I have a problem.
I like to garden. It's in my roots.
You know this.
You know this despite the fact that I never posted any photos from this year's garden: ie, the "before/newly planted/thriving" photos that I've done for the past couple of years.
Well I planted a garden this year despite ignoring the photos. (i did take the photos, mind you.)
This year I added a whole extra terrace to my garden. It has been my master plan all along to spread out the garden year by year. Well. I did it. And then I planned it all wrong and didn't buy enough plants for my expanded space. I should have bought double the amount of tomato plants. Maybe triple. Then I could have canned them all later, like a real farm girl. (uh, i might not have canned them...i might have just given them away... jury's out.) Well, that was the start of the mayhem. Too much space, not enough plants. Whatever. I wasn't really bothered by it. So along I went, feeding, watering, weeding my garden. March, April, May, several setbacks with deer eating all the tallish stalks off the tomato plants... June... more deer problems...
Despite the pesky deer, in June, I ought to have started getting some Tomatoes. And Squash. And Zucchini. (since i planted those too.)
Except the weather decided not to cooperate and gave us an extended winter with bouts of sunshine thrown in to tease us. July... I finally spied one ripe little tomato and several ripening ones! Yippee! A few days later I went to pick the tomatoes that surely should have been ready for a-pickin'... BUT THEY WERE GONE. Not only were the ripe ones gone, but also any quasi-ripe ones, and several just-plain-green ones.
My blood ran cold in my veins as I glowered at the barren spots on my carefully tended garden. BLARGH! Then I saw the discarded fruits strewn across my yard with only nibbles taken out of them...
The bastard Racoons were back! I'd been hearing them in my fig tree for weeks, but hadn't thought they'd go for the tomatoes, after all they'd mostly left them alone last summer. I was wrong.
Those little Rat Finks have cleaned me out this summer. Every time a tomato begins to grow to decent size, they get snatched! I've tried the repellant sprays. (In fact, tonight I got a new one that's like pepper spray for rodents. I sprayed it all around the plants and hopefully it keeps them away!!!)
The point of this story is this:
1. I don't have any bloody tomatoes this summer despite my best efforts.
2. I hate Racoons. HATE. Loathe. They are disgusting vermin. They're smart and will get even with you if you try to scare them away. Trust me. I now understand why Farmers shoot them. If I had a shotgun, I would shoot them dead and dump their bodies in a dumpster. (Too bad it's illegal in CA to shoot them... freaking hippies!)
3. UGH!
I like to garden. It's in my roots.
You know this.
You know this despite the fact that I never posted any photos from this year's garden: ie, the "before/newly planted/thriving" photos that I've done for the past couple of years.
Well I planted a garden this year despite ignoring the photos. (i did take the photos, mind you.)
This year I added a whole extra terrace to my garden. It has been my master plan all along to spread out the garden year by year. Well. I did it. And then I planned it all wrong and didn't buy enough plants for my expanded space. I should have bought double the amount of tomato plants. Maybe triple. Then I could have canned them all later, like a real farm girl. (uh, i might not have canned them...i might have just given them away... jury's out.) Well, that was the start of the mayhem. Too much space, not enough plants. Whatever. I wasn't really bothered by it. So along I went, feeding, watering, weeding my garden. March, April, May, several setbacks with deer eating all the tallish stalks off the tomato plants... June... more deer problems...
Despite the pesky deer, in June, I ought to have started getting some Tomatoes. And Squash. And Zucchini. (since i planted those too.)
Except the weather decided not to cooperate and gave us an extended winter with bouts of sunshine thrown in to tease us. July... I finally spied one ripe little tomato and several ripening ones! Yippee! A few days later I went to pick the tomatoes that surely should have been ready for a-pickin'... BUT THEY WERE GONE. Not only were the ripe ones gone, but also any quasi-ripe ones, and several just-plain-green ones.
My blood ran cold in my veins as I glowered at the barren spots on my carefully tended garden. BLARGH! Then I saw the discarded fruits strewn across my yard with only nibbles taken out of them...
The bastard Racoons were back! I'd been hearing them in my fig tree for weeks, but hadn't thought they'd go for the tomatoes, after all they'd mostly left them alone last summer. I was wrong.
Those little Rat Finks have cleaned me out this summer. Every time a tomato begins to grow to decent size, they get snatched! I've tried the repellant sprays. (In fact, tonight I got a new one that's like pepper spray for rodents. I sprayed it all around the plants and hopefully it keeps them away!!!)
The point of this story is this:
1. I don't have any bloody tomatoes this summer despite my best efforts.
2. I hate Racoons. HATE. Loathe. They are disgusting vermin. They're smart and will get even with you if you try to scare them away. Trust me. I now understand why Farmers shoot them. If I had a shotgun, I would shoot them dead and dump their bodies in a dumpster. (Too bad it's illegal in CA to shoot them... freaking hippies!)
3. UGH!
I like this blog post for two reasons:
ReplyDelete1. I can relate to the rodent invasion - mine was squirrels and even though they don't technically qualify as rodents, I don't like them, so they are rodents.
2. The use of 'bloody' when describing the lack of tomatoes - an expression I frequently use and is part of my DNA. Bloody brilliant, I say!
My father went to GreatClips and got a bag full of trimmed human hair from the trash can. He then sprinkled it around the plants and on the soil and it kept the rabbits and racoons away. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Definitely worth trying! Thanks for the suggestion Jacqui. :)
ReplyDelete