Discovered two cantaloupe shells this morning, with no melon left. Something with small hands, most likely a raccoon, made a small hole in the shell and scraped out all the insides. This is getting to the point of ludicrousness. Since the corn scandal I have been thinking very pensively about crop protection. I had thought a fence would work for the deer, when I believed they were my only real threat but now I see the problem is so much deeper. So now I have begun to contemplate a solar-powered electric fence.
When taking my bee keeping course, the bee keeper had solar electric fences around both his chicken runs which were movable around the yard. At the time I had thought that would be a good solution for chicken predators, but now I see its use as a crop protector as well.
Three years ago I started my little garden. I was tired of putting it off while saying 'we're not going to be here that long anyway'. We live in rental housing at the moment while we search out our homestead. I had (and still have) all these lofty ideas of the size and yields of my 'real' garden all the while trying to be satisfied with what I have here. I have come to realize how satisfying this mini garden is for me, even if I don't get to enjoy all the bounty. My little garden has taught me so much like:
Don't let your broccoli go to flower.
Don't over crowd.
Don't let the weeds get too bad because there IS a point of no return.
Don't trust the garden center tags, especially if they say you can grow red peppers in Zone 5.
Don't let your four year old help you 'pull weeds' unless they understand what a weed is.
And last but not least, when something is ripe pick it because it's not a show garden for goodness sake.
Life lessons learned and now I am so much better prepared for my 'real' garden... and perhaps the real house that goes along with it.
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