Something is eating my garden.

[bobbi-j]

Thanks so much, everyone!

So Lucky - The leaves are still attached to the cut off stems. No fertilzer, and it was dry until the past month or so. The soil is too dry for small animals to leave tracks, but not too dry for the plants if that makes sense.

Jared77 - No droppings to be seen.

Ninnymary - Garden is too far away to scope out from the house at night. Also no outside lights except for those on the house, so it's really dark out there! Chicken wire around the plants is a good idea. I will work on that.

I'm putting in what will be my last batch of tomatoes today. If They're pretty big for milk cartons, but I do have chicken wire and hardware cloth to put around them. I also bought Liquid Fence to spray. One other thing that my husband brought up that I hadn't thought about - the horses are not in the pasture surrounding the garden this year so the grass is grown up around it. Could be that the very short grass was keeping the critters away because they couldn't hide out near there.

Thanks again for the input, everyone! I'll keep you posted as to how it turns out.

 

[bobbi-j]

Mystery solved. At least partially. Went out to plant my tomatoes and found the marigolds that I had planted between the first tomatoes (I read in a magazine that it helps keep aphids out of the tomatoes) pulled out of the ground but not eaten. Deer supposedly don't like marigolds, but I don't think mine got the memo. Or maybe they did get the memo and that's why they were pulled up and not eaten. Anyway, I'm mostly convinced that it's the deer, and the rabbits are probably helping. Along with the liquid fence, I have a bag of dog hair that I've brushed out of my dog that I'm going to scatter around the garden. Not sure how much help that will be since I'm fairly sure our dog and the deer are on a first-name basis. They know exactly how close they can get to the house before he gives them a half-hearted woof to send them back across their line.

ETA - As I finished typing this last post, I looked out the window and saw a doe saunter from behind my house toward the garden. I told DH, "The darn thing smells fresh plants and is already on her way to eat them!!" So, I have the tomatoes planted in Sevin-infused ground, with their stems wrapped in newspaper, milk jugs put over them and Liquid Fence sprayed around them. And the dog hair scattered about. Did I miss anything? Maybe set the electric fence on FRY? (Need to check the sweet corn next, as that's where the deer came wandering out from...) At least I know they'll be well fed when hunting season comes around in November.

 

[so lucky]

Hunting Season is Gardener's Revenge, isn't it? You might also get human hair from a barber or beauty shop--that's supposed to be an old remedy for deer visitors.

 

[bobbi-j]

Just trimmed hubby's beard the other night. Kept the trimmings just for that purpose. Again, I don't know how effective it will be as they aren't particularly shy. But, I did spread it around along with the dog hair, so we'll see what happens. I really do enjoy seeing them, (just as much as we enjoy hunting and eating them) I'd just rather they stay out of my garden! I'm almost out of canned tomatoes, and am hungry for fresh pea pods and string beans.

 

[bobbi-j]

Well, so far so good. Checked the garden this morning and everything is still intact.

 

[momofdrew]

If it's deer hang some bar soap around that is supposed to stop them...
Marshell has created a deer/varmite proof garden you might want to check out his pics

 

[pjn]

Irish Spring soap seems to work best. Don't know why.

 

[digitS']

Us lumber jacks use Irish Spring and have only a grudging tolerance for Bambi . . .

- OldGuy43 reminded me of something on the squirrels in the fruit trees thread!

I know a guy who fills an area of his yard with tomatoes in containers. I know it's not all he grows but those heirlooms are very important to him. He lives right beside one of those "green strips" and the deer show up every year.

He has one of those motion detection sprinklers. He says it is THE best choice for keeping the deer away. I'm not sure if they would work with small animals like squirrels, tho'.

Now, I know another gardener who used one of those sprinklers. He cautions that leaving a hose with pressure in it is not always the safest thing to do.

Steve

 

[oldchickenman]

i have to fence in everything i want to grow, our rabbits will eat everything so last year i thougt i would try rose bushes the ate them down to the ground and killed them. i tryed everything nothing seem to bother them so i fence in everything flowers included.

 

[bobbi-j]

Irish spring and a motion-sensor sprinkler.... I can see it now. Hubby will go out to work in the garden, get sprayed, see the soap on a rope and decide to shower right there! I think I need to remember to keep a towel out there for him. Nah, he can air-dry! Good thing the closest neighbors are a mile away.

oldchickenman - we didn't have rabbits around here at all last year. We think they got overpopulated and died off, but we're seeing them again this year. Old dog still woofs at them now and then so they're not too comfy in the yard. Have you sprayed "Liquid Fence"? Our veggies haven't been disturbed since I sprayed it.