Thanks, Mike. Tell Dale I said Hi! The tractor is open to ground on the bottom. The condition of my backyard is such that there is Not Much Grass anywhere. I don't think a few brown patches will matter. My mom runs a chicken ranch, with about 200 birds loose in the barn yard. One of the biggest reasons that my chickens stay confined! I already got a boot scraper. I rake a day after the tractor has moved, and I have been running a pretty big compost heap since we moved in. I also use pine shavings and cover any 'deposites', whether in the nest box, or on the ground. When I rake, I'm pretty vigorous at removing 'deposites'. I do have a few revisions to do. I gave them a dowl, not realizing that their feet don't grasp and that they would be much happier with a 2x2 for a roost. We are fixing that in the coming days. Where I am, it doesn't rain. We get MAYBE 10 inches a year if we hold our mouth right... Since I only have a handful of chickens, I don't feed large amounts of table scrapes, I'm figuring out what they will and will not eat. At first I only give a nibble. If two are interested, they might get a half cup of whatever. If all five come out and fight, they might get a cup. This ensures that by nightfall, most all of it is gone. I have found that my regs limit me to 12 hens, (TWELVE!) and I can get four turkey hens or geese or 12 rabbits on top of that!!! I won't get rabbits as I am highly allergic. But I was pretty impressed I can have 7 more girls! I'm not cultivating grass in my back yard. For the most part, if it wouldn't be totally a muddy mess for 2 months and a dust bowl the rest of the time, I would strip it down to dirt. More room for Sans, Brugs, and tomatos!!! Thanks Mike.

They make a granulated bait (similar to snail bait) that's geared toward pillbugs, earwigs and grasshoppers. Works wonders! I used to find mine in local nurseries and even some drug stores. My best earwig control so far are the bunches of little tree frogs in the GH. Man, can those little guys eat! A good spraying and soaking with Conserve will take care of thrips, probably also spider mites (I'd have to dredge up the container and read the label to find out what all it kills). Smell isn't bad at all. As for emptying a heavy tub of water in the house, you might try to find a very tiny sump pump thing. My DH used to have several he used to drain our koi breeding tank. Submerse the little pump in the bucket, run a short hose to wherever (sink?) and plug it in and let it do its thing. Emptying using a gallon juice container would also work, but would require several trips to the sink until the tub was empty enough to lift, and if you're like me, the floor would require mopup from all the dribbles and spills. I also have one of those "bump out" bay windows in the living room where I keep my phals. No lights on them so far, haven't figured out how to do that without ticking my DH off big time. They seem to get just enough light reflected from the white house across the way to grow and bloom, but the growth and blooms are nothing like they used to be in the GH. How about those long grow lights (like fluorescent tubes?) on a stand? Not cheap, but should keep light directed downward enough not to reflect too badly into the room. You do have a project coming up, for sure! Sharon

I just came across this thread and thought I could add ideas. I fought the rat battles for 3 or 4 years, collecting over 80 rats in snap traps along the way (yes, I actually kept count). I tried most everything and have concluded that there is only one effective, sustainable solution: eliminate their food sources. They WILL move into your home if there is food nearby, and if not, they will eventually move on (some of my neighbors are now fighting the rat battles). At one point, the rats were so intent on using my attic as home and breeding grounds that, after I sealed off all access points, they literally ate a hole in a cedar shake to regain access. That's when I concluded that you really can't block all access routes - you have to eliminate there reason for wanting to be there. For me, it was mostly bird feeders. I intend to follow up on scarleta's post about the $100 bird feeder. I miss the birds, but each time I put the feeders back up, the rats are back. I've been without feeders for a year, and the only time the rats returned is when I started putting food scraps into my unsecured compost bin. Good luck!

The only parts of Arkansas that have Japanese Beetles at present are Benton and Washington Counties. They don't seem to be a problem anywhere else in the state. Looks like Springfield/Joplin areas have an outbreak. They are usually worst the first couple of years, then kind of settle down a bit. They also depend on a wet late summer to get a good hatch for the eggs to become grubs. These grubs live over the winter in a grassy area and emerge in June as beetles. Of course, lawns and golf courses which get irrigation will get a good hatch no matter what the weather holds. Beetles can be killed with sevin dust, or a systemic containing imidacloprid on trees/shrubs which are being eaten by JB. Here's a good link to a publication from the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service: http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSA-7062.pdf I've had good luck getting rid of slugs and snails by putting a piece of scrap plywood on bare ground near my garden. The slugs will hide under the board during the day and slime out at night. Every couple of days, I pull back the board and pick off the slugs. Of course, this is somewhat nasty, but I don't have to worry about putting out slug bait or wasting perfectly good beer :o)