Orange and Thistle

Composting is fun, especially here. We have such a variety of ingredients, and in such abundance. I haven’t composted for a few months now, ever since my last batch didn’t get hot enough to kill the kikuyu runners, leaving them well fed and sprouting. Regardless of whether it is too cold for composting spring is almost upon us and the garden is crying out for renewal, for fresh organic matter bursting with bacteria, worms, life. So I am making orange and thistle compost. Oranges from making juice and thistles from around the house, along with other weeds – Parramatta grass, fireweed, dandelions and young bindies. To help keep the temperature up I am adding lots of cow poo soaked in water, rather than adding both cow poo and water. It is a subtle difference but I am hoping that the soupy poo will have a much greater surface area and permeate the pile more thoroughly, aiding the breakdown of the thick paddock grasses.


Yesterday Em showed Noah and I where the bower close to our Dairy was. Today when Noah and I went to collect paddock grass for the compost we checked it out again. The male has used a base of straw out the front of his bower to help his blue objects stand out – a square of tarpaulin, a clothes peg, a burst balloon, some rolled up tape, a lid. The most amazing thing was the small LED torch from the car that went missing months ago. A torch. How can a bower bird carry a torch? It was still working too.


I didn’t get my compost finished today, instead we spent most of the day catching up with friends and having cups of tea. And Japanese sake. The composting can wait.


“I’m grateful that we done the compost and had a nice day.”
(Confused? Look)