12 Oct 2021
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” goes the well-known proverb used to encourage optimism in the face of adversity. Unfortunately for Jane RVN, there are no lemons in sight…
Jane Davidson
Job Title
Image © HollyHarry / Adobe Stock
It’s been nine months; Joey is well settled here, and I am a total hound convert.
They are a loving and intelligent breed of dog, and Joey is the gentlest soul I’ve ever met. He also seems to require less exercise than an elderly blind Peke – hard to believe, but true.
In pretty much every way we are happy together.
There is only one blot on the happy dog horizon: his poo.
To be specific, it’s the amount of poo a 30kg dog creates – it’s like caring for a small pony, necessitating regular poo hunting and picking trips. It doesn’t help I have a crazily large garden that is mid-construction and also trying to be a wildlife haven, all at the same time.
I don’t want to use poo bags for every poo in the garden, or have them hanging around for two weeks for the bin collection – neither option is particularly pleasant and both increase the amount of plastic going to landfill – so what to do?
Well, after some reading around, and a bit of trial and error, I am now in charge of a successful dog poo wormery. I’ve even just poured my first liquid fertiliser (worm tea) and tried it on my plants.
Nothing has died yet…
A couple of options are available. You can either buy a ready-to-go wormery, or you can try the DIY versions: one is a simple bucket in the ground with a hole in the bottom for the worms to head in and out, and then there is the wheelie bin or water butt option…
As I had a spare water butt I have upcycled this. Drilled holes for air, creating a well for the liquid to sit at the bottom and to stop the worms from falling into it.
I bought some worms online and let the poo build up in the bin as I waited for them to arrive. Annoyingly, as they arrived we had some super hot weather and I had to move my butt to a shadier spot. However, despite having been away for 10 days, I can confirm the worms are still alive, working hard and making great fertiliser from Joey’s poop.
I pick the poo up with newspaper, which acts as a carbon source for the worms and creates air space around each “deposit”. In warm weather I keep the top layer of cardboard damp with water, which helps to keep flies away and reduces the temperature in the bin.
I spent about £30 on coir and worms, and now have an environmentally friendly way to cope with the poo mountain Joey creates.
Oh, and nope – it doesn’t smell!