Vegetable gardens at my house

Okay, as you can see I did not edit the above post about groundhogs; I wrote it earlier this afternoon. I believe in the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Pinwheels don't work. The groundhog is dead. Bludgeoned as described in the above posting. Yes, I had my shoes on. I had been looking down at the beans for signs of him on and off all day. No sign of him until around 3 pm. I saw him from my office window. Having clearly spelled out in my posting what I should do I was prepared. So I thought.

I took a deep breath, put on my shoes and quietly slipped outside onto the deck. He never noticed. Exceedingly slowly I descended the stairs one by one stopping on each for signs of fright from the groundhog. Those bean bushes must be tasty for he never wavered from his goal. Once down on the ground I moved more quickly and picked up the compost turner walking behind the gardens. After I had the turner in my hand I spent a few seconds deciding which end would be more effective. As I crept up behind the garden towards the bean towers the munching never stopped. I took aim for the moving bushes.

Some people may want to stop reading here....

Whack! He was still moving but I had committed... so whack again. He was squealing and had moved towards me at this point. I didn't want him to go under the bean trellis where I couldn't reach so after the third whack he was only twitching and thankfully he soon stopped moving and died under the trellis. After completely freaking out, crying and hyperventilating for a few minutes I went and got John's leather gloves and the camera, dragged him out by a foot and took a picture.

This is the first and hopefully last time I have ever 'whacked' anything Soprano style. I feel very badly it came to this. I hope writing about it has not offended too many people - to say no one was offended would be lying to myself. It has helped me to write it down. Have any other gardener's gone through this?

The picture was taken from the top of the garden bed, I didn't think the closer picture was appropriate. There is not as much bean damage as I had feared!

You go, girl! Savior of the Beans! Hero of the Pumpkin Patch!!

Those who have only managed to squash Godzilla the Tomato Hornworm can just look on in awe... :-)

Of course you're going to feel bad that it came to this, but when nothing else works, then sometimes you need drastic measures. I'm glad that once you decided he had to go, you did it as quickly as possible, and you didn't lose your nerve halfway through and leave him to suffer. I know I've told you the story of The Night of the Possum, so you know I've been there, done that (and no, I am not going to put that night down in writing, LOL).

My groundhogs are still at large out back (trap is not working!!), but they are much less bold than yours. They do come up near the house, but as soon as they hear anything (even just me, inside the house, yelping in surprise to see a huge groundhog on the patio), they take off and gallomph all the way back to their hole. DH managed to throw a rock and hit one the other day, but that's as close as we've come to physically discouraging them. Just wait until small game season opens.... bwaahaahaaa!

BTW, your garden looks *fabulous* !!!

bluekat, I killed a copperhead once that wouldn't stay off my front porch where the toddlers played. I'm still sort of unhappy about it, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. It's the people who take pleasure in killing things that worry me, not the ones who dislike it. Hope it's not bugging you too much..

Kim;
Good for you!

Possum is on my list. one has found a way into our produce stand.
Him/her loves me maters. Ruins 2-3 per night.
I won't feel bad. Nope, non a tall at all.

I quite hunting years ago but this, when we talk about our garden suff is very personal and I feel justified.
-
Lol
Happy hunting........

Awww, thanks guys. Mostly I am okay with it. I just think I didn't do enough to deter them before resorting to killing, but they were MY beans!

-Kim

I just saw a newsflash on NBC.

"It's reported there's an unidentified assailant running loose in a small town in Maryland brandishing what appears to be a metal handle of some sort. Eyewitnesses state that the assailant appears to be white, female, with blond hair. The assailant is reported to be shouting and screaming unintelligible words. A local man in the area said, "I just saw this woman run by, she looked kind of crazy holding this roller arm, or something in one hand, and what looked like a dead groundhog in the other."

NBC news says they can't verify the information but said that it appears this is no hoax. They recommended those living close to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania be on the lookout for this crazed woman with a penchant for ground hogs. News reporters said it would be a shame if this woman were to somehow manage to find our nation's famous last winter weather predictor, Punxsutawney Phil.

