Although mulching is perhaps the slowest method of cold composting, it offers many benefits. It discourages weeds, protects soil from compacting or eroding, and keeps the roots of plants cool and moist in hot weather and insulated in the winter.

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What is Rotation Trenching?

Rotation trenching, often used by British gardeners, is a simple three-year rotation of crop, composting trench, and path. Instead of burying compost material in separate holes as done in postholing, rotation trenching involves digging a long pit (usually between rows in a garden) to do your cold composting via soil incorporation.

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What Is Soil Incorporation?

Cold Composting by soil incorporation is probably the simplest method of composting. Food and yard wastes are finely chopped, mixed with soil, and buried 200 cm (8 inches) or deeper in the earth.

Depending on soil temperature, bacterial activity, and the carbon content of the wastes, decomposition via soil incorporation, a method of cold composting, will take from one month to a year.

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When Should One Choose Cold Composting vs Hot Composting?

Cold composting is a great alternative if you cannot accumulate enough organic waste all at once to create a hot compost pile, or if you aren’t interested in the physical task of turning a compost pile.. or if you have plenty of space and don’t need the compost in a hurry. You don’t need much to start the process of cold composting. The cold compost pile builds gradually as materials come to hand.

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