Corn Bandit - Caught!

The other day, I noticed that something had been eating my corn. The cobs left strewn on the lawn were expertly stripped of their kernels. I had a feeling it was the work of a raccoon. I guess my suspicions were correct. I found this little guy in my Havahart cage when I came home from work today. I was surprised by how smelly he was and if you look closely, you can see the flies buzzing about him.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get our thief before he did this to the corn patch. Based on the crime scene, I think he pilfered about a dozen ears during the past few days - not completely devastating but a big blow nonetheless. I guess I should just be grateful that he didn't help himself to any of my tomatoes or melons.


After I relocated him to the woods far away from our home, I picked the last dozen or so ears and pulled up the plants. All and all, I think our corn crop this year was a success. We were able to enjoy several meals during which Marc and I devoured up to three ears of sweet corn each and despite this setback still have enough for a couple more.

Lastly, I think I may just bait the trap again just in case Mr. Raccoon had hungry family members.

Corn Eating Thief!

This morning, I noticed that one of our neighborhood wild life had climbed up the side of my garden fence and ate at least four ears of corn. I suspect that it was a raccoon. Whatever it was, it had amazing reach as a couple of the ears hung at least a foot taller than the fence.

My neighbor told me that around midnight last night, they heard an awful scream (almost like a startled horse) coming from the rear of our yard where the garden is located. My guess is, either the animals were fighting over the corn or squealing with delight as they ate it. Either way, I baited my huge Havahart cage and placed it next to the fence. Hopefully, I don't wake up to find that it was in fact a skunk!

Melon-Loving Mice

That's it. I'm growing all of my melons on trellises next year. It's so infuriating having to compost these destroyed Athena cantaloupes. I don't know what I was thinking growing them on the ground again this year, especially since I had issues with mice eating my watermelons last year. Never again.


The only thing I could think of to do to protect the remaining melons was to elevate them. I don't know if this will help but I can' think of another solution.


On the bright side, I had a couple of fruit set on my Sunshine watermelon vines. (And yes, I am elevating this baby too.) I was beginning to worry as my Blacktail Mountain watermelons began setting fruit weeks ago. This baby is growing like crazy unlike my Blacktails, which are stalling at the moment. I think I'll side-dress them with some more compost and organic fertilizer to see if that will them fatten them up.

Watermelons for a Cooler Climate, Cantaloupe Calamity

One of the varieties of watermelon I'm growing this year is called 'Blacktail Mountain'. According to Seed Savers Exchange, it was "bred in Northern Idaho where summer nights average 43 degrees F." So far, I've been really happy with how the plants have performed in our New England climate.


The vines are fairly vigorous (already reaching the top of my 8 ft trellis) and from my 3 plants, I recently had 5 flowers set fruit. Now I have to decide on how to support the developing melons, which seem to double in size on a daily basis and will average anywhere between 6 and 12 lbs when ripe. Any suggestions?


On the cantaloupe front, the copper fungicide I applied to the vines a couple of weeks ago seems to have done the job. The subsequent leaf growth has remained blight free and the disease seems to be under control. However the cucumber beetles have been much harder to control. Spraying with pyrethrin and using yellow sticky traps only helps to a certain extent. Between the groundhog attacks, blight and now cucumber beetles, the plants have never had a chance this summer to really take off, which probably explains why I only have 4 large Athena melons developing from 5 plants. More fruit appear to have set, but for the moment, the plants seem to be focusing all of their attention on ripening these four.

On a side note, I'm still waiting on my two Petit Gris french melon vines to set fruit. Next year, I think I'll stick to growing all of my melons on trellises.

The Tiny Surgeon

Gosh darn it. The other day I noticed the tops of my raspberry canes were starting to wilt. At first I thought it was bacterial wilt caused by the cucumber beetles, which are a big problem for us this time of year. I inspected the tops again today and amazingly, they snapped off with the slightest force. A closer look revealed two dark circles about a half inch apart around the base of where the wilting starts. It was the same on each cane affected. Always two circles and always a half inch apart.


