those will overwinter just fine. So - ideas for managing my kitchen scraps over the winter? We are trying to have a zero waste house and this is a priority for me. Also, should I empty my compost tumbler and store it in the garage? Our winters can be somewhat brutal, but if there's any way to help it keep going through the winter I'd try it!
