Heather, I'm relieved to find out that diatomaceous earth does not harm earthworms. It makes sense that DE would last in the soil for decades, since fossils don't decay quickly, but the directions tell us to renew the application following rain or watering. Hmmm. That wouldn't be just so we'll buy more DE, would it?? Safer's Slug and Snail Bait works for me, too. Don't know why I forgot to mention it in an earlier post. Probably because I don't see the gratifyingly instant results that I do with ammonia. I used to go slug hunting, late at night, armed with a flashlight, long-handled tweezers and a bucket of boiling water. (I'm surprised the neighbours never called the police! I must have looked quite suspicious!!) I'd pluck the beasts off my plants and watch them disintegrate when I dropped each one into the bucket. I knew the water needed reheating whenever I saw slugs start to escape up the sides. After a night of hunting, I disposed of the carcasses in the back alley, so the birds would have a feast the next day. Once, however, I guess the water had cooled off too much by the time I had caught the last batch for the night. I threw the slug water into the back alley and went to bed. The next day, my DH went to the alley for some reason, and he soon called me over. Not only had many slugs survived the "hot" bath, but all of them were crawling back towards my yard!!! Needless to say, they didn't make it. ;o)

Not sure if this is the same type but here is an article i found, i furst heard of this last year that they were nesting. We can have some cold winters but they survuve. The bird's squawk sounds like a cross between a chirp and the hee-haw screech of a rusty pump. Its bright green plumage clashes with the dignified church steeples and ivy-covered bricks of its Hyde Park neighborhood. For 22 years, feral monk parakeets have lived in this southern part of Chicago, draping their twiggy nests over tree branches, electrical poles, roof rafters, and satellite dishes. This raucous caucus of about 200 birds is the coldest, and perhaps the oldest, colony of monk parakeets in the United States. But should this species, introduced from South America, live wild in Illinois? The monk parakeet, also known as the Quaker or gray-headed parakeet or parrot, was imported for the pet trade during the late sixties and early seventies. From 1968 to 1972, for example, more than 64,000 were brought to the United States from their native Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Since enactment of the Wild Bird Conservation Act in 1992, however, it has been illegal to import wild members of the species. First seen locally at a Blue Island, Illinois, bird feeder in 1968, a pair of monks nested, hatched a few offspring, and disappeared in 1970. Three years later, a compound nest was discovered in Hinsdale. That same year, 1973, the Hyde Park colony got its start. The birds probably escaped from pet stores and residences, accord-ing to Stephen Pruett-Jones and other biologists at the University of Chicago who have studied the birds. The rumor that they escaped from a shipping crate at O'Hare has not been substantiated and was probably appropriated from New York, where an escape at Kennedy airport was documented in 1967. Some defenestrations may not have been accidental. Not everyone appreciates the birds' constant loud chatter, which consists of 11 kinds of shrill calls and whistles in addition to local sounds they imitate. About a foot in length, slightly larger than a cockatiel, the monk parakeet is a flamboyant, highly social bird. The monastic reference in its scientific name, Myiopsitta monachus, derives from the hood of green feathers that covers its head and neck, set off by a gray face and yellowish breast. The rest of the bird, whether male or female, is chartreuse green except for its orange beak and a fringe of blue feathers on its tail and wings. The Hyde Park colony has survived Chicago's nastiest weather, a significant feat since the bird originates in the temperate, dry lowlands of South America. This is the harshest climate the birds survive anywhere in the world, according to Pruett-Jones. They do exist further north, in Amsterdam and Paris, for example, and during the 1980s they bred in Montreal, but only in the Chicago area do they currently withstand windstorms and ice baths, rain, snow, hail, and temperatures far below zero. Some farmers and conservationists wonder whether a bird that can adapt from Argentina to Illinois may become as common as the starling, which increased from 120 individuals to 200 million in a century, and wreak havoc with American crops as well as local species. Monk parakeets have fed on fields of wheat and corn in South America and fruit orchards in Florida.

