Moving House - Should I / Could I take my Compost Bin?

[Oodiks]

I'm moving house and I've got a compost bin in my garden so I'm wondering whether to take it and how to deal with the uncomposted compost? Should I just leave it for the new owners?

Do you have room for it in your new garden? Would you purchase a new one with more features?

There's room in the new garden. One thing that bothers me is that where I am now the compost bin is a long way from any houses, but it would be closer to houses at the new place and I'm concerned about rats... Do they make rat proof compost bins, that would be a feature worth spending money on!

Take the bin, leave the compost.

If you don't put food in, it shouldn't attract rats or make any significant smell. If you want to compost food as well as garden waste get a bokashi bin or wormery for that

Rats don’t like disturbance. If you are suspicious, turn the compost.

I don’t know whether there’s any basis to this, but I’d take a bag of the compost as a “starter”, to introduce the microbes and fungi that are doing-so well for you into the new heap.

Spread the rest as a mulch. Less likely to elicit complaints from a non-gardener than a pile.