Now the canes look like this. I hope they will go on to develop side shoots or else we can forget about eating raspberries this fall. Does anyone have any clue as to what is responsible for this and what their motive is?!

Opossum, Oh My!

Last night, I caught a baby opossum in my havahart trap. Despite it's strange tail and spiny teeth, it was actually pretty cute. I didn't quite know what to do with it. For some reason, it didn't feel right to drive it to the faraway woods where most of my garden pests end up. I've yet to see one in the garden and until I do, I'm willing to play nice. Also, part of me likes the fact that opossums also eat rodents and bugs. In the end, I decided to release it into the woods behind our property.

Has anyone ever had problems with opossums doing damage in the garden?

Melons in Bloom

My cantaloupe and french melons have erupted in blooms. The pretty yellow flowers are attracting tons of beneficial insects to the garden. I was in the melon patch yesterday hand-pollinating the female flowers and the bumblebees and honeybees were buzzing all around me. It was quite a sight. I like to hand-pollinate my melons, squashes and citrus trees to ensure pollination. Pictured above is a male flower on an Athena cantaloupe vine.


As you can see, it's pretty easy to distinguish between it and the female flower (above), which has a green center as opposed to a yellow one.


The female flower also has a noticeable ovary the size of a jellybean at the base.

The ovary will enlarge and develop into the melon if proper pollination has occurred. The one above is currently the size of a large lemon. As you can see, a fungus of some sort has developed on the leaves. I've sprayed the plants twice already with a copper fungicide and am cutting off the affected leaves. So far, this seems to be keeping the disease in check.

Yesterday, I also spotted the first cucumber beetles of the summer. Last year, my melon, zucchini and cucumber vines all died prematurely from bacterial wilt, which is an untreatable disease spread by the beetles. The beetles also steal the pollen and chew up the leaves. Tonight, after the bees have retired for the evening, I will spray all of my vines with pyrethrin. Hopefully, this will control their numbers this year.

"Get Away From Her, You B*TCH!"

...to quote Lt. Ripley. Well look who decided to take the bait of sliced peaches and vanilla extract! Woohoo!!!! Right about now I feel like Sigourney Weaver at the end of the Alien movies - reluctantly triumphant. You hope for her sake that she's dealt with the last of them but then the next alien comes along and bursts out of the chest of some unsuspecting fool and of course the saga repeats itself. In my case, this groundhog has parents and a sibling out there somewhere. But for now, I can at least breathe a short sigh of relief.

Mr. Groundhog, you and I are going for a little drive. :)

Update: In case anyone is curious, Mr. Groundhog has found a new home in the woods FAR away from me and my cucumbers.

Groundhog Blues

I seriously think I'm gonna have a brain meltdown right now. I just went out into the back garden to find that Mr. Groundhog had stripped almost all of the leaves from by beautiful cucumber plants. The stems looked they were freshly chewed. He must have done it while we were eating dinner. I never thought that an animal could inflict this amount of mental frustration on me. He is waaaay worse than any vole, rabbit, chipmunk or squirrel I've encountered. I really wish I could turn back time and smack him over the head really hard with my garden fork.

This past weekend, I went to my local plant nursery to seek some advice on how to deal with Mr. Groundhog. The manager suggested I bait my havahart cage trap with whatever he's been eating from the garden. So I bought some brussel sprout transplants to use as the bait. I figured I could just water it in the cage until Mr. Groundhog went for it. Of course he's way too smart for that. He devoured the three transplants that I'd set out into the garden but left this one alone.

I'm beyond consolable at this point. Thank God I started another batch of cucumbers a few weeks ago. At least all will not be lost this year. I will plant them in containers close to the house if I have to.

The next time I come face to face with this little punk, he's getting a shovel or bullet to the head. Start placing your bets my friends.

