Evening Westi,
Well they have certainly churned up the compost in the bin and they seem to have eaten all of the kitchen waste (no animal products) so the level has not risen despite a few months of "feeding " the bin. I will give the bin a kick every time I pass ! Thanks for your reply.

My question is " how safe will it be to use compost from my compost bin in which a (or more) rats have been living over the winter"?

Oldherbaceous and Westi Afternoon both and thanks for your replies The raised beds were in fact brand new last year , so no rotting wood. The "attacks" to the fruit only started after a layer of straw was put down to keep the soil spashes off the berries , so in theory, my attempts to prot...

Can anyone please advise me on how to control a woodlice infestation in my strawberry patch which is in a raised bed. I lost many berries last year from these little pests.

tigerburnie Just picked up your post and watched the video. Those are some hefty bits of wood you have used but they certainly seem to work ok. Interesting that you have not initially filled the beds with soil (likewise Colin judging by the "soilmark" in his pictures) I would have made the...

Good suggestion regarding scorching wood. There are many YouTube videos of people building cabins in the US. Canada , Alaska and Scandinavian countries where scorching is the preferred choice for "raw" wood preservation. Might give that a go,

Thank you both for your replies. I had thought about lining the boards as a " belt and braces" security against chemical leakage into the soil. Likewise about using scaffolding boards - they could be a possibilty depending on any other advice I may receive on using decking.

Advancing years and knee problems have now resulted in me considering the use of raised beds in the veggie garden. Having considered buying some of the commercially produced kits, and having been put off by the price, I am considering making some of my own using standard decking boards. Regulations ...

Many thanks for the replies. I have also had a similar problem to Monika in that I keep finding the empty bags in places far away from the veggie patch. Perhaps I will have to change from using Tetley to those used by Monika or loose leaves as suggested by Geoff. I will keep investigating as I am su...

My family uses a lot of tea bags which end up in our compost bins. Unfortunately, when the bins are emptied and the contents scattered throughout the veggie garden, we are left with the unsightly view of the empty bags which have not rotted owing to them containing polyproylene. My questions are, wi...

That sounds very logical and and confirms what I have found out since posting my original query. Just goes to show that no matter how long one has been gardening, you never stop learning. Thanks Geoff.

I have, over many years, been an enthusiastic user of well rotted horse manure on the veggie plot with reasonable results. I have read recently that there are some "experts" that now say that although the manure is a good/excellent soil conditioner, it should only be used sparingly on the ...

Hi Sally, Now that's interesting and would certainly explain why they were in the waterbutt. Also explains why I encountered few surface worms when digging in the veg plot a couple of days ago until I reached a spade's depth when more were in evidence. I did in fact tip the original worms into a com...

If you have a large garden centre near to where you live, perhaps they have a "plant identification" service. Worth checking.

judyk and Monika - thanks for your thoughts. The butt is lidded but not sealed so I am assuming that the worms smelt water and made their way up the side of the butt. There were so many of them, I did in fact refer to them as a "writhing mass of animal life" in a previous post as there wer...