I sure hope my new plan works. Back in September, 2022 Vince completed a compost bin for me.
I was so happy to have it until . . the mice figured out it was a great buffet! They have trashed it. They got under it and removed all the gravel. They dug holes so it looks like a sinking ship. We keep traps out. We catch mice but there seems to be no end to them so . . no more feeding the mice! Then I started burying veggie scraps in some of the raised beds that weren’t being used and then the mice found those.
My friend, Debbie, and her husband have cows and they have mineral tubs. I’m using mineral tubs, in place of grow bags, for some of my planting this year.
I started thinking about how I could use the mineral tubs for compost and we’ll see if this works like I think it will.
I had Vince drill some drainage holes and I wish he would make them smaller because mice, supposedly, can get through a hole as small as 1/4″. I do NOT want mice in my tubs!
There are three tubs there. The bottom one has a concrete block in it . . maybe about 1-1/2 to 2″ thick. The middle tub sits on that. Then the second tub also has drain holes similar to those in the bottom tub. I put some leaves, garden soil and mushroom compost in that tub – only about 3″ of soil – then I added some veggie scraps. The third tub also has drain holes and three bricks for weight.
Here’s how I think it should work. I will remove the top tub, add veggie scraps, stir everything around, water if necessary, and replace the top tub. The top tub, with the bricks should keep larger critters (raccoons, possums and who knows what else might be back there) out of veggie scraps. It will rain, hopefully and the water will drip down through the middle tub, then drain out the holes in the bottom tub.
I may need to do some tweaking. I may take the top tub off during the day and put it back on at night when the critters emerge from their hiding spots.
Time will tell if my idea was a good one or not.
quiltinggail says
It sounds good. The water that drains out will be very high in compost nutrients, so I’d place your contraption on a raised bed that will benefit from that water! Plus, you can move it as the plants grow …
judy.blog@gmail.com says
The plan is to eventually put it up on an open type metal table we have in the storage unit. Vince has some little “connections” to run plastic tubing out each of the holes into a bucket that will sit on a little step stool. He’ll put a spigot on the bucket so I can drain it as I need to vs. having to stick something in the bucket to scoop up the water.
montanaclarks says
Do you put any cooked scraps in your compost?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
No. Most everything I cook has bacon grease or butter in it and I don’t want to add that to the garden.
Danielle says
Are these tubs plastic? Critters eat through plastic so easily. I had never thought about mice getting into compost but it makes sense. I am surprised other critters did not consider it to be their personal buffet. We have found that the only things that deter critters is metal and glass. Frustrating!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
These are plastic but they are extremely thick and heavy plastic. It’s mineral tubs for cows. When full the tubs weigh about 225 pounds so the plastic has to be heavy duty. We keep birdseed in 5 gallon plastic buckets with gamma seal lids. They are way thinner than these tubs and we’ve never had a mouse chew through one of those. That’s (5 gallon plastic bucket) also what I use for storing grain and in 20+ years of storing those in the basement, I’ve never had a mouse get in them.
The mineral tub set up is one bucket on the bottom with holes drilled through it and a couple of bricks in it for the second tub to sit on. The “food” will be in the second bucket and there will probably always be a couple of inches of water in the bottom of the first bucket so . . not saying a mouse can’t get to the food source but I’m not sure what else to try.