You could make your own family favorite recipe and use 1/2 c. oil and 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce. PUMPKIN BREAD Combine 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 c. granulated sugar, 1 c. pumpkin, 1/2 c. vegetable oil, and 2 eggs and beat well. Stir in 2 c. flour, 1 t. soda and 1 t. each salt, nutmeg and cinnamon, 1/4 t. ginger and mix well. Stir in 1 c. raisins, 1/2 c. chopped nuts and 1/4 c. water. Spoon into well oiled 9x5-inch loaf pan. Bake at 350-degrees for 65-75 minutes. CIDER PUMPKIN BREAD (Source: Pillsbury Best Muffins & Quick Breads) 1 c. firmly packed brown sugar 1 cup canned pumpkin 1/2 c. oil 1/2 c. apple cider or apple juice 1 egg 1\-3/4 c. all\-purpose flour 1/2 c. whole wheat flour 3 t. baking powder 1\-1/2 t. cinnamon 1/2 c. chopped nuts 1/2 c. raisins Heat oven to 350\-degrees F. Grease and flour bottom only of 9x5\-inch loaf pan. In large bowl, combine brown sugar, pumpkin, oil, apple cider and egg; mix well. Add all\-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and cinnamon; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in nuts and raisins. Pour into greased and floured pan. Bake at 350\-degrees F for 55\-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10\-minutes; remove from pan. Cool 1 hour or until completely cooled. Wrap tightly and store in refrigerator. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We're having these for breakfast this morning... Source: Mostly Muffins \- by Barbara Albright and Leslie Weiner. PUMPKIN PIE MUFFINS 2 c. all\-purpose flour (I use Irish Whole Meal Flour) 3/4 c. firmly packed dark\-brown sugar (I use1/2 c. palm sugar) 1\-1/2 t. baking powder 1/4 t. baking soda 1/2 t. salt 1 t. ground cinnamon 1/2 t. ground ginger 1/4 t. ground cloves 1/8 t. ground nutmeg (Grainlady note: I substitute 2 t. pumpkin pie spice for the cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg) 3/4 c. canned pumpkin 1/2 c. lightly salted butter, melted and cooled 1/4 c. buttermilk 2 eggs, lightly beaten 3 T. molasses 1 t. vanilla 3/4 c. coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts 3/4 c. chopped pitted dates Preheat oven to 400\-degrees F. Grease twelve 3x1\-1/4 inch muffin cups. In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg. In another bowl, stir together pumpkin, butter, buttermilk, eggs, molasses, and vanilla until blended. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; add pumpkin mixture and stir just to combine. Stir in pecans and dates. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups; bake 20\-25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in center of one muffin comes out clean. Remove muffin tin or tins to wire rack. Cool 5 minutes before removing muffins from cups; finish cooling on rack. Serve them or cool completely and store in an airtight container at room temperature. These muffins freeze very well. \-Grainlady

If it is the only spot with enough sun, and you don't mind a bit of disorder or choose some of the more ornamental support structures and plants, it might work out well. If you do a search for parterres you may get some ideas on plants and arrangements to help make it attractive. Check out Redbor kale (the only veggie I have grow that causes neighbors to stop to ask for an ID) or Bright Lights Swiss chard. I find both pea plants and some of the larger cherry tomato plants attractive, and if grown up a pretty trellis would look nice. My experience is that a solid barrier or air space are really the only things that keep roots out of good soil. I had maple roots grow up through the drain holes to fill an entire half barrel planter, so when I replaced it, I set them either up on bricks or in a shallow saucer. So rather than a traditional raised bed, consider large free-standing containers that can be set either on a solid barrier on the soil surface or raised up to leave at least an inch of air space. Just remember that the solid base can't be built in since the bed will still need to drain and roots will grow up into the soil through drainage holes. They will also need more attention to moisture and soil fertility and texture since you will be working in a container garden rather than a typical raised bed.