In need of composting inspiration!

jarthurs

I had a regular plastic compost bin which did a sterling job of producing a reasonable amount of compost and keeping our food waste out of landfill. However the rats got in and the local rat population went through the roof so I purchased a couple of compost tumblers.

These have proved worse than useless, the first one split under the weight of the compost (it's supposed to take 200 litres but failed at just over half-full). Now the lid of the second tumbler has distorted and comes off when I tumble it. To add insult to injury they didn't even keep the rats out as they appear to be able to parachute in and gnaw the ventilation holes big enough to gain access.

Now as we live in a rural area, I have no real problem with the fact we have rats they're just part of the local ecosystem. I would however like to discourage them where possible and not offer them an easy target. I've no great desire to buy another expensive plastic compost bin as they have chewed into these in a matter of hours before.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Regards,
Jason.

djohn2002uk

Don't put "food waste" in compost bins.

Leif

djohn2002uk wrote: »

Don't put "food waste" in compost bins.

What he said. I can only assume you put vegetable remains, or even meat in?

valk_scot

Exactly. Rats are less interested in grass clippings and shredded newspaper and weeds so be selective about what you put in the bins. Some food waste is okay, like peelings and tea bags but don't put in cereal waste like rice or pasta and no meat or cheese or egg type waste, rats absolutely adore these. They like sweetcorn cobs and beans too.

If you want to recycle non-compostable food waste then invest in a boshaki system, which is kept indoors and will deal with anything. Or you could try a wormery but best to keep that in a rat proof garage.

Linda32

I have to agree, its the "food waste" that the rats are likely to be after.

What sort of food do you put in the bin?

Leif

I came across something called a Hotbin. Google and you will find it. It is a bit pricey, but for the money you get an insulated composting bin with a 200L capacity which does hot composting. What that means is that it can consume food waste including meat. It can also take weeds such as bindweed and perennial seeds, as they break down.

Also the construction is such as to keep out rats and mice, and contain smells. But you do have to cut up the waste, no whole apples or joints of meat.

I should point out that there are probably similar products available, I mention this one as an example of the genre.

I created a compost pile at the bottom of my garden, over 1000L of matter, and when I turned it over, to aerate it, I almost thought it was on fire. The inside had turned grey, like ash, there was 'smoke' coming off, and the heat was incredible. The smoke was in fact steam. I think the pile was so large that the interior was hot composting.