K wrote:
"Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" writes
A previous thread had the guts of a good discussion on people's different
opinions on whether we gardeners are working with Nature or controlling it.
My Garden is for my pleasure and that fact that the birds and bees like it
is a bye product. I do think that the weeds feel they have been subjected to
unfair control and claim I am not working with Nature.

Ah. Now my pleasure in my garden is greatly increased by the presence of
birds, bees, damsel flies, frogs, newts, bats. And while I am not
immediately enthused by aphids and bugs, I know their presence
contributes to the number of birds, bats, frogs etc, and so I tolerate
them.


Heh - I'll go one better. We've got a brown rat who lives under the
water butt. My husband is immensely fond of him and has named him Mr
Rat, and we all seem to live together quite happily; it's a good thing
our cats aren't allowed outdoors.

You can't really avoid rats living in the country. We've got a farm
next door, so in season the fields are full of corn, and out of season
our neighbours' chickens are being fed lots of nutritious grain. Along
with the bird food and the leavings from the pub on the other side of
our house, I suspect Mr Rat has a more varied and interesting diet than
I do.

--
www.gastronomydomine.com