Posted on 06/20/2014 12:30:26 PM PDT by greeneyes
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Delays are fine for whatever reason. Sometimes I get so busy, I just don’t even turn on the computer, but if I could, I’d never get off the dang thing.LOL
Good plan on the seeds. I like to do that too.
I need some help with my garden.
It’s been doing beautifully. I have peas and beans climbing up a fence I plant them against. I’ve never had any trouble with animals bothering them. Until this summer.
I’ve seen a rabbit around (which I think is the culprit) and I know we have woodchucks.
I noticed that some of my peas first, and now the beans, have been dying. They both just started producing wonderfully and all of a sudden the leaves are wilting.
On further investigation, I noticed that the first 8 inches of the stems of the plants at ground level are missing. Some @*($&@ animals is eating the base of the stems up as high as it can reach.
Shooting them is out of the question here in town. We have a Have a heart trap for the squirrels that we are trying to eliminate. Our neighbor has caught 3 woodchucks so far but I know there’s more.
What’s the best way to 1) animal proof the garden, and 2) bait the traps to get rid of the vermin?
What do you use for bait? And at what point on the rabbits body do you administer the aforementioned treatment.
FReepmail me if you wish.
Cause I don't have any problems dispatching the rabbits, if you get my drift.
What I found helps tremendously with weed control is landscape fabric.
Sam’s club sells it pretty cheap.
I cut it into strips as wide as the distance I want the rows to be apart and lay it down as I’m planting. That way the landscape fabric is almost touching the plants, leaving just a narrow strip that would allow weeds to grow and it makes my rows nice and straight.
When I put my tomato cages in, I puncture through the landscape fabric to do double duty and hold it down.
Then I spread a thin layer of straw over the top.
I get several years out of the landscape fabric when it’s covered.
It cuts out 90% of my veggie garden weeding.
I can my own sauce from my own sauce tomatoes.
I don’t do anything but make the tomato sauce. I add any spices etc after I open the jars and go to use it. I was never sure if the spices being added would require pressure canning, so I just do it plain.
One thing I do to save jars, is to drain off as much of the liquid from the tomato juice as possible. That way, you’re not canning any more water than need be. Just don’t take too much out or you may find yourself having to add some when you go to use it.
Also, they warn you to never do this when canning, but that’s a sure fire way to get me to try something.
I put my clean, dry canning jars in the over set at 200 and NO HIGHER. It gets the jars to about the temperature of the hot sauce and i have yet to have one break on me doing that. I can see where it could be dangerous, but it works exceedingly well for me.
Not that I’m telling you to do it. Just sayin......
I use Heinz variety plum tomatoes that I buy from Territorial Seed Co and the plants ALWAYS produce phenomenally well.
I tried another variety this year as well, just to compare, and they aren’t doing spit.
Have you ever tried blueberry jam?
It’s out of this world.
I have a recipe if you’d like.
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