i might actually have won the battle against the cats!!!!!!

I am very determined to keep the cats out of the vegetable garden this year, especially after my OH saw a documentary on the toxic effects of cat feces and humans. I've tried cayenne pepper (which works well, but washes away after every rain), black pepper, fencing, chasing them away, and water. I can't simply get rid of them because of the field mice problem.....well, what used to be the problem before I got the cats. My budget for my cat defense in my veg garden is practically zero.... so, I've tried to be very creative. Toothpicks!!!!! I can buy a lot of toothpicks for very cheap. It takes a little bit of time when planting my garden, but placing the toothpicks every couple inches has kept the cats from using my garden as their favorite restroom!!!!!!! They will not run or dig around the sharp points of the 'picks'!!!! I only started this about a week ago, but so far so good.....I'm pretty sure I have won!!!!!

Clever! I now have my weekend project...thanks.

Plant Warrior.

They also don't like tin foil. You can lay a few sheets down and weigh them with some rocks.

Very creative! I applaud your resourcefulness. I'm too lazy. Chicken wire (which might be considered an investment) can be laid down and no cat tries to "dig" in it twice. Not as labor intensive, and very effective.

I use pine cones. They work very well and are easier and quicker to put out.

I can't use sheets of tin foil.....if I covered my seeds I couldn't water them and they wouldn't grow. It would reflect the sun and not warm the ground, which tomatoes and peppers need. I'm not sure how covering the whole ground with foil would effect root sytems of full grown plants, they may not receive enough water to develop properly. But foil may work out perfectly for covering up piles of unused mulch...
Chicken wire and pine cones are out of the budget.... unless anyone knows of a way to get a lot of free pine cones. I don't see how I could use pine cones where I've planted seeds, but around actual plants would work

You could check freecycles orCraigslist, I've gotten free chicken wire that was partially rusted, just had to pick it up.
Still, as long as your toothpicks work, you're way ahead of the game. Ingenious!

I've traditionally either spread out floating row cover, or tossed prickly rose prunings, over freshly dug areas. Once the area's been watered in two or three times, they seem less interested, though that may just be my local cats.