Garden Pests

Things are looking good--particularly the weeds:-) Seriously, though, our garden is shaping up. If only we can keep the pests at bay.

I am tempted to build a very posh house inside the garden fence for our cats. Only so that they can cull the moles that seem to be in constant motion. Apparently moles eat mainly worms, so other than restricting water and soil to our plants, they are not doing a ton of damage by eating the roots (as I had suspected). Our garden is full of worms, so I don't see the moles moving on anytime soon.... And anyway, the cats would poop everywhere.

I am also tempted to build a very posh dog house inside the garden fence for our adorable pups. Only so that they can keep the deer from deciding that they should jump over said fence and eat the leaves off of our strawberry plants and ALL of the leaves off of Erica's plum tree (well, actually they left a few measly leaves). They did a lot of damage in one night. Creeps. Cute creeps, but creeps just the same.

I am very sorely tempted to use a spray on a very ugly (in my humble opinion) insect. The rose chafer http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/M1198.html has been a nuisance to our poor raspberry canes among many other things. I would love to let my clever little chickens into the garden to make quick work of these little buggers, but alas, rose chafers are highly toxic to chicks. HE and I have been picking them off, but some days that seems very futile. Fortunately the adults (who eat plant leaves) are only around for a few weeks this time of the summer. 

So if you stop by on any given day, I will probably (among other things) be stomping mole hills, picking rose chafers or shooting deer. Okay, just kidding on that last one. But my friend, Krista did say "Well, if you end up without any veggies, you can sell venison at the Farmers Market". Good point.

These "sticks" used to have beautiful leaves on them...

Erica's poor tree, looking more like it did when I first planted it.

With a little luck and some not-too-hot weather, we will have a good pea harvest...

More Wildlife

HE built our chicken coop last year and we didn't get our chicks until this year, but the coop did not sit empty all year. No. The cats who were kicked out of the house late last summer, utilized the coop for their winter shelter. HE cut a cat door into the side of the building, set up some "beds", put a food and water dish out there and when the temperatures dipped way down, put our seedling heat mats on the floor of their beds. (HE is a bit of a softy...me, I was thinking they could work things out on their own). What to do, then, when we did finally get our chicks. Well, the cats had a bit of a reprieve while the chicks were in the house, but soon they were kicked out. HE insulated and finished the coop, including boarding-up the cat door. Vent windows were installed, a chicken door was put in place as well as a chicken run. The cats took shelter UNDER the coop, which is where they are being fed (otherwise the dogs will eat all their food).

On the surface, this may not seem prudent. However the cats don't seem mildly interested in the chicks (which are about as tall as the cats now, anyway) and they are probably keeping rodents from sneaking into the coop and getting into the feed.  I'm not sure what the cats would do if a chicken predator came slinking around, but I like to believe that their presence is keeping them at bay. Cats under the coop seems a good temporary solution, but HE is worried that they won't be warm enough in the winter, so our plan is to create a space for them in the garden shed. More on that set-up later....

Yesterday, while we were out working, HE uncovered a snake on our straw. After much consultation in our Wisconsin snake book, we determined it to be a harmless Western Fox or Pine snake. The poor thing was scared to death, curled up and ready to lunge (which it did several times in HE's direction). Fox snakes "rattle" their tails in dry grasses and leaves as a warning. We took several photos and then let it go on it's merry way. It seemed quite happy to be getting away from us.

A week or so ago, HE encountered this friendly guy while walking to the chicken coop. Not sure what he was doing way up by the house, maybe looking for something to eat...but Tippy was very curious about him.