Crouching Gardener, Hidden Groundhog

And so the saga continues. I came face to face with my nemesis today, and as some of you have guessed, it was not a vole like I'd thought, but a juvenile ground hog that was causing all of the damage in the garden - the same one that was trying to find a weakness in the fence this past weekend. Evidently, he found it. All he had to do was scale the chicken wire and squeeze through the 2 x 4 inch wire mesh fencing. I am continually amazed by rabbits, and now groundhogs, and their ability to squeeze their bodies through the tightest of openings. So far, the adult ones have been too lazy to scale the fence.

Anyway, when I got home tonight, I noticed from our dining room window that Mr. Groundhog was helping himself to my soy bean plants in broad daylight without a care in the world. As I ran out of the house, my initial instinct was to grab our kitchen broom, but halfway across the garden, I dropped it and went for my garden fork instead, which was left next to the garden gate. (A heavy shovel would have made more sense but I didn't have time to grab it from the shed.) As I stormed in, Mr. Groundhog just stood there motionless. I guess he didn't know what to make of me either. Then he thought twice and made a break for it. Instinctively, I swung the fork, the back of the tines connecting with his back, rendering him flat on his belly. For a second, I thought I had seriously injured him but he quickly got back up and sat motionless, cornered against the fence.

Mr. Groundhog and I stood there face to face, about three feet from one another, as I tried to muster up the courage to dispatch my toothy enemy. This must have went on for more than five minutes. In that time, Marc wandered out of the house looking mighty horrified and then went back in upon my request. My neighbor tried to offer his encouragement, telling me that the groundhog will destroy the rest of my garden if I let him go. I had no clue about what to do. The problem was, it would have been very difficult to bludgeon him to death with the back of a garden fork. The only sure fire way to get him with one strike was to stab him with it. Both options seemed awfully gruesome. If he had to die, I wanted it to be quick and painless. All I could think of as I stood there was, "oh, what I wouldn't give for a fishing net right now!!!!!!!"

In the end, I just couldn't do it. I'll say it - I'M WEEEEEEEAAAAAK! With some prodding, he darted for the opposite side of the garden and I got a couple of good whacks into his backside before he squeezed himself through the mesh fencing and ran back to his den under the shed. Instantly, I felt regret that I couldn't take care of Mr. Groundhog. But I just couldn't do it. It would be like stabbing a feral cat to death. He also had that cute furry mammal thing going for him.

Anyway, I ran out to Home Depot and bought one of those enormous Havahart traps. I can't help but wonder - did I just blow my one and only opportunity to get rid of Mr. Groundhog? What do I do now?!

Cauliflower and Killing

This past weekend, I noticed that heads were forming on two of my Snow Crown cauliflower plants. At the moment, they are slightly smaller than a tennis ball.


I read on the Johnny's website (where I purchased the seeds) that tying the outer leaves together helps to preserve the white curd color and results in better head quality when the curd develops in hot weather. I guess we'll find out soon enough if this works. (Just in case you're wondering - the white stuff is Dipel dust).


GARDEN PEST UPDATE - When I got home tonight, I noticed that the six lettuces I transplanted yesterday were all decapitated! Not only that, three of my broccoli plants that I set out a couple of weeks ago (and growing very well) were taken down to the ground. And to add insult to injury, the foliage was stripped from half my soy beans! F$#*& A!@@$%$%!!!!!!!! My first instinct is to blame the squirrels or rabbits but as always it turns out to be the voles, field mice or whatever you wanna call these mother#%#$#@#! Looking out our bedroom window tonight, I actually saw one roaming around in plain sight near the damaged areas.

Anyway, I had trapped a vole inside my Havahart trap yesterday and was planning on driving it to the woods a mile away from our house today. Ironically, I realized after I got off the train from work that my car battery had died, which meant I had to call for roadside assistance. Needless to say, I was in no mood for compassion when I got home and saw the latest damage. So I drowned the sucker. That's right, I said it. I DROWNED the sucker. And surprising, I didn't feel all too bad about it. (Well maybe just a little.) Marc was horrified when I told him what I had done. At this point, I'm done fooling around. Mercy is for those who want to grow weeds. This latest bandit is going down!

