Raccoon visit & Harvesting (carrots, tomatoes, ground cherries, chili peppers, bell peppers, onions, green garlic)
Sunday, 24 Jun 12 Cloudy 34°C / 93°F
- 5
- 1
My vegetable garden is gradually emptying as plants mature and are harvested, or decide that they’re not up to the summer heat. Today I harvested the last of the carrots, a bunch of peppers, a dwindling number of cherry tomatoes and ground cherries, some of the last few onions, and some green garlic (the only one of 7 varieties I planted that doesn’t seem interested in bulbing up yet).
Last evening, just around sunset, DH and I observed a raccoon amble across our back patio, dip his hands into our tiny pond a few times (we were happy to see that our lonely frog was still there the next day even though he does make quite a racket trying to attract a mate), and then head towards the fence along our backyard’s back boundary. It was only the second time that we’ve seen a raccoon in our current yard, so we were quite entertained. I was not so entertained the next day after work when I went out to the vegetable garden to harvest some onions and garlic and herbs for dinner, when I spotted a rampaging path of a large animal through the garden that included bending a few of my pepper plants to the ground, separating 3 peppers from their plants with small amounts of claw/tooth damage (which I discarded for safety reasons), several spots of shallow digging, and many fatally wounded ground cherry branches. The soil was dry so there weren’t any clear footprints, but I suspect the raccoon was responsible. Hopefully he won’t return!
This entry is about
|
Day 161
Daucus carota subsp. sativus
Harvesting
[[Archived]]
|
|
|
Day 161
Daucus carota subsp. sativus
Harvesting
[[Archived]]
|
|
|
Day 161
Daucus carota subsp. sativus
Harvesting
[[Archived]]
|
|
|
Day 161
Daucus carota subsp. sativus
Harvesting
[[Archived]]
|
|
Day 134
Capsicum annuum var. annuum (Grossum Group)
Harvesting
|
|
|
Day 134
Capsicum annuum longum group
Harvesting
|
|
|
Day 134
Physalis pruinosa
Harvesting
|
|
|
Day 134
Cherry Tomatoes 'Sweet Million' Solanum lycopersicum
Harvesting
|
|
|
Day 238
Harvesting
|
Previous Journals
-
Early excitement about Natchez blackberries
Blackberry 'Natchez' Harvesting
-
Black swallowtail butterfly larvae on dill & a blooming Crocosmia
Crocosmia Flowering and Dill 'Dukat' Under Attack
-
Colocasia bed, Succulents, & Critter Update
Colocasia Growing, Crassula platyphylla Growing, Hens and Chicks Growing, Portulacaria afra Growi...
Later Journals
-
Bloom Day: May 2013 (... and falling behind)
Passiflora incarnata (Maypop / Native Passion Fruit) Flowering, Pineapple Guava Flowering, Banana...
-
Pineapple Guava Budding, Thai Basil 'Siam Queen' Bolting, Garlic 'German White' (from Mom) Growin...
-
The warm season vegies are hitting their stride
Amaryllis Flowering, Tomato 'Mortgage Lifter - Red' Growing, Basil 'Superbo' Bolting, Cucumber 'S...
Comments
anelson wrote:
Raccoons are the devils of the garden. I wish i knew how to stop them.
Posted on 03 Jul 12 (11 months ago)
redloon wrote:
I’m hoping that he was just passing through! Repeated visits would destroy my garden. :P
Posted on 03 Jul 12 (11 months ago)
HollyBee wrote:
Oh dear … how frustrating. Wish I had an answer for you.
Posted on 04 Jul 12 (11 months ago)
HazelJ wrote:
I feel your pain: some creature recently came and bit off the tops of about 6 of my hot pepper plants. I think the worst part is that the critters never seem to eat a whole tomato or strawberry. They just nibble at them and then leave them inedible for us! I had some success with black pepper and cayenne pepper combined with chicken wire cages over vulnerable plants in the city. Here there is no way I could protect everything, so I have to just plant “extra” that will be lost.
Posted on 04 Jul 12 (11 months ago)
redloon wrote:
@HollyBee: For some things, like raccoons, there are few answers. I remember that my father spent YEARS trying to protect our trash cans from the raccoons in our first house. Eventually he ended up with a fortress that was huge and unwieldy but did work! :)
@HazelJ: I agree – if critters would just eat ALL of one thing, rather than sampling and rendering inedible a bunch of things or going around and damaging a bunch of plants, it would be much less frustrating! Sorry to hear about your hot pepper plants. That happened to one of my ‘Super Thai’ chili peppers this spring, and I never figured out the culprit.
Posted on 04 Jul 12 (11 months ago)
Like to add a comment? You'll need to sign up for a free account, or log in if you're already a member.