Re: [gardeners] Re: composting
Harry Boswell (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Wed, 13 Jan 1999 08:30:25 -0600 (CST)
On Wed, 13 Jan 1999, George Shirley wrote:
> I really don't know Penny. We live in town but there are raccoons, opossums,
> and, of course, the ever present stray cats around. We got the dog in July
> 1996 but have never had varmints dig in our compost, ants yes, varmints no.
> Fish innards and heads are pot-holed with a little lime and that may deter
> the varmints. Eggshells just go in the compost bucket and are buried in the
> compost pile on a daily basis. Reckon it may just stay warm enough to
> decompose them fast or else there's a reason I'm missing somehow. Anyway, we
> don't have a varmint problem with the compost and never have had in the 30
> plus years we've composted.
>
My guess is that the things that would attract "varmints" decompose
pretty rapidly - eggshells alone aren't much fun for a mouse. But
you may have small varmints (varminettes??) and not know it - my
first compost was in the same place for 4 years, and I never knew
there were field mice living back behind it until I tore it down
to move it closer to the house.
But raccoons, possums, and the like of larger varmints would have
a tough time getting to my pile, because of all the neighboring
domesticated varmints.
Harry Boswell hboswell@netdoor.com
USDA Zone 8 (Mississippi USA)
Home Page: http://www2.netdoor.com/~hboswell