Animal proofing a veggie garden!!!

I am bumping it for Pirl

Belle

And Pirl thanks you.

We had a tomato room in the vegetable garden, which Jack created from copper posts and deer mesh, but taking it down in the fall and putting it back up in the spring has become TOO much work for him. I'm hoping to find another solution to keep the miserable crows from poking holes in one tomato at a time.

Here's what it did look like as Jack opened the "door" (mesh) as he finished work in the tomato room.

Yours looks a lot better than mine. It was a lot of work to put mine up.
Belle

Now, as you can see, the tomatoes no longer have a room within the vegetable garden. Once the crows begin to attack perhaps we'll find a solution to the crow problem.

We're trying the (new to us) Shredded Straw (no weed seeds) for mulch and it's working magnificently. Now weeding doesn't take 10 minutes a week.

After my grandpa retired he grew a two-acre garden and sold vegetables and berries to the stores in this area every year. "Supermarkets" would buy produce from individuals back then.

When he'd have a problem with crows, he'd shoot ONE crow and tie it to his garden fence. The other crows were smart enough to take that as a warning and quit eating his stuff.

Raising our three daughters I'd use a much milder version of the same practice when they messed up, and it worked - which may prove kids are at least as smart as crows. LOL

Pirl,

My tomatoes never gets bushy like yours. It might be the variety. What do you do with all hose tomatoes? I give mine to the food pantry which I volunteer every Wednesday.

Let me know how the netting works. They are a lot thicker than the bird netting from home depot.

Happy gardening.

Belle

We eat them, freeze them and give them to neighbors. We tried a local soup kitchen but they won't take fresh food and it's enough of a job to distribute them right in our area. The guy across the street loves cucumbers more than anyone we've ever known and he can eat five or six a day.

The tomatoes are Big Boy and Beefmaster. We have Sweet 100's growing in big containers by each side of the garage.

The deer "fencing" is very strong compared to the bird netting.

Thanks for your help.

I'd consider shooting a crow but I don't have a gun!

I bought a BB gun years ago out of frustration but our 2 Grand boys took it away and hid it some where. I heard that it is impossible to go after the squirrel any way.

Some one must be feeding the squirrels they are not plentiful of them this but then again my veggies are not ready to be harvested.

Our food pantry clients loves fresh fruits and veggies. We get a lot from area supermarkets except Walmart. Walmart would rather throw it away than give to the needy that is why I do not shop at Walmart for groceries. I love their potting soil.

I have to take pictures soon.

Happy gardening..

Belle

This message was edited Jul 25, 2011 1:01 PM

"Walmart would rather throw it away than give to the needy that is why I do not shop at Walmart for groceries."
-----------------------------

Yep, I found out that's their policy.

A couple of years ago I was in our WalMart supercenter and a couple of employees were cleaning out a big bin of sweet corn. They said it had got too old, and they were throwing it away.

I keep three 10' x 10' compost bins by my garden that I turn with a tractor, and I'd have loved to have had that sweet corn to compost - it was about a heaping pickup truck load. I talked to the WalMart manager and he wouldn't let me take it. Their policy is that they're afraid someone will eat old produce, say they got sick, and then sue WalMart - so it goes into a locked dumpster and then to the dump.

I told him I was composting and promised no one would eat it, but he wouldn't budge. What a waste!

Ozark,
We wrote to Walmart management that we get a lot of produce from the other Supermaket but it is a policy they say. They just do not realize that there are so many people starving here.

Belle

You know I can't really blame the stores, I blame the little old ladies that buy a cup of hot coffe from Mc Donald's, put it on the dashboard and sue when they run over a speed bump and they get burned when it spills at which point they collect $4mil and the rest of us suffer. What galled me in this case is any geri-nurse ( I'm one) can tell you it causes very little heat to cause a burn in someone in their 80's. And how about a friend of mine (should say former friend) who lied to the doctor about her conception date (all observant Jewish women know within 3-4 days of when they conceived believe me) talked him into doing a C-section in her "39th" week and sued because the baby was only 36 wks and had issues. The kid still has issues, but he'll never have to work after he reaches 18. What makes me ill is she's a NICU nurse.

Anyway, it hurts me to see the waste, but Walmart is only protecting itself.

I can see WalMart's side of it, too. Unfortunately, there are lots of people who'd love to be fed older food from WalMart so they could claim it made them sick and sue for lots of money. There are scads of lawyers lined up to help 'em do it, too.