(Kim, your garden is to die for, literally!)

~TC

Oh, har har, a Mr. TC the comedian. I love the last line:) At least you got the 'crazed woman' part right. Thank You for the laughs

However....the groundhog has relatives and I see they were here today. I am going to stop reporting on the soybeans since they are eaten down again today - with a fence up - they dug under. How many times can the poor beans rebound?? How many groundhogs can I kill? Stay tuned.

Here is a picture of my Anna Russian tomatoes - Can you see into the future?...

-Kim

My place is minus one hog as of this mornin. But I use a less personal approach than you Kim.

I too have to deal with the rotund critters.

Those maters are lookin mighty fine.

~TC

And I thought I had problems with the voles! Ya know, A gardener's gotta do what a gardener's gotta do....

TC's right, great looking tomatoes!! If you need someone to help you eat them, give us a call!!! Keep us updated!

wabbits and crows come around I introduce them to Mr Browning then bury them in to the ground now my garden is up and grown pesky critters have been sown.

One morning I shot two wabbits waiting for them to get close togeather I shot both with one shot and then as the crow flew on he was shot to. I to was sorry sorry the third wabbit was not still there when I first saw them and went for the gun. Ernie

Ernie - I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn so you do NOT want me with a gun in my hand - the neighbor's pool would be in trouble!!

One for fun - part of last night's dinner. Fresh mozzarella wrapped around proscuitto, arugula and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese with tomatoes, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Yes, it tasted as good as it looks, can't wait to make it with MY tomatoes.

-Kim

Where's the slice of orange to make it look exquisite??

(Just kiddin, it looks deliciously delectable and indubitably delightful just as it is. Can I have a bite?)

~TC

TC, You may have a bite. You may have your own plate. Anything for another DG'er that drives down to MD for dinner.....

Here are some veggies from today's picking. It started to rain so the bean's were put on hold. Notice the 8 ball zucchini LG, med and small. Guess we missed picking one!!

-Kim

Hey Kim;
Sure explains why we garden don't it !
Beautiful..........

Kim, real nice pic of some good lookin' veggies - Flip

Much obliged Kim. What else is for dinner? Fried chicken with those fresh maters would taste mighty fine. What's that pile of green wavy lookin stuff in behind that one pepper? Is that egg plants on top of that pile of stuff?

Edited to fix a spelling error.

This message was edited Jul 18, 2005 12:01 PM

Great looking veggies. Isn't it an awesome feeling to bring in the 'fruits' of your labor?

I didn't get any eggplant in the ground this year. Wished I had now.

Hey, how come my eggplants are only starting to blossom, and you're harvesting from yours?? You must be livin' right. I asked a guy at a veggie stand how he managed to have such big tomatoes so early in the season... He said he put 'em out early and prayed over 'em some. I said my early tomatoes were so small, maybe that was just the variety I planted... He said, naw, I just wasn't prayin' hard enough!

TC, you come down and see Kim & me for dinner, and we'll feed you right! However, it is too hot to fry chicken. Grilling is the way to go. I've also been taking the toaster oven out onto the back deck. Last week, I made a huge batch of spaghetti sauce (bought the crushed tomatoes, but used fresh herbs!) in the Nesco roaster, plugged into the outside electrical outlet.

KFC fries theirs in a/c. I guess I'll just go there. ;~)

We love it grilled too.

Modern kids are sure soft. My mother had to catch the chickens, wring their necks, pluck them, singe off the pinfeaths over an opened eye on the stove, Then fry them in a cast iron skillet on a wood stove, which had been roaring all morn with canning kettles. No electricity and had never heard of airconditioning. Canning string beans, tomatoes and succotash was a hot job, but I never heard her complain. My job was growing them, stringing, shucking, peeling, and cutting the Golden Bantam off the cob.

