Last winter was my first time composting and to my surprise the pile never froze completely solid and it gets no sun in the winter being to the north side of a six foot fence. I'm guessing that going into the winter with a fairly good size pile helps. Even if it was totally frozen I would keep adding to it. There might be somethings I might not add to the top of a frozen pile during the cold months that would feed rodents. My garden seems to have a few spots on the north side of my yard that the soil usually doesn't freeze and I will bury some stuff. I've also kept a trash can in the yard that I can place scraps into during the cold months so I don't have to trudge through the snow to get to the pile.

I remember reading about the biological process of the various organisms in a compost pile. I wasn't reading for that purpose so I did not intentionally "study". What I gathered from the reading is: There are many different organisms that work the pile. Each organism thrives at a different temperature range. They're all good. And it explained, to me, why a long-composting pile ... like that which I find along my fence line where leaves, dead plant matter and grass clippings gather unhindered is so vitally rich in nutrients for the plants. (I dug this up and used it in my planter. Best soil I have.) It read that most the organisms don't die in colder (or hotter) temperatures, but they either slow down or move on to another area that is more suitable. Quite fascinating. The reading helped me understand one of the major reasons why turning too frequently hinders composting. When doing so, I'm moving the organisms to a spot they cannot thrive. It's like removing the plate in front of my children at the dinner table and hiding it. It takes time for them to find it, again. This is telling me that I cannot make the perfect compost pile, only nature can. All I can do is try to help. Because of this reading, I deliberately placed some compost materials along that fence line where these organisms exist naturally giving them more to eat. Then, I left it alone. Most of us are more interested with the type of organisms that break down in near-perfect environment with higher temperatures because it composts fast and because these quickly destroy bad things like disease. If you leave any compost alone, in time it will become rich and healthy. But it can take a long time. By "long time" I'm saying at least two years. I'm like most. Don't have time to wait. (I play it safe and put any known diseased stuff off the property.) I'm not well versed in plant disease pathogens. Likely, I'll end up throwing some bad stuff in the pile without realizing it until later. If that happens I'll know to just leave it alone ... for a long time ... while starting another pile somewhere else. Still, the rich nutrient-dense material from good compost is designed to make plants withstand disease. That's why I go organic. Some things ya just can't control. Instead, I want healthy plants who can fight for themselves. These are why "any compost is good". Now, if I can just grow a garden as well as building some composts.....

"Unlike my former husband, may he rest in peace, whom I had to hold a gun to his head to get him to visit the pile." I must tell you, that sentence is producing a rather odd mental image LOL. Everything's totally froze here, but I'm planning to check out the pile later. Need to empty the compost bucket again plus have used cat litter....should be interesting trying to get back to the house from where the pile is located. I'll bet I could slide all the way back. The garden, in fact the property and the entire street, slope down, ending at a creek way down in the park. Driving is interesting: the road is a dead end, one-way deal with culverts on either side. In fact, last night some people got lost, came down our road, and got stuck halfway into a frozen-solid culvert trying to get back out. Last year, one of our contractors couldn't get into the drive. Instead of successfully making the turn, he ended up sliding all the way down to the house at the end of the road, where he then got stuck. So today, if there's cars trying to go both ways, doing the usual -- which is pulling way over right to the edge of a culvert -- might prove interesting. But those are stories for another forum - probably the one on bog gardens, since I'm pretty sure there are underground streams here, all sloping down to the pond. Even now, with the temp. at 19 degrees, I see lines of bright green grass, where the ice and snow are probably semi-melted.

Yes I wanted more opinions from others in So Cal and mediteranian climates as to their specific experiences were with PIG plants. I've had good experiences with Aloe during the winter just planted directly into the ground from cuttings. Also a lot of jade crasula plants straight PIG I haven't had much experience with echeveria, aeoniums, or agaves PIG. I'd assume the echeveria and agaves I should wait til late spring to plant? Aeoniums are winter growers I think. Couldn't I just plant them directly in the ground now? Has anyone had personal experience in a mediterranian climte with aeoniums? More specific is better, as I have a limitted amount of cuttings and not enough plants. I would be devastated if I just tested it myself by planting a bunch of the aeoniums I've been growing and then the cuttings just die Yes that was me before, I turned my mom's yard into a succulent garden. I'm also now working on a rental house of mine and I'm just trying to plant cuttings PIG in ground just so theirs a ground cover that's low maintenence, especially in areas without a lot of sprinklers