But, I have carefully planned these boxes, and I need a lot of compost for next year. Right now, I have a lot of leaves and grass clippings which would be a good start. But, the snow is coming soon. What happens if it freezes? Will it thaw and continue decomposing in the spring?
The cold will slow down the action of your pile and once the weather warms up it will revive. You may need to help it get started in the spring. I use composted manure, about two 40 lb bags, to help it along in the spring.
When you add grass clippings you need to watch it closely becuase the grass will get very hot. I usually mow my lawn and leave about half of the grass clippings on the lawn to dry out for about two days and then pick up the brown grass.
What I did was go to Lowe's and spend 50 bucks on a gorgeous plastic compost bin that's happily composting away. What a good ole boy told me, after he finished laughing at me, was to put my compostables in heavy black plastic bags and sprinkle in a bit of regular yeast to get it started. I haven't tried that, since the bin hasn't gotten full. I assume there's compost at the bottom, but I don't need it till spring so I haven't looked. There's little doors on the side to take it out.