Ha! It's true. I'd been meaning to post that our bin was almost full to the brim and frozen solid (granted, there's a fair bit of snow that's gotten in there as I'm too lazy to clear the lid). We had a week of slightly above zero temps, in which the bin settled somewhat - but not very much. Still shy of critical. Whatever we can that might be of interest to birds gets put out for them (and man, are the birds active this year).

There's a goodly amount of cardboard in there including egg cartons and various boxes from christmas/new year's etc. So I know from experience it will shrink substantially once temperatures get above freezing for an extended period.

I have 'bin full' anxiety every winter but seems more full this year, even though it's not been a particularly cold one. I guess with covid there's more of us in full-time residency, still doesn't seem a sufficient explanation.

(The skating and crosscountry skiing are great, though)

My compost fork is solidly frozen in the top 6 inches of coffee grounds, orange peels, cantaloupe rinds, slimy celery, and egg shells. I'll probably be able to pry it out by April.

Coffee grounds I just spread in the yard. Don't know when it'll warm up and settle, but definitely not in the next week or so.

I learned a new use for wood ash. Putting in the coop for chickens to use for baths!

I think I knew that. I gave mine some peat moss once, and they liked that.

My compost bin is kind of frozen... but the deer are still nibbling off it. Woke up this morning to a whole jamboree worth of deer tracks in the snow.

I'd kind of like to skate, but I don't trust my ponds. The big one has taken a couple of lives over the years, it's a tricky of frozen or not. The shallow pond that sometimes freezes up nice also is cluttered with plants, lol. And the deep one is purported to have swallowed the equipment used to dig it before it started filling, sigh. Cut out of peat bog and sand pits and mucky wetlands... just nope. Stuff don't freeze up good and trustworthy enough.

Couple days ago, watched a little deer cross the big pond with my breath held till it got safe across- and was actually thankful for the cold spell we have been having.

If a gardening forum goes quiet during a pandemic, when the ground is unworkable, and people are home-bound, and bored, and their compost is a frozen mound in the yard, well that's a sad state of affairs.

I'm trying to keep us from exhuming 13-year-old threads. You could help. What's happening in your neck of the woods?

I don't mean to rub it in.... oh, OK, maybe just a little bit :)

This is happening here. We got 20 inches of snow in 12 days and now lows will hit -10F.

tj

Oh, no, tj. I was feeling a little glum seeing flora's and JoJo's pictures (I wasn't expecting green grass), but you cheered me right up! What a nightmare you've got going on!

Well, it has been worse in past years. :-)

tj

My neck of the woods is like tsugajunkie - snow piled up on just about every surface, and -20C and below. On the positive side, sunny and no snow melt/drip/ice cycle - oh do I hate having to break ice off the steps. The bin is just on the edge of full and frozen solid - but on the other hand, no fruit flies.

A question for others: what's your experience with composting clothing? Obviously just the natural fibres, of course. We've lately been tossing in some odds and ends - mainly clearing out the sock drawers, some bits of denim from time to time. I haven't done much of this in past, wondering how quickly and completely they break down in compost. Won't matter much to me really (will likely just toss them back in the pile or bury), but still curious.

I've composted wools, cottons, silks, feather pillows, and even a couple of mink coats. I've also thrown old clothes, blankets and sheets down for mulch, which I then covered with something pretty. I didn't dare compost my father's red wool hunting shirts because I wondered what the 1950 dye was.

Often the threads don't decompose and, sometimes, I've had all the warp threads disintegrate, but non of the weft or vice versa. These polyester threads get picked out. Most stuff is gone in a year or two.

Well so far I try to use things for rags and clean-up first, or to some recycling facilities that claim to use textiles. (Charity for stuff that's still usable of course). But seems there's always some odd socks and stuff that just cry out to be tossed in the pile. Got a bunch of 'bamboo' socks that I hate, those'll go in the pile.

The cosmic sound of ice cracking.....

Wow! That's some beautiful ice! I hear ice noises at night, although what we usually hear are the ones that sound like someone is bending a saw or aliens have landed. Those noises are from what we call the lake "building ice". They're more eerie than the cracking.

I mostly lost my skating ice to the last snow.

I had some leaves delivered last Fall. I've been spreading them as a mulch since then. My wheelbarrow has more miles on it than my truck. ;-)

Oh yes, leaves... I sort of remember those...

Back east I was known in the neighborhood as the crazy person wandering the streets with a yellow wheelbarrow collecting other people's leaves all through the fall. Even raking other people's yards just so I could get my hands on their leaves... Is there a way to have some shipped over here? 😁

MIKE!! Wowser!! That's beautiful!

It was 20 cubic yards. It's been keeping me busy. The leaves are on top of composted woodchips. A tree trimmer parked his truck and chipper at my place because the HOA wouldn't allow him to park it at his house. At the end of the day I got the chips. He only did tree work on the weekends. He had a day job during the week. This lasted several years. He's retired now. Annpat, nice to see a fellow compost lover. :-)

Composting consumes my autumns.

I need to "plan" each late Fall to have enough space in my compost bins to allow for collecting compostable materials during the coldest winter months as with below zero weather everything in the bins freeze solid and so fill much faster than is the case during the warmer weather months.

True of course that it's much slower, and I do try to leave some space. But I don't find my pile freezes fully - usually - until quite cold, like -10C or minus five. And it will usually settle and levels drop a fair bit throughout the winter, even when cold - although granted once frozen it can take a while to thaw (like an extended thaw).

Anyway, I find I don't really have to think about it usually, but whatever combination of cold and more input (more time at home due to covid? more cardboard?), this year it's right at the edge and has been for a while.

Currently in an extended minus 20c snap for at least another week, likely two, so we'll be at the edge.

Had a temperature swing that went from -28C one night to plus six two days later, last week or the week before. Those few days of moderate warming let the pile settle a bit to fit some household leavings in, and then back to mid teens (minus, celsius) today and several more days of minus 20s expected. Still a couple feet or more of snow on most roofs and in the yard. When we get a warm snap (April? May at this rate?) it'll be fun to manage the snowmelt. Room in the bin is going to be a challenge for a while, it looks like.

Those few days of moderate warming let the pile settle a bit to fit some household leavings in,

I know exactly what you are talking about. By experience I now know how much empty composter must be available in the Fall to allow me to fit all winter materials up to the warm weather in later spring. (When there is any warm spell in the late winter and early spring I try to remember to use a sharp shovel to "pound down" the compost pile hoping to create a little more room!)