I you search "compost Nutrients" or "compost NPK", you'll find most information reports very little nutrient levels in compost. It is really more of a soil ammendment than a fertilizer. But the nutrients that it comtains aren't limited to NPK, it also contains micronutrients and minerals.

Another quality is it's ability form aggregates and hold nutrients in soil for a long time. It drains well but also holds moisture well. Magic.

Some folks let their compost mature and sit a year. When mine is reasonably broken down, I spread it.

Karen

I dig some compost into the soil in the fall, and add more in the spring. Due to the neighbors trees, I have a limited space to grow my tomatoes, and I try to reduce wilts and blights with compost as mulch also.

Accurate info is a bit lacking on some aspects of compost, but I've read that it takes months to a year or two to fully benefit the plants.

Compost is loaded with nutrients, they just are not soluble so soil tests of compost will not show them. Spreading compost on your garden in the fall is a really good idea, and many of us do that, so that the soil bacteria have the time necessary to start to move that compost into the soil before you plant in the spring. Waiting until spring to spread your compost over the garden means that the nutrients in that compost will not be ready for your plants for some time, maybe not until after they have been harvested.
The best time to prepare your garden for planting next spring is this fall.

My guess is that the effects and benefits vary with different climates, and you don't give any information about your climate, but in general it would not be a bad thing.

I use compost mostly as a mulch and I put it out year round, when I have the compost or the time. I tend to put more out spring and fall when I have been rearranging beds and need to renew the mulch because I disturbed or dug in the old mulch.

Some of the benefits of compost mulching in the fall in this climate are suppressing winter weeds and reducing soil compaction due to winter rains.

Another benefit to putting the compost on your garden in the winter is that you probably don't have much else to do in the garden in the winter :-). Unless you live somewhere subtropical, that is. Or have a greenhouse.

The main reason to spread compost in the fall is to make room in the pile for the leaves that will be falling in October and November.

Seriously - if I have something I can spread on a day in winter that isn't too cold/wet to be outside, I spread it. Winter is a good time to spread fresh manure, too - no flies, no smell, no worries about whether some plant is gonna get "burned".

Spreading compost in the fall is good. Spreading compost when you have it available is also good. Spreading compost when you have the time is good. Spreading compost when you need to empty the bin is good. Ok, sounds like it's all good!

Here is a link that might be useful: www.TCLynx.com