My neighbor called my compost pile a 'rat hotel' and I had to listen

Honestly, I thought I was doing great with my backyard compost for about a year. Then my neighbor, Frank, leaned over the fence and said, 'Holly, that's not a compost pile, it's a five-star rat hotel.' He pointed out I was adding all my kitchen scraps, including meat and dairy, which I didn't know was wrong. I looked it up and he was totally right. I switched to a closed tumbler bin and now only use plant-based scraps. It's been 3 months with zero pests. Has anyone else had a composting fail that made you change your whole system?

2 comments

2 Comments

ninaw887d ago

Frank calling it a 'rat hotel' is so real. I had a similar mess with fruit flies because I wasn't burying my scraps under enough browns. It looked like a science experiment gone wrong. I had to completely start over with a better layering system.

leog687d ago

Honestly thought the whole "browns" thing was overkill at first. My pile turned into a fruit fly circus until I tried that layering method. It really does make a huge difference.