Pea Growing, 2022

[Pulsegleaner]

i'm guessing that they might not be as succeptible to the compounds at least the way they seem to tolerate gnawing on so many black walnut husks/shells.

I wasn't aware black walnut husks had any hallucinogenic compounds. I knew they had ones that can stain, and presumably they have the juglone that kills other plants, but being hallucinogenic is new to me.

I suppose the only REAL way to know would be to check records from somewhere where a lot of nutmegs are grown, like Antigua or the Moluccas (assuming either place has squirrels)

 

[ducks4you]

SOMETIMES I feel like I am the novice gardener here. Seems like I always need to study up on basic crops...like peas.
ANYWAY check on my thread, post #137

Ducks4you for 2022

I now have two of these, one on top of the fridge, and another waiting for setup on the bottom shelf of my growing/shelving unit...

www.theeasygarden.com

 

[Zeedman]

And then there was the time with the stone nutmegs (nutmegs that still have their outer shell on them) and a squirrel stole one. I actually got worried about that since, if a single whole nutmeg is enough to send a human into a hallucinogenic condition, I can only imagine what it will do to a squirrel.

One could hope that such an experience might dissuade squirrels from coming back. Maybe I'll try putting some nutmeg on my front step.

But I tend to agree with @flowerbug that it might have little to no effect, given that squirrels can eat things (like raw acorns) that would be harmful to humans. The squirrel in my shed continues gnawing on the chewed-open box of diatomaceous earth, and has eaten about 1/4 of it. With animals, you never know what they will tolerate, and what is toxic.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

One could hope that such an experience might dissuade squirrels from coming back. Maybe I'll try putting some nutmeg on my front step.

I'd REALLY not recommend that, besides the fact it might kill them (I think a full nutmeg's worth of myrsticine is fatal to even a human, or why I got rid of all the "Happy Candy"), if there is one thing I'd like less to deal with than a squirrel, it's a squirrel on the equivalent of a bad acid trip (nutmeg highs are supposed to be REALLY nasty, especially when you come down).

 

[Zeedman]

I'd REALLY not recommend that, besides the fact it might kill them (I think a full nutmeg's worth of myrsticine is fatal to even a human, or why I got rid of all the "Happy Candy"), if there is one thing I'd like less to deal with than a squirrel, it's a squirrel on the equivalent of a bad acid trip (nutmeg highs are supposed to be REALLY nasty, especially when you come down).

Hmmm... you've given me something to think about. I wonder if nutmeg would work as an organic rodent control? It might be worth trying, to deal with my vole infestation... provided of course that they are interested enough to actually eat it.

 

[meadow]

I've been known to trap squirrels. I used a properly sized live trap and baited it with BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds). I'd put the trap at the base of a tree (so they are comfortable they have a quick escape route) and scatted a little BOSS around it, then put more BOSS on the trip plate. Using just two traps I once removed about 50 squirrels from my suburban back yard in a month. When I started it wasn't unusual for me to see at least five squirrels back there anytime I looked. As I trapped them new ones would come in from the surrounding back yards.

If I disturbed the soil, either planting something or just pulling a weed they'd dig a hole looking for a nut. And they were causing property damage, mainly chewing up the flashing around my roof vents for the salt in it. There were just too many. I eventually thinned them down to manageable numbers.

It's probably illegal to release them anywhere except your own property and probably illegal to kill them, especially out of season without a license. You might talk to animal control and see what your options are. I took them to an oil refinery out in the country about ten miles away and released them, far enough away that they wouldn't find their way back. Or if I were going fishing in the marsh I'd dump them there. Not legal and not very courteous to people that lived around there but hopefully the gators were well fed. I wasn't ready to handle that many squirrel bodies.

It sounds like you are targeting a certain squirrel so I'll tell these stories. In my 50' x 75' garden in Arkansas one spring, a rabbit was eating my bean sprouts as fast as they were coming up. I killed 16 rabbits out of that garden before I got the last one doing that. That was rabbits I saw in the garden, not just ones in the area. I don't know how many of those rabbits were actually eating the sprouts, probably not all of them.

Also in Arkansas a skunk came through a pet door to get in the garage and sprayed when the dogs noticed it. I was not pleased. It was breeding season so the males were on the move. I killed seven skunks in the next couple of weeks. I don't know if I got the guilty one or not. If you have one squirrel, skunk, or anything else you have more.

Thank you for the tips! I'm certain there are at least 2 squirrels, or perhaps three. So there is no telling how many are really there. Plus I'd be willing to bet there are a bunch of babies snuggled down with their momma(s) as we speak.

I've not had problems with rabbits (yet) although we do have them here. They seem to stay away from the backyard, probably (I suspect) due to the hawks and eagles that hang out in the cottonwood trees along our neighbor's back ditch. Uhhh... the trees that are now piled in his back pasture. Okay. Looks like I'd better get prepared for an onslaught and then be pleasantly surprised if it does not happen.

 

[jbosmith]

This is probably not useful for most people but I had a solar electric fence charger leftover from a brief stint raising grass feed beef and .. if you take a charger meant for miles of wire and you put it on a single 115' strand around a garden at squirrel height, it makes an impression. ;-)

 

[meadow]

SOMETIMES I feel like I am the novice gardener here. Seems like I always need to study up on basic crops...like peas.
ANYWAY check on my thread, post #137

Ducks4you for 2022

I now have two of these, one on top of the fridge, and another waiting for setup on the bottom shelf of my growing/shelving unit...

www.theeasygarden.com

I do not think they will survive three days of being soaked in water.

I've learned my lesson about rotting seeds the hard way. Good thing you bought another package though!

 

[meadow]

This is probably not useful for most people but I had a solar electric fence charger leftover from a brief stint raising grass feed beef and .. if you take a charger meant for miles of wire and you put it on a single 115' strand around a garden at squirrel height, it makes an impression. ;-)

I'll bet it does!

 

[heirloomgal]

Small world!! What other peas are you growing this year? I remember seeing your trials from last year. Did growing in window boxes work out well?

Yes, I love using window boxes for dwarf peas. The year before I grew a few super dwarfs on or close to the ground and when the fall rains set in the earwigs and slugs had their day. But last year in the boxes they didn't suffer a bit from those critters.

So many peas on the list this year ......
I still need to figure out what all will fit. I've committed to 8 very tall 6-8ft kinds, and maybe 10 of the 4-5 foot types. I'm just loving growing dried peas these last 2 years too. Such a fantastic, productive crop even when given only a small length of trellis. 4 feet can produce a tremendous quantity of dried peas.