This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re[2]: compost and vermin

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

     Hi Shelley and Marlene,
     
     Just thinking about what you asked, mice are usually attracted to 
     clothes drawers or piles of straw. I found one in my mulch one time, 
     but have never seen them go to a compost pile, especially one that's 
     being turned. I only think they would be attracted to something quite 
     dry and fibrous. Rats are a different story. Even the tree rats we 
     have here don't go after my compost, though. I think they would if I 
     didn't bury my kitchen scraps in the center of the pile and cover them 
     well with grass clippings and wet them down. Of course, the flies 
     would go after this too, not just rats.
     
     I do pretty much everything Marlene's communique says to do, except I 
     don't add stale bread, unless it's a very small amount. I never add 
     anything with protein as its main component. I think this would 
     attract vermin. We've never had any trouble with pests - even the 
     possums don't investigate the pile, as I've never seen one over there 
     and the pile is never disturbed, even for whole spoiled fruit or 
     vegetables. Again, I bury it.
     
     HTH,
     Shawn
     swestaway@coh.org
     Claremont, CA  USDA9b Sunset19


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Re: compost and vermin 
Author:  "Square Foot Gardening List" <sqft@listbot.com> at internet
Date:    8/18/99 12:25 PM


Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html
     
MS SHELLEY V CORBIN wrote:
> 
> Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html 
> 
> how do you make a compost that doesnt attract mice and rats?<
     
     
I had been wondering the same thing, since I received an email with the 
following Do's and Don'ts:
     
>>>Every good gardener has their own compost pile, and most of the items 
we put in the compost come from the outdoors. 
     
However, there's a lot of items indoors that you can add to your pile.
     
In the kitchen, save all your vegetable and fruit scraps. Egg shells 
even work well - without the eggs, of course. If you drink coffee, 
save the grounds and  the filters for the compost pile. Have stale 
bread laying around? If you don't want to feed it to the birds, add 
it to the compost - even the leftover chips. 
     
Some of the items you DON'T want to add to the compost pile from the 
kitchen include anything with meat and dairy products. Forget any 
kind of plastic, whether it's bags or plastic utensils - you can 
reuse these. No foil products, nor milk jugs, these don't break down. 
Stay away from anything that has had contact with toxic cleaners. If 
they're not good for you to ingest, they wouldn't be good for your 
plants either. 
     
The kitchen's not the only place to find items for compost. When 
you're done reading your newspaper, shred it up.  This is excellent 
for the compost pile. Glossy paper from magazines, however, is not 
for the compost pile. Dryer lint is great for the pile, and so is the 
debris from your house plants; but if it's diseased, keep it out. 
Believe it or not, human hair and dog hair are excellent for the 
compost pile.  It's a great source of nitrogen, and it breaks down 
quickly.<<<
     
After receiving this email I was planning to ask what you veteral 
gardeners thought about this advice and now, because of Shelley's 
question, I am.  I, myself, being an amateur was thinking that some of 
the "kitchen/food" items would attract vermin!  Any 
recommendations/advice would be appreciated, as well!!  Thanks.
     
 Marlene
  Zone 4
     
     
______________________________________________________________________ 
To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
MSN Messenger Service lets you stay in touch instantly with 
your family & friends - Visit http://messenger.msn.com


______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, write to sqft-unsubscribe@listbot.com
MSN Messenger Service lets you stay in touch instantly with
your family & friends - Visit http://messenger.msn.com
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index