Where to Begin?

Now the question is, “Where do I begin?” I had heard about the chelmsfordrecycles.org website a while back, so I thought that would be a good place to start.  I found a great article on the website called, "Let it Rot?"  I chuckled to myself thinking that if I do nothing, my garbage will take its natural course anyway – the garbage the coyotes don’t eat, that is.

It seems composting can be as easy as I want it to be. I can be kind of lazy about it and still get compost, or I can really dive in and become a compost queen. Somewhere in the middle might work best for me.

I decided to drive around town looking for how other families were composting. I found one house with a backyard structure of cinderblocks and chicken wire. I didn’t think it added much to the curb appeal. I also think that the Wild-E coyote would find a way to crack that code pretty quickly. But, at least they were composting, and that in itself should be congratulated. Another composting area that I saw had three box-style bins made of slats and looked similar to stalls for miniature horses.

Cinder blocks and chicken wire

Box-style bins using wood slats

The Culprit!

Every morning I got up earlier and earlier until I saw the culprit.  It was a coyote!  And it looked like he was enjoying this buffet every day. Maybe this composting idea isn’t all that great.  Or, could it be that I wasn’t doing it right?  I decided that for the time being I’d just compost coffee grinds. Those didn’t seem to appeal to Mr.Coyote.

It was too bad, too. I was starting to see the benefits of my efforts inside the house. When I used to put our garbage in with the rest of the trash, it began to stink after a couple of days. And when it was time to empty the trash, it weighed a ton. I remembered reading that Chelmsford pays for every ton of trash that gets picked up. I felt a little guilty abandoning my compost project, but I didn’t know what to do. And I certainly wasn’t going to as Loretta. Time to look into how to compost for where I live and shut down the buffet for those coyote.

Compost Pile or Buffet Line?

Then something odd happened. After a few days, I noticed that some of my kitchen scraps were missing. Could it be a rabbit, or a raccoon? Maybe I wasn’t the only one smiling smugly at the compost pile. I rationalized that at least my garbage wasn’t adding to the landfills. So, I kept up my vigilance, adding to the pile every time we filled up the tub.

Then the snow came. It was time to dump the next heap, so I bundled up and put on my boots. As I trudged through the 6-inch deep snow, I saw tracks, well-work tracks leading to the compost pile. I wondered if some critter really was visiting my pile on a regular basis.  I hoped it wasn’t a coyote.  All I could think of was my Golden Retriever. If he saw a coyote, he’d chase it. And if coyotes saw my other dog, my 15-pound little guy, they might think it’s Thanksgiving.