As of this Tuesday morning my garden has been wiped out.
30 broccoli plants look like this!
Or even worse this!! 25 beautiful cabbage plants gone......an entire row of peas also gone.
18 inch high romaine lettuce has been eaten almost to the ground in one night. We had been eating that too! The entire garden has been wiped out over night. The exception is the potatoes, onions and carrots which aren't up yet.
Not a deer track in the wet mud. Way too much damage for a rabbit or two.
O Wise One is not a happy camper.. he has declared war and thinks it is a groundhog that has moved in somewhere. It's been several years since we have had a groundhog around since he killed a mama and 7 babies under the chicken house a couple years ago. The gun is now stashed out in the shed ready to go. Live traps have been set EVERYWHERE. He is talking staking out the garden tonight with the gun and has even strung lights out there. Contemplating breaking out the steel traps : ( Kinda reminds me of the movie Caddy Shack : )
He has taken his first prisoner of war!
Just a warning the bullets are gonna start flying real soon. Sure hope Walmart has some more!
As for me I guess I will drag out the potting soil and seeds and start again......
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
Oh no. Hope O Wise One is successful in his capture of the dastardly fiend that ate your garden.
ReplyDeleteSo frustrating and although you can resow, you end up losing valuable growing time.
Thankfully only rabbits and deer to contend with in my garden ( phew) the badgers don't seem to bother me.....touch wood.
While what happened to your garden isn't funny, I did have a laugh at your comment about Caddyshack. That movie went through my mind when I first started reading your post. We have had an abundance of groundhogs (woodchucks) this year. We even found one dead between our tractor and our shed! It has been a weird spring around here.
ReplyDeleteso frustrating to have that happen. Up here (upstate NY) I can't put anything out until end of May, even cold crops, due to out late freezes. Still, I will get all those cold weather crops before the first frost really deep frost in late Sept/early Oct. The critters can be such a pain. This winter the horses decided to walk over the pond when it was iced over (lost one nice mare when the ice gave way), so they ended up sharing the goat enclosure which has anchor fencing. Since between the 5 horses, donkey, and 3 goats, the entire paddock is now turned over and fertilized, I am moving the beasts out to their summer pasture ( as soon as my Dear One gets the electric up and working) and claiming the anchor fenced paddock for a garden, hopefully discouraging the garden raiders. Good luck trapping, maybe you'll get some nice fur from the critters anyway. We have problems with beaver every couple years and allow a hunting/trapping friend to take them out, but oh the damage they do in the short time before they are trapped. One thing I do is plant my salad greens in long plastic window box type things that sit up on saw horses (got most of them at yard sales). The critters can't get them and it is so much easier on my back. love your blog, spending time with you is a daily MUST for me, along with my morning coffee.
ReplyDeleteSo frustrating! Our resident hawk has caught two rabbits so far. Deer are our problem :( I feel your pain :(
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ReplyDeleteWe resorted to fencing in our small garden (about a tenth of an acre) to eliminate the rabbits, squirrels, chickens, and the neighbor’s dogs. It’s a little more aggravation to add and remove the fencing when tilling and such, but it did the trick to protect the peppers, squash, and tomatoes. I’m wishing you happy trapping tonight! I also second Brenda’s comment: reading your blog is a daily must! I’m out of kilter when I miss a dose.
ReplyDeleteOh, no!!! I am so sorry. On the bright side young tender ground hog tastes pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI wish you both much success.
Oh how sad. :(
ReplyDeleteI have no sympathy right about now for groundhogs either, so go get 'em, O Wise One!
ReplyDeleteI know exactly how it feels when your plants disappear overnight. I think I'd be tempted to see if sweet potatoes really do compliment groundhog. O.o
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry those varmints have stolen your early crops... :(( we lost our broccoli to a late hard freeze and figured by the time we raised more transplants it would be too hot for cole crops... gonna miss that broccoli for sure here in zone 6b... hope you be able to beat the heat...
ReplyDeleteI say ground hog,too...they just walk down the rows nipping off the tops. We ended up having to fence off our bean patch last yr. until our Pyrenees caught the rascal...she despises intruders in her domain! Right now the copperheads are waking up around here...give me the creepy crawlies ....
ReplyDeleteOh no! I thought I had it bad with the squirrels & armadillos rutting around to take my garlic & peas but nothings like eating a whole plant. Hope O Wise One catches him (them) soon.
ReplyDeleteYou poor thing. I'd be livid too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nightmare! I thought you were going to say frost got them. We are still having freezing nights about once a week. This Friday has a predicted low of 29. (and we are farther south than you...) Please forgive me, I laughed when I saw all the traps. That would so be my husband. I'd just sit up all night and shoot that thang! :-D I sure hope you get whatever it is!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry, and I totally can relate-I have just about given up gardening here as the woods brings in so many critters that destroy my gardens-it is never ending. such a bummer-I feel your pain-hugs
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry! For us it's deer but we did have a groundhog that tried to burrow beneath our basement which could have caused lots of damage. We shot her and actually cooked it= delicious, similar to ox tails, very beef like. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI have groundhog problems in my neck of the woods too. I've spotted two already. Between my neighbor & I, we trapped 14 last season. I feel your frustration! We're going to set traps over the next few weeks, hoping to catch & relocate them before the garden goes in.
ReplyDeleteOh no! My parents have lost numerous fruit trees to gophers and it's maddening.
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