My Composting Adventure ~ Total Disclosure

Okay, so I still love my compost bin and I am still enjoying not-drippy garbage.  However, upon returning from our vacation we found that an animal (most likely a raccoon) had overturned the compost bin and foraged the contents.  It was easy enough to just put the bin right back into place.  Easy because the bin is so light – and although it has a closed top, it has an open bottom… making it very easy for a raccoon to tip over.

I had realized this was probably a flaw when I first put it together.

Lucky for me, Mat had just built a Racoon proof bin for our garbage cans.  I could probably sneak-in my compost bin and it will be safe and sound in there.  Sooo, I’m going to try to make this one work.  But, if you are (still) thinking of your first compost bin, (and Mat hasn’t made you a Raccoon-proof box) I would suggest a nice heavy, homemade bin or a totally enclosed compost tumbler.

Nice, heavy homemade wooden compost bins

If you are handy (or know someone that is), there are a bunch of different styles of homemade wooden compost bins.  Some that can even be made from leftover wooden pallets.  This huge DIY compost bin was featured in the blog Apartment Therapy:

Totally enclosed drum-style compost bin

This kind is a good choice, not only because of it’s total-enclosededness (is that a word?) but because you can easily tumble the contents.   This one I found on Amazon.com, it is a little pricey but I think you could find one of this style for cheaper:

Did I Mention the Yellow Jackets?

Okay, so my Facebook friends heard me complaining about this – and so in the interest of full disclosure our compost pile is enjoyed by yellow jackets during the sunny hours of the day.  In order to not get stung, I just dump in fresh compost when it is starting to get dark or first thing in the morning when the yellowjackets are away.  In order to discourage them from building a nest in dry compost, I keep the pile wet by watering it once in awhile.

Please share your experience with me – do you compost?  What kinds of things have you done to discourage pests?  What style of compost bin do you have?  Oh, and if you were thinking of composting did this post push you off the fence onto the ‘not having a compost bin’ side?  🙂