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Very cool! But I only achieved that compost temp in the summer in full sun. Sometimes I feel like we're living on different planets. lol
My summer compost bin never got this hot, but that's because I was just adding small amounts of prunings, weeds and kitchen scraps at a time. A whole backyard of shredded leaves is a much larger mass and surface area of material that's all equally fresh and breaking down simultaneously, so I guess it's able to build up more heat.
Looks like this was the bees last drink of nectar - from Nov 17. This is rappini flowers.
The brassica rapa family vegetables seem quite popular with bees, and are able to continue blooming several weeks past the first frost. The persistent cold of the past week has meant that they're done flowering now, but in milder areas/seasons they can keep going for a while, mine were blooming into December in Oakville on some years. And the bees seem like they're willing to come out of their hiding places to pollinate as long as its in the mid 40s or warmer, especially if there's some sun.
Also decided to pull up the radishes since they don't tolerate hard freezes/ground freezes as well as carrots and parsnips.
The China Rose radishes are just huge. Far bigger than the French Breakfast in my hand... Maybe they hybridized a bit with the daikon radish, but even my daikon radishes (on the left) aren't as big.
Got about 8-9 total that were ripe. I could have had around 20 per plant if they hadn't broken off when I was moving the vine inside (there was a large segment of vine that snapped). They all ripened within a ~12 day window.
Picked the parsnip in Oakville before the ground freezes.
That'll probably be basically the end of gardening there since the closing date is in April. I might get a bit of mache for salads before we close though especially if it's a mild winter there.
Broccoli is still in decent condition - I'm gonna leave it for now and see how it holds up, I have too many brassica greens to deal with anyways.
Some little radish seedlings that took too long to sprout in the fall to make proper roots, I guess I'll do a hardiness experiment with them too.
Picked the parsnip in Oakville before the ground freezes.
That'll probably be basically the end of gardening there since the closing date is in April. I might get a bit of mache for salads before we close though especially if it's a mild winter there.
Broccoli is still in decent condition - I'm gonna leave it for now and see how it holds up, I have too many brassica greens to deal with anyways.
Some little radish seedlings that took too long to sprout in the fall to make proper roots, I guess I'll do a hardiness experiment with them too.
Not surprised something is still going there. My soil temp was in the low 40s yesterday. Back down to Upper 30s today. I bet your getting the itch to start a new season.
Hey Cam where is that picture of your wood stove with the roaring fire. I think most of the country could look at that these days. It is gently snowing here but it is 34 degrees so it will not stick.
Brrrr - I had to move my garden to make room for a propane tank. Once it warms up from the sub zero temperatures I will redo it. Being a raised garden with cinder blocks makes this doable. I already bought more bags of garden soil to mix in with my existing garden soil. Right now it is 12 degrees. Last year I mixed in some 13-13-13 fertilizer in early spring. If I can get the garden rebuilt in time I will do it again.
AWESOME! I dont think my leaves broke down enough but I'm curious what the temp is in the pile.
Edit: Just checked... Had to make a hole
41.9°F. Guess nothing is composting. lol. I bet you if it was actual soil instead of leaves and if there was a snowpack it would be double that temp
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I only achieved that compost temp in the summer in full sun. 
Sometimes I feel like we're living on different planets. lol
