It was a dry day today, DH was clearing up after the trees surgeons, so I decided to turn the compost.
The Girls were busy helping DH as he cleared the vegetable patch. Every time he moved something, or turned over something, the girls were there en masse to inspect. Poor unsuspecting worms were shucked down in one go. Wherever DH put his spade, he was surrounded by beady little eyes watching the ground.
The moving of the spare Cube so I could get to the COmpost bins caused a flurry of activity. Tilda and Lily decided to squeeze underneath the elevated run, and they would not be persuaded out. Lily jumped on the ladder, and we moved the Cube - carefully - with them underneath. DH got them out after we'd lowered it back onto the ground.
The tipping over of the first compost bin brought great excitement, even more when I started tossing the black gold on to the vegetable patch. Bin 2 being overturned caused a bit of a pile up, and I had to shoo the Girls away so I could shovel bin 2 contents into the now-empty bin 1. Bin 3, and I was getting tired and kept taking breaks to watch the Girls rook through the compost.
By bin 4, I'd really had enough. I was tired anyway, and hesitated before upturning it as I knew I should really call it a day. But, if I cleared up everything without doing Bin 4 then I'd either have to do it all again later or, more likely, bin 4 would stand there untouched for another month or two.
Of course, bin 4 would be the one that had great solid stinky mats of grass clippings. The sort that appears in bands through the compost, which have stopped the compost process because the worms are having trouble chomping through it.
The smell was vile, and I was trying to break up the lumps as I went. This time I kept the Girls away, as I didn't want them eating the worms here - I wanted the worms in the compost bin! I emptied the poo trays to provide some extra dry matter in between layers, and eventually it was done. Carpets put on the top of all bins - on top of the compost I mean - to help generate some warmth, and I came in for a well deserved cup of tea.
We've fenced off the vegetable patch now, as it has a lot of compost on it and I read somewhere that it isn't a good idea to let your chooks on to compost. No idea why, but don't want to take any chances. The Girls are not amused.
The Girls were busy helping DH as he cleared the vegetable patch. Every time he moved something, or turned over something, the girls were there en masse to inspect. Poor unsuspecting worms were shucked down in one go. Wherever DH put his spade, he was surrounded by beady little eyes watching the ground.
The moving of the spare Cube so I could get to the COmpost bins caused a flurry of activity. Tilda and Lily decided to squeeze underneath the elevated run, and they would not be persuaded out. Lily jumped on the ladder, and we moved the Cube - carefully - with them underneath. DH got them out after we'd lowered it back onto the ground.
The tipping over of the first compost bin brought great excitement, even more when I started tossing the black gold on to the vegetable patch. Bin 2 being overturned caused a bit of a pile up, and I had to shoo the Girls away so I could shovel bin 2 contents into the now-empty bin 1. Bin 3, and I was getting tired and kept taking breaks to watch the Girls rook through the compost.
By bin 4, I'd really had enough. I was tired anyway, and hesitated before upturning it as I knew I should really call it a day. But, if I cleared up everything without doing Bin 4 then I'd either have to do it all again later or, more likely, bin 4 would stand there untouched for another month or two.
Of course, bin 4 would be the one that had great solid stinky mats of grass clippings. The sort that appears in bands through the compost, which have stopped the compost process because the worms are having trouble chomping through it.
The smell was vile, and I was trying to break up the lumps as I went. This time I kept the Girls away, as I didn't want them eating the worms here - I wanted the worms in the compost bin! I emptied the poo trays to provide some extra dry matter in between layers, and eventually it was done. Carpets put on the top of all bins - on top of the compost I mean - to help generate some warmth, and I came in for a well deserved cup of tea.
We've fenced off the vegetable patch now, as it has a lot of compost on it and I read somewhere that it isn't a good idea to let your chooks on to compost. No idea why, but don't want to take any chances. The Girls are not amused.