Zucchini Flowers and Decapitated Lettuce

My three zucchini plants seem to have doubled in size during the past week. At the moment, they are beginning to produce flowers. The first blooms of the season tend to be all male. Interestingly, the first flowers on all three of my plants this year are female. Shame they won't get pollinated. The first male bloom should open tomorrow morning but by then it will be too late. Oh well. I'm sure a few weeks from now we'll be so sick of zucchini that we'll end up giving most of them away.


This morning, I woke up to find an adolescent groundhog circling my garden trying to find a way through the fence. A couple months ago, I noticed the lone groundhog living under our shed chasing after another around the yard. I guess it found itself a mate. The adults are brazen enough to pull at the fence with all their might. This little one only tried push its way through. I'm surprised none of them have tried digging a tunnel underneath the fence yet. Anyone have any ideas on how to evict a family of groundhogs?

Anyway, I took a closer look at the garden this morning and noticed that something had eaten most of my summer lettuces. (F$@$#! So frustrating!!!!!) I don't think it was the groundhogs as half of the garden would have been eaten by now. Nor do I think it's the bunnies. I walked around the parameter of the fence and could not see any holes or weakness. I have a feeling that the field mice are becoming more active. I placed a few mouse traps out this evening. We'll see if they catch anything.

Seedling Update - Flirting with Desaster.

Things are coming along slowly but surely on the seed starting front. I try to examine my seedlings very closely on a daily basis to look for any signs of trouble. Some of you may recall that I had a serious run-in with green aphids last year, which you can read about here. I'd purchased several infected plants from an online nursery and the little bastards ended up spreading to the rest of my indoor seedlings, ultimately decimating my artichoke plants.

You can understand now why I FLIPPED OUT yesterday when I spotted several green aphids on my bok choy microgreens. How on earth was this possible?! They'd disappeared from the basement when I set out all of my plants last spring and my fall seedlings showed no signs of infection. Then it dawned on me that several weeks ago, I'd brought inside from the hoop house my carrot bucket to thaw out. Stupidly, I placed it down in the basement next to my seed starting shelves. Upon closer inspection, the bucket harbored a huge colony of overwintering aphids (surely descendants from last year's brood). I moved as quickly as I could to quarantine my seedlings. I dumped the carrot bucket outside and moved the microgreens onto the back porch. I inspected my seedlings and found several aphids so I saturated everything with organic insecticidal soap spray. For now, I've placed clear plastic domes over all of my plant trays to prevent any stray bugs from getting to them. Tomorrow night, I will wipe down the shelves as an added precaution and spray again in a week. I will not remove the domes unless I am confident that the aphids are gone. From now on, no more foreign or outdoor plants in the basement!

Aphids aside, here's how the seedlings are looking at the moment:

Last year's scallion seeds

Last year's celery seeds

Winter Density lettuce

Imperial artichokes

Finished Hoop House

This past weekend, I was able to install the doors to my hoop house. Though not perfect, they seem to be doing the job.

The door frames were constructed rather simply. These metal straps really do a good of connecting the wooden pieces together.

When open, the doors allow for plenty of airflow inside the hoop house on hot days. And when closed, the hoop house seems to do an adequate job of capturing the humidity and warmth of sun's rays. We've had some rather windy days these past couple of weeks (and seemingly more rain than we've had all summer). I'm glad to say that the hoop house has withstood the elements just fine thus far. Hopefully it will continue to do as winter progresses.

On a final note, I'm still doing battle with the field mice. I don't remember them being as bad last fall. I guess once they get wind of an abundant food source, they make themselves at home and breed. For the time being, they are mainly feasting on the carrot tops and Swiss chard. I really need to come up with an aggressive plan to manage them.

Rain, Grasshoppers and Vermont

I can't decide whether it feels more like summer or fall. One thing's for sure, we've had a lot more rain recently. The cherry tomatoes are splitting like crazy and attracting all sorts of insects. I should probably rip them out this weekend.

This might sound strange but this is the first time I've ever seen a grasshopper in my garden. Raised Roman Catholic and having seen the movie "The Ten Commandments" a dozen times, I can't help but wonder if this is somehow an ominous sign of things to come. (Will next year be the summer of hungry grasshoppers?) But this is probably just the paranoid gardener inside of me talking.


