Compost

I have one of those compost bins that the council were giving out to householders. Green and shaped like a Darlik without arms. I haven't touched the compost for a year and was expecting to find it all friable and easy to get out. Was I wrong. Oh yes it was good compost but almost impossible to get out of the small door at ground level. I felt like a fireman on an old fashioned steam train as I tried to shovel it out. Eventually with the aid of a hoe and a crow bar I got about a third out and onto the garden. Then I tried to push the top two thirds down. No! It just wasn't going to go. In the end I had to get the crowbar onto it again and eventually after a struggle I succeeded. I really need a proper compost bin made of wooden slats in a square shape so that I can turn the compost regularly!

In the struggles I managed to dislodge a baby stick insect from a neighbouring tree. Poor little thing probably wondered what had happened to it! I have found a couple of adult stick insects in the past and am now wondering if I have a colony somewhere in the garden. Do stick insects fly?