Pulsegleaner's Garden 2019; The Uphill Battle

[Pulsegleaner]

Hi All,

Since everyone else seems to be keeping a gardening report up, I though I might as well do the same.

So here is what is going on so far.

As usual most of what has gone in has already been devoured by the animals.
Of the 7 pots on the patio pedestals

8. Roselles. Untouched but the original plant from last year seems to be dying (maybe it was still too cold)

7. One of the sprouted cow peas seems to still be alive (though based on it's size it's probably a brown seeded one, as opposed to the tiny black seeded ones I would have preferred to have survive. Status of sown seed (dark red azukis unknown)

6. Mung beans unknown

5. Chickpeas not sure if there are any left (after three sowings) A LOT of empty skins indicated heavy predation.

4. wild potatoes (seed) sprouts are still doing well, but the animals keep digging the peat pellets they are in up and leaving them on top of the soil, so getting them to actually take root in the pot and grow may be tricky.

3. Assorted tropical solanums no sprouts yet

2. POT X

Every year I reserve one pot as a Pot X, to be sown with seed I have found I cannot identify. As of now, there are two sprouts already, both of which are probably something from the Brassicacae (since they sort of resemble radish sprouts). Probably from the brown seeds. Hopefully I will get some more diversity as the year progresses. Though a lot of the most interesting seeds I have accumulated have proved to be slow starters, or have simply rotted away.

1. Sown with found seed. If I am right about it's identity it is goat's rue (tephrosia). If I am wrong about it I may be in trouble as I may have just sown a pot with kudzu!

Side yard

One common pea seems to have made it though. But the animals seem to have eaten ALL of the masses of grasspea seed I sowed. To make things worse I can't get more at the moment, the store was sold out (I still have the bag of rejected seed from the last sorting, but since the whole purpose of the planting was to get colorful flowers and I am almost completely sure what is in the bag is white, it would be sort of pointless.

one pot is also sown with the funny bindweed relative I have been trying to get to sprout for the last few years.

Down the road, the next job is turning over the stump garden so I can get the rest of the cow peas and the soybeans in.

Then finally the actual vegetable garden for the corn, common beans and something squashy (gourd or pumpkin, haven't decided yet.)

 

[flowerbug]

can't you put some wire mesh around the pots to keep the creatures from getting your sprouts?

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Tried it, on the ground, they dig under the mesh, on the pedestals they push it off (and sometimes push the pot off in the process, casing it to fall 10 feet onto the lawn)

Oh I forgot one place the area under the patio was sown with fava beans. I say was because as far as I can tell the animals ate ALL of them over the first night.

 

[flowerbug]

uhg! what a trial!

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Update

Bad news
7. Something seems to have eaten the cowpea sprout

8.The roselles are having some trouble

4. Something keep digging up the potato sprouts and leaving them on top of the soil

Side Something appears to have eaten the pea sprout

Good news

Lower garden Looks like two fava beans made it through

Side Looks like one (wild) grass pea may have made it.

 

[AMKuska]

I'm sympathetic to you. I'm trying a "Scent Fence" this year to keep the critters out of my garden. It smells like anal glands, but if it works I'll let you know.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Forgot, I also got the tomato pots out, so the tomatoes and peppers are now outside. THOSE at least are usually untouched (most animals don't like the smell of tomato plants)

 

[flowerbug]

we've always grown most of the tomato and pepper plants inside the fenced area just because that will make sure the worst of the critters have to at least have some of a challenge to get to them. no damage from animals i can ever recall other than the tomato worms.

nothing we've tried for keeping animals away works reliably over the longer term other than a good fence. once they get used to the smell or stimulus or taste they'll come back.

 

[so lucky]

What kind of critters are eating your sprouts? Maybe a game cam is needed. You may be able to create a line of defense if you know what you are dealing with.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

The main culprits are the standard quintet; squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, raccoons (not so much the sprouts, but if I ever DID get corn far enough along to have ears, they'll climb the stalks to get it) and deer (again mostly corn, but I have had whole bean vines disappear because they basically bit them off at the bottom and swallowed them like spaghetti) . Add on assorted birds at seed time.

Add on also assorted animals (like moles voles and more birds) who while not interested in eating the sprouts per se, will happily dig up planted peat pellets/ break seedlings in their pursuit of the smell of bugs caused by digging in the soil.