This is the worst time of the year for small rodents. The juvenile are dispersing, and floppy rabbit fence with hot wire, that keeps adults at bay, does not work as well with the small ones. Regrettably I had to kill a small ground hog today, but not before 36 broccoli and about 20 collards got destroyed (groundhogs always eat the broccoli first, and eat the heart first), all kale and chicory got trimmed, and various other plants got sampled.

Other than that the rain forest climate is not helpful. I have always kept pristine brassica but what is the point of spraying BT if it washes off the same night? The cabbage moths have never had it so good.

Please send some rain my way in south Texas. Temp in backyard today was 107. Squash and cucumbers appear paralyzed and tomatoes are pretty much dead. Only the okra and basil are happy. Not even any bugs seen. Too hot!

How about container gardening? That would take care of a couple of your problems. You could put something like hardware cloth on the bottom of any big wooden containers.

Gardening is one of those love-hate things. I HATE weeding. And out here in the country we grow weeds big enough for firewood! Fortunately, my husband loves to weed. (I don't understand it, but I'm grateful, 'cause I HATE IT!).

We finally put up a really sturdy, decent fence, so now the bunnies and deer don't ruin it. But we still have the squash bugs/drought or floods, etc.
Gardens can be alot of work, and cause alot of angst/frustration. Hopefully, at the end of summer, its more good than bad for you! Hang in there!

She's just ranting... Sunnibel wouldn't know what to do without gardening.

C'mon Sunni! Surely you have more to complain about. All i have ATM is the 100F temps and a monsoon in the Pacific somewhere. But, I like YOUR rant. More please!

;)

Kevin

Well that was pretty much it for ranting. (Seriously, isn't that enough for a 7 day stretch?) I could say that it's hard to garden without plants, which surely seems to be the case for the corn and cowpeas this year, but some things are holding their own so far. I have seen a few strange things, like a salamander crossing my driveway in the full sun yesterday (took it to the woods, I feared it would crisp long before it got there on its own), or a very large slug curled up on top of an egg in the hen house (we're down to one laying hen, the other having suffered heat stroke the other day- she was a little old and a little large, alas), the hen apparently ignoring it this morning. Oh, and we lost the dog's favorite ball down the woodchuck hole. Perhaps the woodchuck will return it, they don't like strange things in their burrows.

Anyway, it is just a rant. Glib's post gave me a warm fuzzy, because truly, misery does love company. Mostly I'm just overwhelmed because everything is happening at once. I've just gone from feeling like maybe things would be sort smooth to not knowing which way to jump first. For example, I put stakes in for my tomato cages today since the storm yesterday knocked them all over but got so distract chasing down various other things that I never tied the cages to the stakes.

It is true, I would not know what to do without gardening. Maybe take up air traffic control as a hobby? Something mildly complicated like that. :)

If I remember anything about the psychology class I had in college it was when the prof said "Misery loves miserable company". How true! It makes us feel less "special" :)

I hope your dog gets his ball back. You might see baby groundhogs playing with it.

LOL... good stuff Sunnibel!

One thing I've noticed about you though since I joined GW is that you're a problem solver and usually have a pretty good disposition to problems. Things will turn around soon.

If it makes you feel any better, I found some Powdery Mildew yesterday. But... I also saw a ladybug larva for the first time in my garden. So, lose, and then a win.

As you always say, "Cheers!"

:)

Kevin

Yes, I actually do feel better. Both for the support and for just having said my piece. :) It truly was that all of these things popped up in a seven day stretch, coupled with some very high humidity.

So far I've killed a mole, which will help save the rest of the squash, and if I'm lucky and it's the same mole that was frequenting the main garden, all of the other large plants. If that's the case, I can collapse those tunnels in the garden, and they won't pop back up, forcing the voles into the straw mulch where the cat CAN get them. The woodchuck hasn't made a reappearance yet and I saw fox sign around the den entrances, so perhaps nature is lending a helping hand there. The rabbit, eh well, it doesn't seem wedded to the garden for browsing, so who knows. Rabbits come and go anyway. We didn't get the ball back, but we have more of those too. Apocolpyse averted. (We may need yet to build that ark, however.). :) cheers!

