Winter Composting at My Farm
Winter is the best time to cover garden beds with a rich layer of organic compost.
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I am able to make both organic compost and mulch. Mulch is the layer placed on top of the soil as a protective cover to suppress weed germination, retain moisture, insulate the soil, and reduce erosion, while compost is that nutrient filled “black gold” I use to feed all my plants. During the course of the year, my outdoor grounds crew amasses large amounts of organic debris - felled trees, branches, leaves, etc., but none of the material ever goes to waste. It is either repurposed quickly as milled lumber, or made into one of the two garden dressings.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Here’s Phurba driving the John Deere filled with nutrient rich compost made in the back fields of the farm. With a good, mild break from the snow, we decided it was the best time to start composting the beds.
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- The composted manure is placed in clumps and then a two to three inch layer is spread evenly throughout the ornamental garden beds.
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- It’s best to do this in winter when flowers are not in bloom and the crew can gingerly walk through without disturbing any growth.
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- Here is Wilmer composting the bed between my main greenhouse and gym building – it looks great already.
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- My compost piles include this dark organic matter made up of manure and biodegradable materials. Compost is ready to use after two years. During this time, it is mixed with water, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, which break down the organic matter.
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- The lighter brown pile on the left is leaves. Called leaf mold after cold composting, it is produced by the fungal breakdown of shrub and tree leaves.
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- This middle pile contains leaf material and composted manure, which is filled with nutrients.
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- We also store old logs – we use logs for various projects, but we also mill the logs, put them through the tub grinder or the chipper, or split and stack them for firewood. If I cannot save a tree, it is comforting to know I can reuse the wood left behind.
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- As the crew works around the farm, pruned barberry canes, branches and underbrush are all collected for the chipper – everything is returned to the earth, organically and efficiently.
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- The crew creates piles that are easily accessible for pick-up and chipping. “Cleaning” the woods allows us to reuse and repurpose a lot of natural materials – and it makes the area much prettier.
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- Here is Fernando picking up felled branches near the pond.
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- In spring, mulch or wood chips are used around all the tree pits. Depending on the size of the tree, tree pits can be three to six feet in diameter or even larger for very old, very large trunked specimens.
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- In spring, the boxwood beds are also top dressed with mulch – they always looks so well manicured.
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- If you recall, this past summer we had some of the wood put through a tub grinder. A tub grinder is able to grind logs and stumps to produce this finer mulching material.
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- This is our pile of fine mulching material – ready for use as top dressing around the farm.
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- Here is an area not yet covered with composted manure.
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- And here it is after – it takes some time to spread the compost nicely and evenly, but it looks so beautiful once an area is completed.
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- Healthy organisms in the compost will be active and produce steam even in winter. This rich compost is generating a lot of steam, but it is all safe, and a great sign of good, usable material.
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- This composted area is just outside my flower cutting garden.
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- Covering the garden beds with mulch or compost will also help deter weeds. Using these materials is a wonderful way to beautify the gardens and to give back to the earth.
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- This area is beside my Tenant House. Do you compost in winter? Let me know in the comments section – I love hearing from you and read all your responses every day.
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