Hi,
Can I start composting kitchen scraps even though the temps are really low? Even if the scraps won't begin to decompose for a while (it's been below freezing for a while), is there any harm? Will things break down on their own once the thaw comes?
Thanks, Brennan
Yep. Nope. Yep.
I never had any problem doing that. I don't compost meat or egg shells, but do compost plants, coffee grounds and lint. No smell, and as you suspect, it composts very slowly or not at all until the spring comes and then it's business as usual.
and keeping the compost in a black container, in full sun, will hasten the freeze-thaw cycle, as well as raise temperatures within the container. I have multiple tires in the ravines around here that I plan to use as composters, as soon as I can safely get them up out of the ravines.
Linda H.
The freeze-thaw cycle is really what does it. I laugh at people who think orange peels can not be composted. A few cycles and they are set to go. Winter kitchen scraps are usually fully composted by May in Michigan.
SNIP
As I understand it, the objection to citrus peel is not that it won't compost, but that the pesticides used on it create a problem later, or affect your degree of organicness. At least that's the feeling in Europe, I don't know about US.
I have to admit I've added it on occasion and no problems that I know of.
Steve
You can neutralize DDT and PCB's in the compost cycle. Almost anything else, too. (the weirder the 'ingredients', the longer the cycle ... as much as 3+ years.)
In the quest for "organic-ness" I think it's important to realize that it is unrealistic to expect the level of chemicals in the finished produce to be below the ambient levels.
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