These days I'm getting a lot of calls regarding backyard composting. Backyard composting is great, provided it contains only yard compost like leaves, branches and grass clippings.
Most kitchen compost will and does attract bears. I would also like to mention here that backyard kitchen composting also attracts rats, which is another excellent reason to stay away from it. I can attest this first hand as I have had a huge rat infestation due to my backyard kitchen compost. It was a nightmare to be sure and even though the dogs got pretty good at slaying the nasty beasts, it led up to a very unfortunate accident with a small friend's back-pocket pet. He was a good hamster, may he rest in peace - darn shame he looked just like a rat.Now I am the first one to see the waste in throwing perfectly good kitchen compost into the garbage. For one, it makes the garbage heavy and smelly and for another all those yummy nutrients get wasted in the landfill. Having taken the plunge back to my Salt Spring Island hippy days and researching the alternatives on the Internet I have exposed the perfect and beautiful solution: worms. Odourless, efficient indoor composting with red worms otherwise known as vermicomposting. Worms digest their own weight of compost every day. The waste that they produce is encased in a mucus membrane that hardens when exposed to air. When these granular castings are mixed into garden or houseplant soils there is a slow "time release" of nutrients to feed the plants. However, the hardened particles of mucus do not break down readily, and they act to break up soils providing aeration and drainage, creating an organic soil conditioner as well as a super, natural fertilizer. The advantages of these castings compared to regular soil are they have five times the nitrate, seven times the phosphorus, three times the exchangeable magnesium, 11 times the potash and 1.5 times the calcium.
Sound good? Gets better all you need to start your own indoor worm composter are a plastic Tupperware box, shredded newspaper, kitchen compost and red worms. I am on a mission for red worms and will shortly be offering worm composting workshops to all who are interested. Stay tuned.
Presently there are several bears active in Squamish, particularly in Garibaldi Highlands and Brackendale. If you have a bear that is repeatedly entering your yard please secure or dispose of all your attractants and call 1-877-952-7277.
