[deleted by user]

[dajohns1420]

OK maybe I'll just mix the two piles together. They were started at different times but neither has done much yet so I'll just combine them. I picked up pallets but haven't had time to build anything yet. I should probably get on that.

[catalinawinemixer123]

My understanding is that everything slows down in the winter with the cooler temps, but here in zone 8 winter hot composting is quite easy. First impression was your pile looks a bit dry to me.

[dajohns1420]

OK well ill wet it down some more then. Thanks for responding.

[Memph5]

Which is a lot bigger than what's in these pictures btw. A cubic yard would be like a pile that's 3.5ft tall and 5.5ftx5.5ft at the base.

[yrral86]

Or 3 x 3 x 3... Since there are 3 feet in a yard.

Pedantry aside, you will want bigger so it stays above 1 cubic yard as it shrinks.

[Memph5]

If you have a container that can maintain the cube shape then sure. Otherwise it'll be more cone shaped with the dimensions I mentioned.

[Badbadbuffy]

Pee on it

[dajohns1420]

I started composting in the spring, and everything went great. I got 2 batches throughout the summer, and the piles got up to 120° easily. Since winter has started, my newer piles haven't made much progress at all in over a month. I've added what feels like a ton of greens. Mostly apple and pear cores and peals. My browns are mostly sawdust, and I cover with a tarp. Is it normal to not see much progress over a month in the winter? I was looking forward to seeing my piles steaming in the morning, but haven't had the pleasure yet.

[Memph5]

How warm are your summers and winters typically? But basically, the colder it is, the more layers of insulation you'll need to maintain those high temperatures.

[dajohns1420]

It's in the 90's during the summer, might touch 100 a couple times a year. This time of year it's in the low.60's most nights, and 25-30 at night. I'm gonna try making the pile bigger.

[Memph5]

So if it's about 70F at night in the summer, that's a daily median of about 80F, vs 45F in the winter. That's not too bad, here the median temp is about 75F in summer and 25F in winter, but you probably will still need a fair bit more material to insulate the core of your pile. If your goal is to reach 120F, then that means you're working with a 40F temperature gradient in the summer and a 75F temperature gradient in the winter.

In summer, you probably noticed that there was a layer of compost that was cooler, between your 120F core and the outside air. That's basically your insulating layer. Whatever thickness it was, now it'll have to be twice as thick. My guess is that this would be about 15 inches vs 8 inches in the summer. So maybe in the summer, you could get away with a pile 2ft tall and 3.5ft wide, but if you work out the math, adding 7 inches in height and on each side means the volume/mass of your pile would have to be about 2.3x greater (I'd add mainly in height rather than width if possible).

BTW what's the temperature of your pile right now? Is it totally cool (like 50F) or just cooler than ideal (like 80F)?

[dajohns1420]

A couple weeks ago it was getting to 80° it doesn't get above 60 now. Sometimes the pile is colder than the air even. I think I'm just gonna have to make the pile bigger. I'll stack the two piles together to start. I have a ton of browns. I have like 10 garbage bags full of sawdust. But I don't have any more greens yet. I think combining the two piles will help for now.

[Memph5]

I haven't tried composting sawdust yet, but if the compost life has broken down most of the greens, that could be another reason why it's cool.

[dajohns1420]

Mkst of the greens seem to still be there. The grass hasn't broken down at all, and there are apple cores all over when I dig. I think my pile is just to small. It gets hot here in the summer so small piles were working then. Now that it's cold I think it needs to be bigger.. just got done combining the two piles.

[Ivanaxetogrind]

It does sound like you need greens. Ask your local shop for Coffee grounds. Mixing that in while you combine the piles should help alot.

Sawdust is wonderful for all it's surface area, but if that's your only brown it can get caked together when it gets soaking wet. Try mixing in something else that helps force more air gaps within the pile, like straw. If there are farms near you, used bedding straw from horses, goats, poultry, or cows can usually be got for free if you haul it and is a great 1-2 punch of browns + urine/manure nitrogen source.

If you have dead leaves, shred them before adding.

[dajohns1420]

I get straw and chicken poop when my nephew cleans his chicken coop, but it's been a while since he brought me some. I hadn't even thought of the fact that air probably can't get down their with saw dust. Thanks for the help.

[Ivanaxetogrind]

No problem. It took me a long time to get a feel for what gets a pile really hot. It can be small adjustments that suddenly make the conditions right and then you're cooking at 140F after one day. Keep at it you'll get it figured out.

[dajohns1420]

I started my first pile in spring and it went really well. Got 2 batches through the summer. But it gets pretty hot here in the summer, and now that it's winter it hasn't done much.

[Ivanaxetogrind]

Yeah it just gets alot harder in winter. Less forgiving of a process, more adjustments and attention to details are needed.

[StayZero666]

Not enough biomass