[iwantanallotment]

Bob Flowerdew puts roadkill & other dead animals in his 

I'd really have to draw the line at that.

[oldbean]

No problem, just have a plastic bag in the car for when you manage to hit something.

[iwantanallotment]

I don't ever plan to hit anything, oldbean.

And if by some tragic event I did, it certainly wouldn't be put in my compost bin to fester, and be shovelled about as it's turned 

[peapod]

I don't ever plan to hit anything, oldbean.

And if by some tragic event I did, it certainly wouldn't be put in my compost bin to fester, and be shovelled about as it's turned 

Shiver!

[iwantanallotment]

have a plastic bag in the car for when you manage to hit something.

Apart from popping the corpse into compost bins to fester, I'm really offended by the above statement.

"MANAGE" to hit something?  What kind of mentality, apart from teenage boys after their first pint, thinks this way? ie to go out deliberately trying to mow something down?

Are old ladies fair game? I hear they're very slow jumping lights, and would make a ton of compost per corpse....

OK, I've said my bit and going away now. Soz for overreacting, but I actually knew people who thought this way and it's not good 

If i misread you oldbean I apologise - but don't think I did. That word "manage" said it all.

[Paul Plots]

I discovered a dead rat just below the soil  as I forked through a new plot during the early spring. I can only imagine that it had been in the compost that I loaded from the compost heap into my wheelbarrow and then dug in during the winter.

Tail appeared first then the rest of it... I was so pleased I had discovered it with the fork and not when I was digging out small planting holes for something like broad-bean plants as I often do this with my hands if the soil is friable...

Dead anything, if you come across it mixed in with the compost, is not that pleasant 

[oldbean]

If i misread you oldbean I apologise - but don't think I did. That word "manage" said it all.

Yes you did misread, and your reply told volumes. This is only a forum, what happens in real life when you object to something said?

[oldbean]

I don't ever plan to hit anything, oldbean.

Really? I plan not to hit things.

[DD.]

If i misread you oldbean I apologise - but don't think I did. That word "manage" said it all.

Yes you did misread, and your reply told volumes. This is only a forum, what happens in real life when you object to something said?

I read it the same way. "Manage" is a deliberate act, "Accidentally" would have been a far better choice of wording.

Please keep replies on a friendly level.

[Aunt Sally]

I think oldbean may be heading for the compost heap too 

[gameman]

I say that because we dont compost at home (live in a flat with no means to compost)

[BobandJack]

Don't know whether ants in the compost are good or not but they don't "harvest" aphids as someone suggests; they farm them.  i.e. they collect the honeydew that the aphids produce from sucking on the plant sap & in return they offer some protection from predators, not sure whether it's a true symbiotic relationship but it's close enough 

[rideandy]

Don't know whether ants in the compost are good or not but they don't "harvest" aphids as someone suggests; they farm them.  i.e. they collect the honeydew that the aphids produce from sucking on the plant sap & in return they offer some protection from predators, not sure whether it's a true symbiotic relationship but it's close enough 

Great thanks

[kopperdrake]

OK this is probably a really stupid question but could you add the pelleted chicken manure or would it not help things at all?

I don't have chooks  so I don't have any fresh stuff!

Do you have any horses around? I did a deal with a lady with donkeys near us, swapped some fresh veg for a few bags of donkey manure which is nicely rotting away in a corner now

[Shamps]

re:the ants.   I was just having a little read of my gardening book and noticed just a bit about ants and how the building of an ants nest aerates the soil (but may kill the plant above)