trying to understand composting

[lambs.are.cute]

Hi,

I've always composted by just throwing what ever into a pile and moving it when I needed the compost from the bottom. For some reason this isn't working this winter.

Heres what I have in the pile:

sheep manure in straw and/or hay
chicken manure in cedar shavings and/or newspaper
horse manure in nothing and sometimes pine shavings

right now the whole pile is frozen solid (I can walk to the top) so is it doing anything? I can rake up some leaves to add. Most of my kitchen scraps goes to the chickens and sheep. So what should I do?

[geo in mi]

You may get some decomposition going on in the center of the pile, but if the whole pile is frozen, don't expect much until warm weather comes. You may be also putting already frozen manure from the stalls into it, too. A pile of anything will eventually compost, but there are methods of doing it to make it faster and heat up to kill fly larvae and weed seeds. Here's one website from a Google search: "composting manure" that you might get some ideas from:http://www.equisearch.com/horses_car.../eqcompost496/

geo

[Cabin Fever]

Sometimes piles are so small that they do not create enough heat to counteract the cold forces of winter, consequently they freeze solid.

Some composters will cover (read: insulate) their piles in the fall with a thick layer of leaves or finished compost to keep the centers of the piles warm and active.

[Windy in Kansas]

There has to be a balance of carbon/nitrogen in the right ratio for a compost pile to work efficiently, i.e. fast. Also needed is more moisture than many people think, and also it needs air.

The smaller/finer the material the faster it will compost. That is why many choose to run material through a chipper/shredder.

A pile also has to be large enough to maintain enough heat to work properly.

The linked chart shows some ratios of various components often used. http://www.composting101.com/c-n-ratio.html

I always through a few shovelfuls of dirt into my pile in order to add some bacteria, etc.

Often I have only carbon products so simply use chemical fertilizers to acquire the needed nitrogen. Works fine.

[Sgt.Sausage]

Just wait 'til spring. It'll start up again when everything thaws. Sometimes mine keep working through the winter. Sometimes they don't. I don't really sweat it either way.

[LonelyNorthwind]

Mine freezes too but I just keep piling the scraps on throughout the winter. I start each fall with about 2 feet of fresh manuer in the bottom for heat so it does keep working 'til winter brings a really deep freeze. Come spring I stir it all up and wheelbarrow it to the garden spots, uncomposted veggies & all. They eventually compost even right in the garden.