Stinky Compost

I need to do something about the compost behind the barn. It's not doing what it's supposed to do. I suppose that's because I really haven't taken the effort to nurse it along. Ideally it should be a warm mass of rich, dark decaying vegetation and food scraps. But right now it's just a pile of stinky stuff I'd rather not look at. The crows are happy, the coons are happy, the skunk is happy. Even the occasional bear is happy that I don't turn the glop into the soil beneath. But my nose is most unhappy when I have to contribute yet another bucketful of kitchen leavings to that heap. Yuck. So it's about time to get the pitchfork and dig in. While I'm at it I should repair (or replace) the meager fence around the pile that really had no chance against that bear. This was the same brute that ripped the window off our garbage shed, then pummeled what I thought was a very sturdy trash barrel into a blue blob of industrial strength plastic. Fortunately it hasn't returned since then, but it is autumn now and I'm sure many bears are out there looking for anything to pad their insulation for the winter. So our redolent compost heap is like a beacon for woodland critters to come party behind our barn.

It drives the dog crazy.