Compost raider

This crazy nocturnal animal that discovered our compost has been getting into it every single night. Yesterday, I laid down some newspaper next to the bin because it always leaves its pile in the same place, and I thought it would be easier to clean up that way (it was). Even though it’s fairly simple to sweep up and just toss on top of the bin, the particles are small enough to fall down between the holes in the deck, which is a mess because I have no way of getting under there to clean it out.

I can’t figure out what this animal’s fascination is with our compost, because it’s definitely not getting the stuff out of the top, where the freshest materials are, including eggshells and bits of fruit and veggies. It’s digging out of this little hole it broke into the side of the compost (really little hole, see photo below; it’s about two inches high by one inch wide), where everything is more than halfway decomposed and not at all appetizing, let alone edible. It smells like dirt, not food.

On the bright side, this has given me the opportunity to see what the compost is looking like halfway down the bing, I’m happy to discover that it has survived the intense rain we’ve had since the start of the year, and it’s still decomposing well. The stuff that’s dug up every night is light and fluffy and about halfway broken down. It’s approaching light, dirt-like compost. Looking good!

Still, I’m tired of cleaning up this little pile every morning and I’m really looking forward to our new bin arriving this Friday.

Anyway, the moral of the story here is that a cheap plastic clothes hamper is not necessarily the best container for compost. While it’s open and airy, it’s also flimsy and apparently easy for mysterious nocturnal animals to break little holes in and rummage through the contents.

Oh, and did I mention it’s also not very attractive?

So…once we pick up our bin on Friday, I’ll take photos of it and post the plans I used to have it made.