I've been posting garden updates on Mondays but nothing has really happened lately. No, wait, a few things happened:
It rained a lot, so the wagon spent a lot of time in the kitchen under the light.
I put the wagon outside when it was sunny for a few hours and a stinking BUNNY ate a whole pepper plant AND a thyme plant.
A few days later, he ate two tomatoes.
Yesterday, he ate another tomato plant. (A Brandywine!) (IN BROAD DAYLIGHT!) (He is a ballsy bunny.)
I began to think about acquiring a pellet gun.
But then decided that if I DID acquire a pellet gun I would not tell the internet about it because, well, PETA crazies know how to use Google.
So, I will leave this topic at THINKING about getting a pellet gun. Nothing more! Just thinking about it casually!
On one plant, some mysterious white spots appeared. Not mildew. Just spots. On others, they got a little yellowy. I'm not sure what this is all about and haven't bothered to Google.
They are tallish (six inches or so) and need to get in the ground. I'm HOPING to tackle it on Saturday but I need to build those stupid raised beds, find some soil and construct a fence for the rabbits. This feels like a lot to do on a single Saturday, but we'll see. if I get the beds built by Monday, I'll be happy.
I am planning to weigh my summer bounty and tally it all up and see how much my harvest is worth, as compared to the local price of heirloom tomatoes. I'm keeping careful tabs on what I'm spending, so I'm sort of interested to see where this goes. (I mean, I have almost TWO DOZEN tomato plants to stick in the ground, surely they will give me back the cost of at least the seeds, right?) My objective isn't to come out ahead financially, it's just more of a curiosity for me.
Plus, I got this awesome scale last year for Christmas and it's just so EASY when I have that in my kitchen so, why not?
That's it. Some rain, some bunny rabbits, some procrastination. See? I told you. MEH.
We have a bunny too. I am a little concerned. I plan to let the dog chase him. Don't tell PETA that.
Posted by: HereWeGoAJen | March 30, 2012 at 05:50 AM
Our neighbors got Easter rabbits last year. And decided to let them be free-range in the backyard. They got a pair - a boy and girl. Obviously these people are deranged or planning to start some kind of bunny farming operation in our suburb. I came home to find one of them had eaten ALL 24 of my home-grown broccoli plants all the way to the ground in the span of one afternoon. I was devastated. I'd babysat those plants from birth so felt like I'd lost a major effort.
The rabbit was huge, like the Trix bunny, not the usual small wild brown bunnies I'd seen around. After locating the owners, I retrieved the rabbit several times and returned it home, but finally had to do a fence around my garden because they refused to cage their animal. Got a roll of 1-inch chicken wire (baby bunnies are like mice, can squeeze through TINY spaces) and a roll of those pre-made white picket fences to pretty it up a little and zip-tied it to metal posts you pound into the ground with a hammer or mallet. All from Lowe's, all suprisingly expensive.
The Frogger-like commute for Mr. Rabbit through the neighbor's yard (guarded by Buddy the dog) eventually got to him. Guess they may have decided to get a cage for Mrs. Rabbit after that casualty.
By the way - The $64 Tomato is a really funny book about gardening that I read way before I ever tried a garden. I realize it's basically a losing proposition financially, but do it for fun and to relax anyway. You do so well about tracking expenses and break even, would love to see what you come up with. http://williamalexander.com/64dollartomato/inside.cfm?page=excerpt
Posted by: Mia B | March 30, 2012 at 07:11 AM
I had a deer eating all of my beans and strawberries last year and so I mixed cayenne pepper and water into a mister bottle and sprayed pretty much everything in my garden. It worked and the deer didn't touch anything after that. (much easier than trying to plan a stake out and hit a moving bunny!)
Posted by: Meghan | March 30, 2012 at 07:28 AM
What a bad bunny! I still have made zero progress (zero) in any sort of gardening proposition. But I'm thinking that this year I may start with some herbs and wait until next year to do actual veggies. Disappointing, but MAN is it a lot of work! I am LOVING reading your reports though, and I'll be really curious to know about the financial end of things, too.
Posted by: Life of a Doctor's Wife | March 30, 2012 at 09:18 AM