Sunday, May 22, 2011

Mother Nature's Challenges at the home garden

This year Mother Nature is handing us a lot of challenges. We have had way too much rain. The temperatures fluctuate drastically from day to day and even during the day.

The animals here at the house are out of control. If it's not the squirrels, it's the bunnies. If it's not the bunnies, it's the snails! If it's not the snails, it's the birds.

I spent most of the day Friday between rain and in the rain setting up bunny barricades.

This is the small bed where something snapped off the one tomato plant. First I had to put the tall stakes in the ground and add the first row of wire for the tomato supports. Next I put up the bunny fencing. As you can see the onions in the corners are growing like crazy from all the rain. I have been trimming the greens on the onions. This should help them create bigger bulbs.

I also added some height to the bunny fence around the peas out back. The bunnies are so bad that three will come in the herb garden at once with me standing right there! I think that there are about 6 good size bunnies coming around. Therefore, bunny trapping is my first priorty here before the squirrels. I set a trap in the herb garden before I left for the day yesterday. It seems like I didn't adjust it correctly though. Somebody got a taste of food.....now I can lure them in for the catch!! Hopefully!!

The Spring Blush Snap Peas are about 5' tall. This is the first flower.

If you enlarge the picture, you can see the damage on the Little Marvel peas from all the rain.

They are starting to bloom. I hope that all of this rain doesn't affect their production.

I have never had snails in the garden until this year. It must be from all of the rain. They have been snacking on the Baby Choi.

The tomatoes and the carrots in the greenhouse bed are doing great! I just need a few hours of decent weather this week to take the greenhouse down, set-up the tomato supports and put up the bunny barricade. I can't put the permanent tomato supports up until it is down....and those tomatoes are getting big!!

Some of the carrots in the pots have rotted from all of the rain. I'm going to have to re-sow some more. I also had to cover the pots with bird netting to keep the birds and squirrels out. This is also the first year that I have had birds bother with my garden. Oh well, I guess that Mother Nature is handing me everything she can to whip me into shape!

15 comments:

  1. It just seems unfair to work so hard and have critters mess up your garden...at least you know who is doing it. I've put down summer cabbage and green Peppers and something keeps eating the leaves in one spot..I put down some diatremeious (mispelled) Earth and that didn't help a bit :o( I want to make sauerkraut , so maybe i have to wait for fall cabbage.

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  2. You are not kidding about the weather! Even here in sunny California we are getting warm and cold days, wind no wind. I think we had the last of our rain last week. Yesterday was beautiful and I spent all day at the Haven Garden... today wanting to work in my garden and it is so windy this morning and cold! Best of luck with the critters. I'm fighting with a gofer over at Haven. He has decided one of the beds would make a great home.

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  3. Maybe some rabbit stew is in your future. That is, if you can ward them off long enough to harvest some veggies to put in it!

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  4. Ginny, I think that I know who is doing it. I use DE too. It usually takes care of things...but, I keep forgetting to take the big bag out of the trunk of the car. When I remember, "The Italian" has the car!

    Liisa, The weather nation wide is just stupid! Good luck with the critter at Haven Garden. They can eat an entire garden in a day!


    PraireCat, Or maybe rabbit jambalaya!!

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  5. Don't know how our peas will do with such a lack of rain here

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  6. Worst gardening year ever! We're back in the 60s this week, should be in the 80s. Nights are still 10-15 degrees below normal. Birds came in and ate almost an entire planting of carrots this week...they left one carrot. Now I have to go put bird netting over the newest carrot bed before the plants emerge, and replant the other one. Slugs ate my bush beans.

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  7. Amen!!! to a strange gardening year. But it does seem to be an ideal year for weeds ;)

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  8. I'm with you on the varmints. I sometimes feel I'm building a fortress, what with chicken wire, bird netting, deer fencing, etc. It's amazing, even though I have a hard time getting to the plants it seems all the pests can find then with no trouble!

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  9. I agree with the kooky weather. We had a hot/dry April, a cool/wet May and now it looks like someone turned on the oven this week. Highs in the mid 90's.

    The bunnies in my yard laugh at my 3 dogs. "Suckers"...I can hear them laughing. Thank goodness there's fencing $Ka-Ching$

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  10. I guess here we haven't had as many issues. We have certainly been colder than normal especially in early spring, but the rain has been pretty normal. My pests haven't been too bad yet. I hope you catch a break soon. I still think bunny stew sounds appealing right now.

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  11. seems like their is a new critter to fight off every year doesn't it!? I had to put up fencing around my raised beds too. I think it is a cat though, it keeps trying to make a bed in my garden or poop in my boxes! Grr.

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  12. Granny, This weather is absolutely ridiculous. The high here today was 58, rainy and damp. It felt like 48!. It seems like we are all dealing with issues this year!

    Jane, I have never seen weeds grow so fast in my entire life!

    Villager, Yeah, what's with that??? It's like a child proof container. The only one that can open them is a child!!!

    tami, My bunnies laugh at me! I was telling "The Italian" that I think I will start making friends with them. Then I could catch them easier!

    Daphne, I hate to say it....the word has yet to spread about all the wonderful veggies you have to eat in your new garden :)

    Shawn Ann, Every year it is something different....but, this year it seems like it's everything!

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  13. If it's not one thing its another! Sorry to hear that you too are suffering from too much rain. And those darn rabbits. I had one year, two years ago, where they were eating everything and I had to build a fence like you did. Luckily, that was a one-year deal. I still have the cute little guys, but they haven't eaten my stuff again like they did that one year. Here's to less bunnies and snails and much more sunshine!

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  14. It's exciting to see all your efforts producing positive results. Keep up the good work and good luck with it all.

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  15. You are indeed getting quite an assault on your garden. I have one rabbit that has been making a real nuisance of himself... and slugs are a constant problem in my rainy pacific northwest garden. Hopefully the rain will ease up for you soon and the garden can leap into growth mode.

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