It was quite fortuitous that I got excited after seeing the resident rodent had been in the dakek compost bin over the Christmas period. I’d been waiting for this to happen, so that I could get on with building another bed near the biggest apple tree.
After putting down a thick wadge of newspaper from my kindly neighbour across the road, I proceeded to unload the compost that the rodent had pushed to the bottom of the bin. Only, I was in for a disappointment: it had not done the thorough job I’d been expecting, so I ended up digging into the pile, which was a quite compacted. In spite of it being just one degree above freezing, I therefore got warm enough to take my fleecy pullover off.
Then a brown creature was seen bombing away from the bin. It must have used the back entrance it has dug for itself. At least I didn’t get quite the shock I had when last in there! In other words, there wasn’t a scream.
There also wasn’t quite enough compost to cover the newspaper. But there is a full bin of compost in another bin, so I’ll dig into that on a future occasion.
If only Mr or Mrs Rodent could be deployed to the Green Johanna. The compost in here is going down but it is a battle to create space before the next shipment of food waste arrives from one of my donors. Which happened again this lunchtime.
Anyway, by ShareWaste.com’s calculations, that’s another 100 km’s motoring ‘offset’. Not that I intend to use this offset but in this time when public transport is a no-no, it does make me feel better about needing to use the car more.
I had never encountered any rodents in our composter, but my husband came in one day and mentioned startling one. Since then I’ve now seen two. They’ve chewed an apple-sized hole in the back of the bin for easy access and they have a nest under the raised planter which I inadvertently found with my foot. Tessa spends the early evenings sitting on the bin, but she can’t get inside. It’s become quite an active corner of the garden. Isn’t it amazing that you can turn brown leaves and scrap food into rich nutrients for the garden? Good for you for getting out there in the cold, Helen. You’ve shown such dedication to your garden all these years.
I guess because it’s warmer where you are they don’t need the shelter as much but I’m sure compost bins are still a comfortable place for a nest!
I’m so happy to have the garden, Alys. If nothing else, I do get some exercise every day or so by turning the compost!
Gardens are a true gift. I’ve always managed to grow something wherever I’ve lived, but living in this home for 24 years has really allowed me to spread my wings. Gardening is great exercise, a source of constant learning, a gift to the natural life around us, and in many cases, a source of food.
Yes, gardens are a true gift, Alys. That’s for sure!
I suspect that rats are pretty inevitable in compost bin. Given the size of my bins maybe I needn’t feel guilty about having a car which is a necessity here as there is no public transport available.
If a car is necessary, there’s no reason to feel guilty. But you are helping to mitigate its use with your compost-making, for sure 😊