The recent  long dry period may have resulted in an increase in damage to gardens  as badgers have difficulty finding enough food. Badgers normally  hunt for food e.g., insects, slugs, beetles and invertebrates in the evening and night 

They may be particularly attracted  to the contents of a compost heap or bin  during food shortages as it provides a good badger café  particularly during the draught and the bin contents tend to be moist and easily dug. The uncooked vegetable and fruit will provide a good source of nourishment along with all the  juicy composting worms that the composter has encouraged to occupy the bin. They will be particularly attractive as when the ground gets this dry, earthworms  go into a state of torpor called ‘estivation’ and, the ground conditions, make them difficult to find. If there are meat and dairy products in the compost these will provide an additional attraction.

Snuffle holes about  10-15cm across may be found in the ground round the bin and in the actual compost. The material round these holes is often dug out on more than one side and in soil they may be  to be conical in shape. In the compost bin they are usually at ground level and may be bigger as the material is soft and may collapse when it is dug out. The holes are likely to be at ground level while rat burrows will be smaller and often  start at the top of the bin. On our demonstration site the badgers have recently dined on the worms in our open fronted pallet bins, removed the  clip-on cover of dalek bins and the wire netting from around a leaf mould bin spreading the almost finished leaf mould across the surrounding area.

We have more information at

http://www.carryoncomposting.com/142941483/6930292/po

As part of National Allotment Week, we have involved children in a Compost Safari hunting for creatures in the compost bins on our Demonstration site at Stokes wood.

One of the partially filled   bins had been left with coffee as the top layer for 5 days when I run out of time when layering it having reached about threequarters capacity. The bin was covered with plastic  sheet until the next layer could be added. When checking this bin, which had about  50% moisture content, we found masses of woodlice in the coffee layer.  There were not excessive amounts elsewhere in the bin, giving the impression  that they had been attracted to the coffee. Distribution was normal in adjacent bins without coffee.

I am not concerned at the presence of woodlice as the first time the bin is turned the coffee layer will be distributed throughout the bin and the woodlice will return to  their usual distribution in the organic material.

However, I can find no reference to woodlice being attracted to coffee has anyone experience of coffee drinking woodlice ?

Next week (8th -14th August) is National Allotment Week with events being orgaised by Allotment Socs. across the country.   As part of National Allotments Week young people aged 2-12 can take part in The Big Bug Hunt with their school or learning community!

The National Allotments Week theme for 2022 is Bugs, Bees and Broccoli and we want young people to head out into any green space and see what creepy crawlies they can find.

Being outside has such a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of children and the summer holidays are the perfect time for them to have fun outdoors and learn a bit about their surroundings.

Pupils at schools and early years settings taking part can email a pictures or a scan of their finished worksheet with their name, the school's name and address to natsoc@nsalg.org.uk by 14th August.

As I am organising a Compost Safari at three different locations over the week I have topped up the wormery from which most of the compost and worms  will be taken. Other bugs will be added from the demonstration site as available.     

We are at Stokes Wood Allotment ( Leicester) 10.30 -12 Wednesday morning,with  the cafe  open for drinks, hot cobs and breakfast.

Measham Community Library on Saturday  13th and Groby Allotment, Ratby Road site, on Sunday 14th  as part of their Open Day. 

GROBY ALLOTMENTS, RATBY ROAD, Groby, Leicestershire

ALL WELCOME!

Always wanted to have a look around the allotments? Fancy renting one? Take a Guided Tour! Look round our stalls, bric-a-brac, book stall, plant and veg stall, tombola, kid’s bran tub, check out the wonkiest vegetable or just come and chat with friends over a cuppa!

Compost Help Desk                          Make a compost liquid feed 12pm & 2.30pm

 Kids Nature Trail  12.30pm               Kids compost safari

Colouring Competition                     Guided Tours – 11am

Face Painting                                  Tombola, bran tub, stalls

 Produce Show     11.30am               Books & bric-à-brac stalls

Refreshments 

As a result  of holidays the Reception bin has not been emptied recently and the hot dry spell has changed the green materials to a dry hay like colour  and that in the lower levels has started decomposing with some signs of Actinomyces activity and other areas starting to smell  mouldy.

This was a reminder that it is not considered a good idea to position yourself so that any spores released during working on compost ends up in your face so the contents would normally be damped down and in serious cases a face mask might be worn. Another simple measure is, when planning the composting area,  to position the bins so that the prevailing winds blow any aerosols away  from the operative.  This is a simple control measure that is particularly useful when sorting  and cutting material when initially  layering  the material  taken from a Reception bin.

Although the material consisted of a high proportion of greens it was so dry that each layer added to the  bin was watered with  two gallons of water from a watering can,  and I have added a couple of  manure and coffee layers.  If  necessary, the Green Brown ratio will be adjusted when the heap is turned and more material is added from the reception bin.