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forensicmom

DIscouraging

16 years ago

Maybe I'm just venting here but I have been gardening for about 10 years now but only with vegtables for about 4. Last year I moved my veggie garden to another spot and it gets the minimun amount of sun 5.5 to 6 hours of sun. That's not the problem. made a slightly raised bed and dug down 12 inches or so around the outside and used wire mesh to help keep the voles, moles, chipmunks out. Didn't work. I used a heavy duty vinyl fence 3' tall around the permeter to keep the bunnies and groundhog out. I'm not sure that's worked either. And I have really been trying to go organic this year and not use the heavy duty insecticide.

So between the rabbits, groundhogs, chipmunks, voles, japanese beetles, worms, and who knows what else, most of my plants have holes all in them, the tomatoes have early blight, and every single day I find tomatoes half eaten on the ground.

What am I supposed to do? I'm ready to give up on the veggies. My flowers and shrubs look amazing.

Comments (10)

  • 16 years ago

    Maybe its time for you to start container gardening, I have grown alot of veggies in containers with great results. The only downfall is that you must water alot more.

  • 16 years ago

    Ahhh, the challenges of vegetable gardening. I feel your frustration. The only thing is to hit the issues one by one.

    I have no experience with voles. However, there are ways to control the critters. My preference is using a small-animal electric fence. You will find others will have alternative solutions.

    I try to minimize chemical use. However, going 100% organic is extremely tough in my neck of the woods. The climate is far too hot and humid. It's an "insect heaven" down here. Going 100% organic would here would significantly add to the workload and also to the frustration factor.

    I find that moreoften than not, plant diseases are seasonal and/or cultivar related. Last season, I lost 6 to 8 tomato plants out of 30; this season 1. Last season I lost nearly all of my bell pepper plants during the mid-summer heat; this season, so far so good (keeping my fingers crossed). Two years ago the spider mites attacked the tomatoes; this year no damage. This year the strawberry patch was less than 50% of last years produciton. Last year the squash vine borer was everywhere; this year almost NO squash vine borer damage - I never would have expected this. And on-and-on....

    When it comes to vegetable gardening, stuff happens. I salute those who are farmers and who's livelihood depend on a favorable outcome. In my case, it's "oh well, better luck next year". The key, is to be up for the challenge. The gratification comes with favorable results. The vegetables are just, as we say down here, "lagniappe" (which means a little extra).

    Hang in there...

  • 16 years ago

    The solution to half of your problem is an electric fence, if you are in a place where one is feasible.

  • 16 years ago

    Early blight is a desease so you should be able to control it and treat it in timely manner.
    I agree in most with grandad. I am not growing tomatoes from last year, picked 3 new different types - will see how it does. If I have to, I will use sprays or egg shells to minimize insect damage, but my cabbages are always "sacrificed"
    My fence are my two dogs. We live in the country, no fences around the entire property at all. I know rabbids, birds and squerrels are around and deer is in the woods. We seriously feel that all the good yummy treats and healthy food we give them are well worth the fact that these two dogs keep any critters away from my garden and yet the dogs do not touch the raised beds at all. Just the smell and presence of dogs who live outside is enough. It took me just a few "no" commands in the begining, but they are so smart they figured out I dont mind them IN the garden area, just not in my raised beds. So they give me company when I am in the garden. Besides, I think the only time they were interested to get in the bed was when there was nothing planted in them, and I would be digging and they thought "we would like to dig with you too". LOL
    They are just your simple mix breed adopted sweet dogs.

  • 16 years ago

    Try some stuff to attract birds to your garden, and they will take care of your bugs for you =) Also, try some of the companion planting ideas... I don't know if it's just luck, but last year my broccoli (planted in a separate bed) were eaten alive by cabbage worms, while this year (planted in with my herbs in the herb bed) they haven't been touched.

  • 16 years ago

    Thanks. I do have LOTS of plants in my flower beds that attract birds and butterflies. I also do a lot of companion planting. I have marigolds planted EVERYWHERE b/c the groundhog won't eat them. He eats ALL of the petunias. I will have to look into an electric fence.

    grandad - You are lucky not to have a problem with voles. I have used just about every type of thing on the market, as well as home remedies and nothing as worked to keep them away so I finally started wrappping my new plants in wire mesh. That's the ONLY thing that has worked but it's expensive and time consuming. They eat the entire root system of plants. They even at 3 young crape myrtle trees.

  • 16 years ago

    Get an outdoor cat or two, a couple free range chickens and a big black snake. If they don't kill each other, your garden will be relatively free from voles,squirrels,and bugs! Seriously, I have a stray outdoor cat that makes her regular visits, two of my 44 chickens get out everyday, and I let them wander through the garden eating bugs. I saw a huge black snake the other day, he was crawiling through the mulch, went into a hole in there under the mulch, so he's made his home there in my garden. I haven't seen any vole holes, squirrels usually get the ripe corn before I do, not this year, and hardly any bug problems.

  • 16 years ago

    I'm stumped on this one. There are two stray cats in the area, as well as snakes and hawks but I still have a terrible problem with the voles, chipmunks, moles, etc. I don't think my neighbors would appreciate my adding chickens. I live in a suburban area with only 1/2 acre. Although my kids might think it's fun.

  • 16 years ago

    Why would chickens bother your neighbors? Only the roosters crow.....get egg layers and not only will they pick your bugs they will give you rich orange egg yolks........

  • 16 years ago

    I feel your pain. I abandoned vegetable gardening for nearly ten years for many of the same reasons you state. I love my flowers, but last year, I just got hungry for homegrown vegetables again.

    By that time, I had come to realize that growing anything in my part of the country is quite different from the so-called "norm" that we read about in Mass Produced magazines. The first step I took was to find a couple of good books on vegetable gardening written specifically for my region. I learned ALOT about the reasons I had failed in years before, starting with having planted alot of crops at the entirely wrong part of the year and never having rotated crops.

    Don't give up. Read and learn and try again. Oh, and Celebrity Tomatoes and Rutgers do very well here where Early Blight is a given every single year. :)