In unrelated news, the fall turnips are starting to fatten up. I think some of these will be ready in a week or so. Or maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised when I return from Vermont. I'm traveling up to Burlington this morning for work. This will be the first time I'm visiting northern Vermont. Hopefully, I'll get to see plenty of farmland, fall foliage and some of the things "the healthiest city" in America has to offer. If you has any suggestions on where I should go, let me know!

Death and Beauty

I normally try not to post anything too ugly on my blog. But for some reason, I felt the need to bid a proper adieu to my Spacemaster cukes. They'd put up a good fight. However, in the end, the beetles and mildew came out on top. I guess I should just be grateful that they fed us well this summer.


The melon vines are on their way out too. I can almost hear all of the cucumber beetles feasting.

Surprisingly, the edible Calabash gourd is still going strong. The vines are very healthy and have practically taken over the back garden. Peeled and sliced, they are delicious cooked up in a soup.

On the side of beauty, here are some pics I took a while back of what's currently blooming in the garden:

Red Zinnia

Purple Cosmos

Yellow Calendula

The Back Garden Update

With all of the hot weather we've been experiencing, the plants in the back garden have really taken off. It's getting harder and harder to move in between the rows. I must admit, I didn't realize how much space zucchini plants required. I have to wear pants just to avoid their abrasive leaves! Also, they seem to be shading everything around them. Hopefully they won't get too much bigger or they'll have to go. I'll take peppers over zucchini any day.

In other news, something has devoured all of my soy beans . Today, I noticed a half eaten baby Charantais melon and numerous stripped leaves. I thought it might have been a chipmunk but then found a small gap under my fence. Those dastardly rabbits found a way in! Needless to say, I tried my best to block the gap. Also, think I'll try my hand at trapping them. In the past 2 and a half weeks, my Havahart trap has caught 8 chipmunks 3 squirrels, all of which were relocated to a nearby park. I haven't spotted a chipmunk in my garden since. Can anyone suggest a good way to trap rabbits?


Here's a view of the back-half of the garden. The melon vines are out of control. I'm gonna have to install some kind of trellis for them to climb onto soon or I won't be able to access the tomatoes.

Here's a closer looks at the melon vines. They are flowering abundantly now.

The tassels are also beginning to form on my corn plants. Anyone know of a good way to hand-pollinate corn?

The Toasty July Garden

It's been hot hot hot. Some veggies are loving it; others are not. Here's a quick update on what's going on right now:

The peas are toast (and hung over). I can't complain. They've given it their all and then some. Thanks ol' friend. Now I must rip you from my life.


Isn't this flower pretty?! They are being pumped out by my Calabash gourd, an edible Asian variety. Unfortunately, half of the plant (the part hanging on my garden fence) is now in the belly of the grumpy groundhog that lives underneath our shed. Judging by the rather large size of its leaves and vines, I'm sure the plant will recover...


On a side note, its tendrils are as tough as nails...

I guess I only have myself to blame. The rather obese groundhog has up until this point largely ignored my fenced-in garden, that is until I let one of my long Asian cukes wander past the green zone. Not only did he consume this one but also managed to reach into the fence and devour another. Now we see him propped on his hind legs pulling at the fence like a crazed crack addict. I'm sorry but I have to cut you off now! Better a fence than a shotgun (which I'm not ruling out)!


You would think that with all of the hot weather we've been getting, these tomatoes would be a different color now. Not! I have started to give them regular foliar feedings of seaweed emulsion now - something I've been neglecting. Hopefully that will give them the kick in the backside that they need to reach for the moon. Not that they need too much help. They are already over 6 feet tall!


Ohhhhh, how you torment me so.

Finally, the peppers seem to be loving the heat. This guy is coming along nicely.

One of my pepperoncino plants is fruiting like crazy. It's nice to know that the aphids didn't hinder their growth too much.

As you can probably tell, I'm sort of on the warpath today. I must be ready for the weekend.