Despite my best efforts with chicken wire, rats are using my compost bin as a hotel. I have small children and grow my own veg. Is it safe to use the compost or is there a risk of Weil's disease? How long before I can put it on the garden?
Ah, the rat issue. Make compost and you make the perfect rat home: warm, constantly full of food and hidden at the bottom of the garden. But there are several things you can do to combat rats.
Don't add cooked food, dairy or meat, and nothing sweet like melon rind. Turn the compost regularly, as rats hate change, and soak it once a week. Rats won't nest in the wet.
Weil's disease is transmitted by water contaminated by animal urine and it has to come into contact with an unhealed cut or your mouth. Thoroughly wash your hands and any food picked from the garden. Once your compost is well rotted you can start using it, but stay away from spreading it around veg you eat raw, such as lettuce and radish.
A good solution is a compost tumbler, which is vermin-proof. You spin the drum and thus make compost quickly. The cheapest I can find is £77, from Wiggly Wigglers.
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