Not sure where you live, but I'm in Southern California (no snow) and have a Worm Factory. I've had it going now for almost two years. The worms slow down during the winter, but seem to have made it again this year so far.

I live in Canada, so we tend to have alot of snow (though not much so far this winter season) and frigid temperatures.

It would nice to know if outside composting using worms is possible...

If you haven't already, you should check out the weblog I've linked to below. The guy that writes it lives in Canada and does a lot of experimentation with cold weather worm composting. You will most likely need significant insulation -- I don't think worms in a Worm Factory would survive where I live (in Maryland zone 7), let alone where you are!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Red Worm Composting

mystic, it's definitely possible, but it requires some extra effort. It also looks like it needs to be fairly large scale - small bins will just freeze. Scroll down the site katxena linked and look on the left side for the "Winter Composting" category. Bentley's got 16 (and counting) blog posts on the subject.

Below is a link to another cold weather worm farmer. Click on the "We are growing" tab on the left, then scroll to the bottom of the page to see their latest worm bin covered in snow.

Good luck.

Andrew

Here is a link that might be useful: Outdoor worm bins in a cold climate

Thanks for the link!
Will definitely look them over the weekend! :)

I live in Ont. A few years ago when I was previously married and had a house, my then-hubby built a plywood box around my bin. It was right against the house. We lined the plywood with insulation and straw between the plywood and the bin.
On the top, we put 2 window panes on an angle so the snow wouldn't stay on and on sunny days, it would be some warmth.

Granted, I didn't feed them much during the winter. I gave them lots of food and lots and lots of whole leaves to tie them over the winter.

In the spring, we dismantled the wood and the worms had all survived, and I was in business again. I'm sure I could have composted all winter, to tell you the truth, I never thought of it, back then.