Plenty of Gas and Yummy Stew
I don't know what I had put into the food waste bin this week, but overnight gas production seems to have doubled. I suspect it was likely the vinegar left over after all the gherkins were eaten - acetic acid is like rocket fuel for anaerobic digesters. So, plenty of gas and a cold, wet evening means only one thing: a yummy stew! As I have put the burner in the greenhouse (adds heat and carbon dioxide, is my theory), the best thing to do is to throw everything in a pan, cover it up and leave it burning on low.
If it is not raining too hard or I feel I am losing the 'critter battle', this gives me a great opportunity to go slug and snail hunting. I find that the neighbours don't appreciate having such creatures slung into their gardens and I begin to feel quite ill if I have to crush them or hear them crash as they hit the road out front. And, in any case, the slugs this year are so huge that they are big enough to argue, if I try to throw one. In true 'greenie' style, I have tried having harsh words with them, but I think they are territorial and the biggest ones get the opportunity to decimate the juciest garden vegetables. However, it is no problem to gather them up on a trowel and plop them into the nice warm bath that is the digester hopper. More on how they come out in another installment.
This probably has the unfortunate side effect of turning my digester into some kind of Animal By-Products processing equipment under ABPR regulations, but I feel I might actually be winning the Slug Wars.
Cabbage Whites are next!