Smaller markets might get away with donating food to the poor, but WalMart seldom gets a pass on things like that. Juries can easily be made to feel sympathetic to a plaintiff in poverty, and WalMart's deep pockets mean BIG judgements. Companies and people really have to protect themselves in our lawsuit-prone society, and that causes a lot of waste and keeps a lot of good things from happening. It's a shame, but that's the way it is.

Some of the grocery chains here will donate their old produce to the food pantries. Seems like if Wallmart wanted to donate they would find a way to do it.

bellieg - Nice enclosure. Did you make any modifications to it this year or just change some of the plants to a self pollinating type? BTW - You can also use a Q-tip to move the polination between blooms. We do this every once in a while if nature is taking too long. For a small garden it works great.

I got rid of the gate so the butterflies and bees and go in.This garden is very shaded so I do not have a lot of fruits. I had not seen lots of squirrels lately, maybe some one are feeding them.

I have a new veggie patch and doing much better than the enclosed one.


Happy gardening!!!
Belle

bellieg - you might want to look into obtaining a "native bee" nest. They are very docile bees and are unlikely to sting. You could hang a nest inside your enclosed garden. Be sure you get a nest that allows the momma bee to lay male eggs as well as female eggs. The openings for the male have to be a little larger than for female bees.

Here's where I purchased mine - but it's for female bees.

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/product/T0012/

Honeybee - we just bought a mason bee but haven't put it up yet. Any pointers? Also I saw an article that inferred that they are only active in the spring. We were wanting some additional polination help around this time of year. Have you seen anything that would lead you to believe they are a spring item only?

OT: Happy birthday, Honeybee!

Happy B-day Honeybee!!

I went to the site and are not available now. How long had you had your. What happens if they multiply? Are they expensive?

Belle

Thanks for the Happy Birthday wishes - I celebrated by picking/stewing/freezing tomatoes! LOL

SusanKC - other native bees will use the nest too. I don't think we have Mason Bees here, but the nest has been in use for three years. Hubby attached it to the underside of our porch so it stays out of the rain. Yes, I thought it was expensive! But then I'm cheap!

I don't remember what time of year I purchased mine.

Gardener's Supply Company sells a different one:

http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Link-Keywordsearch?DefaultButton=findSimple&ViewAll=1&q=bees

I haven't seen a honeybee all year, even on my cucumber blossoms, and we used to have a lot of them. I'm afraid whatever is killing them all over the country has wiped ours out.

We've still got bumblebees, and I like to watch them "bumble" around. They're so rough with the way they treat blossoms, they ought to get some pollen transferred, for sure.

I used to think bumblebees were harmless, but I found out they aren't if you mess with their nest. They burrow underground, and once when I was clearing a patch of weeds with a power mower here I mowed right over a burrow. I'm telling ya - they attack!

I wish I had a video - I abandoned the mower and ran backwards for about 20 yards while slapping at the bumblebees in my face with my ballcap. One flew at me stinger-first and nailed me right between the eyes, on purpose. That must be their defense mechanism against raccoons and such.

It's effective. I'm not allergic to bee stings - but having both eyes swollen half-shut and a big, overlarge runny nose for half a day DOES remind you to leave the bumblebees alone! LOL

Ozark,
I do not know the difference between a bee and bumble bee. i hate to admit it but it is true!! LOL!!!

Honeybee,
I went to the site and will consider buying.

Thanks fir the site.

Belle

Ozark - the reason you may not have honeybees in your garden may be as simple as - no one has a hive nearby. Honeybees stay as close to home as possible to collect nectar/pollen, although they can fly as far as five miles from their hive if needed.

The honeybees you saw in previous years could have been from a feral swarm, and as you said, they may have succumbed to one or more honeybee diseases.

I've never been stung by a bumble bee, but have read that their sting is very painful. Although I have seen many bumble bees in my garden, I've never located a nest.

I was having a problem with black wasps flying around my car. At first I thought the nest must be in the holly bushes that separate our home from the neighbor's. Our neighbor tried to find a nest, but couldn't. One day, as I alighted from my car at the supermarket, some wasps started flying around me. It was then that it occurred to me that the nest was under the car!

Thankfully, I only received one sting, and the swarm seems to have abandoned the idea of homemaking under the car.