Hello and welcome to The Compost Bin. I'm Compostwoman and I live with my family in rural Herefordshire. We have nearly four acres of garden and woodland, all managed organically and to Permaculture principles, which we share with Chickens, Cats and assorted wildlife. We also grow a lot of our own food, run courses in all sorts of things and make a lot of compost!

I am a Master Composter and have spent more than a decade as a volunteer Community Compost adviser with Garden Organic and my local Council.
I'm a self employed Environmental Educator so I run workshops and events where I talk about compost, veg growing, chicken keeping, cooking, preserving and sustainable living. I also run crafts workshops and Forest School/outdoor play sessions in our wood.

We try to live a more self sufficient lifestyle here, as best we can, while still having a comfortable life and lots of fun.


To learn more about us click on the About Compostwoman tab and remember to click on the photos to make them full size!


Tuesday 29 August 2023

Fleck the broody hen escapes!

After shutting Fleck safely away last night (cue much outraged squarking and pecking me and bok bok bokking when I removed her from the ivy covered nest on top of the wall where she'd hidden herself) 



I put her in the top of the double decker hutch she and Chancellor live in at night.

This morning I went to check on her and give her fresh food and water and she rushed at the door, squeezed herself through the gap and legged it. Bok bok bokking, as only a Broody hen can. 

Chancellor tried the "dance of love" around her, prepatory to mounting her, but she was having none of it.

Her single minded intention was to get back in that ivy!

And so, she did.

Monday 28 August 2023

A Broody hen, who I thought was past it!

Fleck Serama hen has gone broody, and was hiding in the ivy on top of the wall.

Fortunately she was only sitting on one, very old egg (we marked it and kept removing the new laid eggs)

Now safely shut in the top section of the double decker hutch she and husband Chancellor the Serama share.

 He's now downstairs, and NOT happy!

Fleck is at least 8 years old, if not older, and I thought was well past all this hormonal nonsense!

Wednesday 23 August 2023

Razor Blade of Life Blog party

Had a lovely long weekend away at Z's Blog party, over in Norfolk.

I have really struggled to do very much for the last few years, since getting Covid in March 2020 (then Long Covid, then getting Covid again in 2021, and July 2022, despite being multiple jabbed as a "vulnerable" person)

So it was fab to get away on the train, (can't drive that far any more)

Left Ledbury at 10 am, arrived in Norwich at 3.15 pm

Z and her sister Wink were as lovely as I remembered, the house is as fab as Z described, and the whole weekend was just amazing. 

I also met blog friends and Fb friends in real life, and it really cheered me up. 

And reminded me just why I used to blog, and made me want to revisit blogging, although maybe not as often as I used to. 

I hope I was a helpful guest, as well.

Still v tired from train journey back, but felt I wanted to start blogging again. 
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