I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!! For the past five years, I have raised a garden for the pleasure of my groundhogs(who live iln a big thicket above my garden). At first, we split it, but as the groundhog colony grew (grandchildren and great-grandchildren),the portion of my garden that they dug up, gobbled and carried home has increased. Last year, I got three ears of corn and a few tomatoes pocked with craters from groundhog teeth. I put up a fence and they tunneled under it. I hauled huge rocks and piled them around the fence; they dug deeper. I don't think they climb over....they are too fat. So maybe I'll lose this year, too, but it will be a grand battle. Jack (my jack russell) and I are ready. SADDLE UP!I'll have more to say about this after the "Liar's Bench" program on June 5th.
Lotsa luck Gary! In my battle with the critters I've discovered the only thing that helps is if the neighbor's stuff looks better than mine. But here in Utah the tomatoes don't ripen 'til September and the first snow is in the forecast. So I've given up and started looking for more green tomato recipes. One interesting thing I tried with keeping critters from eating my tomatoes that worked reasonably well was hanging red Christmas balls (yes, the kind you put on a decorated tree) on the plants. Then they presumably try to bite into them and "dang, they're too hard to eat" thoughts pop into their little heads and they leave your HARD tomatoes alone. Wonder what kind of stories are going through your head right now?
ReplyDeleteI am getting some strange advice. One friend suggested that hair would work. Suggested that Igo to the local barbershop and get a sack of hair clippings and spread them around the garden. Then, there is epson salts. I have already bought some.
ReplyDeleteAnother friend told me that Office Depot was selling "Critter Ridder" (I think) and offered to buy a sack and send it to me. Whirley-gigs. Scare crows. loud music. sn electric fence. Then, there were the humane folks who suggested trapping them and hauling them five miles away. Or my realistic friend who offered his services as a paid assassin. I could go to the library and stay while he did the dirty deed...just like one of those gun-for-hire hit men in a movie.
Well, I have to say that the model for your picture looks to be thriving on your fare.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Gary! I've never heard of anyone winning against a woodchuck except by sheer force of arms, a painful victory. May there be a better way! :-)
ReplyDeleteCatherine