Thank you so much for the laugh sunnibel.

It is comforting to know I am not the only one battling wildlife. I don't know you, but can only imagine if you are like me you are randomly yelling at creatures that border your garden. Threatening, pleading with, bartering with, finally yelling various profanities and threatening to kill them.... ahh, the joys of gardening. Thank goodness I have no neighbors to hear me, I can only imagine what they would think seeing as my kids have name half the animals around so I am usually yelling a name at the time ;-)

You are not alone, sunnibel! I was so excited my husband tilled a large garden for me. I planted a new pack of Country Gentleman corn. 4 rows about 8 feet long. I kept them well watered. Only 12 corn plants came up. I really hurt my back planting the seeds. They still look poopy. My husband moved the chicken tractor a few months ago and lo and behold corn and tomato plants appeared. We had fed them corn and tomatoes. They look better than the ones I planted and babied. It is so much fun to watch a chicken eat corn on the cob! The plants really love the chicken poop. I guess I will have to add that to my compost pile. I planted a hugel for the first time. The plants were growing leaps and bounds and then the bugs found them. My poor Cherokee Purple was the worst hit. It seemed to be the healthiest plant in the garden. I had a cute white butterfly (that I wished I would have killed) flitting around my garden. All of the sudden I had about 100 tiny caterpillars eating my tomatoes, dahlias and whatever else it could get to. So sad. I hand picked and squished them all. Then the inch worms and horn worms found them. Then the squash bugs. I've learned to carry my nippers with me daily. They sure come in handy to cut bugs in half. I haven't been able to eat a single Roma tomato yet. The stink bugs have stung them all. I won't give up tho! Gardening is my passion! I have gotten several nice tomatoes off of my Cherokee Purple and she is coming back nicely from the bug attack. My Wild Fred is puny, but it has produced several nice fruits. Ah! The joy of venting!!

I am so thankful this island does not have groundhogs. That alone is perhaps a good enough reason not to leave here seeking a larger property - I'd simply be buying a passle of groundhogs!

Most other rodents are present though. Rabbits so far have not done significant damage in 16 years of gardening, although their numbers have gone from seemingly absent to pretty numerous. Field mice ate about 25% of my potatoes last fall. I see the mole-tunnels but I don't notice damage to plants from them. Insects are the biggest problem for me, notably the Big Three: colorado potato beetle; imported cabbage moth; and mexican bean beetle.

The first MBB I see this year I am going to order the parasitic wasp and try it out.

My succinct rant: cucumber beetles-$%##@!!.

My rants involve bugs-green caterpillars in particular. Yesterday the wrong caterpillar chose the wrong lady's spearmint....
I have a soft spot for cottontail rabbits and I always feed them. I have never had any of them eat my garden.
Oh, there was one baby a few years ago who hopped up and ate a potted eggplant but she was so cute I couldn't be mad. She looked proud. Sweet baby.

The moles are not eating the roots of plants. They never, ever eat plants. They are insectivores and eat ONLY soil insects like earthworms and pill bugs.

I guess you were reading my first post? I didn't mean that they had eaten the roots, but rather had tunneled through them in a zig-zag pattern that disturbed so many roots that large squash plants wilted and died in the high heat at that time. Then the voles move into those tunnels and keep them open and use them to wreak further mayhem. Thank goodness it is winter now. :)

For anyone who ever has a caterpillar rant, I really suggest Bt! It will save you from having unsightly bald spots from tearing out hair!

Last year I had a potted tomato plant that was huge and healthy. One day I saw it absolutely covered with fat caterpillars. It made me feel sick.
I dragged the whole thing to the dumpster. It made me feel shuddery.
I'll definitely research BT. Thanks !