Heidi wrote:

Happy Friday!

We have an open compost bin, in which I toss leaves, grass clippings,
and food scraps. The squirrels in our yard steal all the food scraps
from our compost bin. The compost bin is located in a natural area
filled w/ oak trees, and of course many, many acorns. I would like to
keep the squirrels away from my food scraps, so that my compost may
benefit from the nutrients. The squirrels won't starve..they can eat
all the darn acorns they want.

Any ideas to keep the squirrels out of the compost? Should I be
cautious about any specific things I might add to the compost to deter
squirrels ie: if I put cayenne pepper on the food scraps would this have
any affect to my lawn next year when I spread cayenne infused compost
across it?

TIA!
heidi

I'm not sure this will work for you, but I already have some composted
material
in a fairly advanced state of break down. When I go to dump vegetable
scraps, etc.,
I dig a small hole in the top compost layer, dump in the stuff, and
cover it up with
the dug out compost. This has a multiple effect of first helping to
reduce the
odors of the fresh stuff, helping to break it down faster, and generally
making the
new material untasteful to any critters. I also try and cover that with
any fresh
weed/plant material to again help discourage any digging. As a last
measure, I wedge
a board between the sides of the pile (in my case a wooden frame with
gaps to allow
air penetration) and the freshly buried stuff, to make it harder to dig
up. I have
been doing that all summer with little, if no sign of critter activity.

Sherwin Dubren