It is my little garden, containing a few tomato plants, some pole beans, squash, zucchini, green peppers, and assorted herbs. It's not much, but it keeps me happy and busy weeding and watching. I really think gardening is as effective as therapy, with the added bonus of having something to eat for all your efforts. So you can imagine my frustration when I found that my rectangle of tranquility had been invaded:
Even with the chicken wire fence, a generous dose of red pepper flakes applied to the base of plants, and mint plants scattered throughout (which are supposed to deter rodents and rabbits) something still managed to get in and attack the first almost ripe grape tomato. And didn't even have the decency to finish it! I am researching no-kill traps and seriously considering my grandfather's method of pest control - catch them and them drive them out to the middle of nowhere and let them go. Either that our I'm buying an air rifle and going Bill Murray in "Caddyshack" on them ("License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote."). Casey thinks we should set up a video camera out there to catch the culprit, but he hasn't quite thought through who would man the camera and what exactly we would do once we caught said culprit on video.
See, I have finally conquered my fear of water-bath canning, and I have big plans to put up as much of my garden's fruits as I can, so this thief is really stealing food from children. It should be ashamed of itself. I've made strawberry preserves and pickles, and am anxiously waiting for tomatoes to come in so I can make sauces and salsa.
So if anyone has any new suggestions on how to keep my garden party crasher out, I'm open. I'm not taking this lightly. I will not stand by and let my rectangle of tranquility be violated!
P.S. Thanks for all the kind words about Ani. I think we're healing a little everyday, and hearing from others who have been through this helps so much. Thank you.
1 comment:
Jen, try "blood meal" - that worked when I had rabbits and I got it at my local feed/seed store. You sprinkle around the entire perimeter and have to replace after a rain. Okay, you gotta tell me how to do the canning and your recipe for making pickles. You are brave! C
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