Lawns and Johanna
Who’s
Johanna? Well, I’ll get to her in a moment.
Sometimes a
day is just doing the mundane and today was just that – lawn mowing! We have
quite a lot of lawn and while we were waiting for the compost bin to be
completed, the lawn got a little neglected.
The lawn to
the side of the house is mostly in shade so it doesn’t grow as fast as the
rest. I started with that one.
Then I moved
on to the main lawn. This gets sunshine most of the day, so it looked more like
a hay meadow than a lawn, to be honest. You can't really see it in the photo, but there are daisies, forget-me-nots, plantain and meadow sweet everywhere, and the grass is at least 4-6" long.
About three
hours later, it was trim and tidy.
I did keep
one small patch of wild flowers – well, they look so cheerful, I didn’t have
the heart to chop them all down.
We worked
out that it is about three miles to walk up and down all the lawns and back and
forwards to the compost area!
Now to
Johanna. First she’s a what, not a who. Although
we now have the huge bin just built, as we are in the countryside, next to
fields, we are concerned about possible rats infesting it. And rats like
nothing better than waste food to chomp on. So rather than put the household
waste into the open compost bin, we have an enclosed bin as well. But not just
any enclosed bin – this is a ‘green Johanna’.
It is specifically designed to
encourage decomposition faster and at higher temperatures than a normal compost
bin. In fact, it is so efficient you can do the unthinkable – you can compost
cooked waste too! Even bones! And all the better for being completely rat proof
– at least, that what it says in the information that came with it. Only time
will tell if it does what it says on the box.
These compost
bins are a bit pricey, but some councils have a scheme where they are
encouraging people to throw away less for landfill and will supply a green
Johanna for around £20. It’s worth checking with your own local council before
paying out for one yourself.
Links to green Johanna websites:
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