Compost and me!

Domestic animals, on the whole, have never been high on my list of favourites. When I was a little girl, we had the obligatory succession of dogs. Pax was a grumpy Airedale Terrier, determined to exterminate all other canines, and Raffan accident-prone cocker spaniel with long ears that got messed up in his food and a fluffy coat that needed constant attention. I saw them all as being demanding, dependent and time consuming! Cleaning cages, feeding, walking and training seemed an unnecessary edition to my already fulfilled and busy home life.

Later in my life a found a love for wild animals and the natural world that grew and grew the more I discovered.

Nowadays, in my late 80s, I ponder about our diminishing natural world as I sit quietly overlooking my little portion of God’s Acre, pondering past encounters, remembering those ice white polar bears I saw in the snow-bound wastelands of the Arctic, now so critically endangered by human activity and climate change. Even once common garden birds are becoming rare as seemingly, we head for a dismal future.

What can we do?

Earthworms may not be pretty, immediately attractive or even interesting, but all my life I have been fascinated by them as, from a very early age with few toys and lots of time, I used to spend hours alone in the garden digging them up and studying them closely. Little did I know that, in our first year at Grammar School, our sex education would be initiated by a beleaguered male biology teacher (by the name of Mr Kinghorn!) teaching us about the reproduction of the earthworm! Not colourful or fancy in the way of beautiful bugs and beetles, their subterranean lives gave my inquisitive mind much food for thought. I love the fact that they go about their business unnoticed, underground, devoid of recognition, not that easy to find and yet an absolutely essential part of the survival of our planet.

I set up a simple wormery. Nothing elaborate, just a large plastic dustbin with holes in the bottom, and a close-fitting lid. Standing in a shady corner on a concrete slab or hard stand, protected from weather extremes. Keep adding uncooked kitchen waste (vegetable peelings, tea bags, egg shells),shredded paper, grass mowings in layers topped with an old blanket, door mat or woolly jumper, to stop the worms escaping. Building it up is slow, so be patient! Every so often give it a stir to mix everything up, then one day your compost will be a treat for your plants. Ultimate recycling!

Jennifer Kendrick, Fordhall supporter

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