Yeah, my mom grew up with the same sort of thing. Grandma used to say, everybody talks about the "good old days," but those old days really weren't all that good, LOL! She never complained about her own lot, but she always felt sorry about how hard her mother had had to work. She never got over the wonderment of having central heat and (quite late in her life) A/C in her Wisconsin home. She called Mom one summer morning and mentioned that she was baking bread. Mom said, oh, but it's such a hot day! Grandma chipped back, no problem! I'll just turn on the air conditioning, that's what it's for!

My new Nesco roaster says it can be used for water bath canning, so maybe I'll do some of that out on the back deck this summer too! Kim, you're going to help with the "putting up" next month, right? ;-)

Sounds a lot like what my Granny did FarmerD. ;~)

Thanks for the beautiful memories guys. I remember the horrible odor when Mom had to singe off the stems of feathers that wouldn't pluck. The not so good ole days.

TC - the green wavy stuff - one is broccoli and the other is Romesco cauliflower. Yes, those are eggplants. There are 3 different kinds in the pic. The white ones were picked too early though. The tomatoes are off my 'Tumbler' plant.

To take your mind off of burning chickens here is a picture of Chili at his most peaceful.

bluekatat76 --- My garden is in limbo just now. Tumbler is one of my favorites. Could you post a picture of yours?

Kim, here is Chili's cousin, Tornado, at his most embarrasing.

Thanks for the ROTFL, TC! Between you & Kim, my mind is now off burning chickens, thank heaven!

Too Funny TC! How did you get him to sit still? How many do you have?

Tplant - I will get a shot of the Tumbler tomorrow. It is 'only' a hanging basket one though. A limb broke off so I have two of them now. I also gave away 2. They are fairly tasty, really juicy with a thicker skin than I prefer.

I love them for their appearence. Makes a great conversational peice. My birds love them though. Wish there was a Tumbler yellow or orange ? Maybe someday...

T there is a yellow cherry that is suited to basket growing I saw it advertised that way a few years back I think it may have been called Canary can't remember for sure though.

This is six tumblers in a cow water trough by the end of summer it will be hanging to the ground and covered with red fruit. Hope the blossoms show up. Ernie

Nope will try to get a better pic it is loaded now

This message was edited Jul 19, 2005 12:33 PM

Kim,

He's a ham.

We have two tabbys. Here's Tornado's sister, Lightening.

I was going to post a picture of my evening's harvest, but if we're doing cat pictures....

Here's Blake, all ready to go out and pick tomatoes with me!

eweed -- Tried Canary, Balconi Red and Yellow but they don't tumble. Will keep searching..

This is a Papaya Pear squash plant. These blossoms are huge. The plants are not producing as much as a 'regular' squash and nowhere near what a zucchini produces but they are good, they seem sweeter than their cousins, maybe because they are picked smaller...

Hey Kim;
Purty picture.

Great camera shot! Dynomite detail.....

Gimmie a bite! ;~)

I am wondering about this squash di-lemma, too many plants, too many squash say many people. Hmmm, we have 3 plants and not enough squash. Also, the bush plants are harder to pick - yeah, I am complaining, errr, wondering out loud, yeah that's it. I want some stuffed zukes! My little picture of a dinner party with 6 perfectly sized 8 ball zukes filled with some sort of soup or filling are shot to h*$&%! OK. I am done.

Here is the garden/jungle today. There has been some serious pruning of the tomatillo's. I remember when I thought these were a goner in their cell packs. Whoa! The rat tail radish have a tail looking part on the ends (isn't that specific). The winged beans are a waste of space!! IMO Coulda been something on our part but...one lousy pod. Try anything once! Stinkbugs are here just in time for the tomatoes. If the groundhog had to go so do the stink bugs!!!! The Armenian cuke/melon has trouble, all wilty and not doing well:( Picked some bush beans from death row - babahaahwaha!

I can hardly tell what's what down there!

"I can hardly tell what's down there!"

Green stuff.

"welcome to the jungle!" :-)

Blue Lol you have open space I dont see the problem .

Tplant wonder if you could just train a regular indet cherry to get the same results as the tumbler. Ernie