The Garden & Wildlife Week!
The garden is doing well (mostly). Cuke vines are dying, but I know what he problem is – will plant them in a different location next year. We can’t eat all the cukes anyway, so no big loss.
Green bell peppers are the best I’ve ever grown.
Jalapenos are doing great – lots of peppers for Jalapeno Pepper Jelly! This is the best pepper year ever.
Tomatoes – finally starting to turn. They got a late start when I had to replant all of them due to cold weather late in the spring.
Flowers – sunflowers in full bloom and gorgeous. Zinnias still blooming, but many are going to seed and the bed will be replanted this coming week for a second, late crop of flowers – the birds/bees/butterflies really appreciate having a food source late in the fall.
Now for the wildlife …..
Something is eating tomatoes & partially two cukes. We think it’s a squirrel – no groundhogs this year at the barn. The crows can’t get in (fencing) so they are not the culprit. No luck with the squirrel trap.
Animal sitting for the next door neighbor from last Saturday evening through last evening – dogs & chickens. Monday morning, I opened the door to check the nest boxes for eggs & was eyeball to eyeball with a Rat Snake. The rascal ended up being 5-1/2 feet long – biggest one we’ve ever caught in the hen house …. longer than I am tall! Tuesday evening – took the top off the trash can where the chicken food is kept – Snake #2! Much smaller. There was a hole in one feed bag, nibbled by a mouse – I’m sure that is what the snake was after.
Baby Bun Bun, the one that visits our front porch, is now Somebunny who likes sunflower leaves! The squirrels are knocking the plants down (volunteers that came up around the bird feeders) to eat the seeds & Somebunny is eating the leaves.
A juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk landed in the back yard & was eating something – checked out the spot after the hawk left, but couldn’t figure out what it was eating. The hawk needs to work on the squirrel population.
A doe is visiting the yard regularly – she’s already all but destroyed my mom’s hostas (gourmet salad bar – green ones only) & is now visiting near the bird feeders. The squirrel trap was moved off some corn I had bating it & I think is was the deer who did it.
Crows – think “The Birds” (school yard scene)…. yes, it’s almost that bad!! They have youngsters & they are constantly sounding off (want the adults to feed them).
Hummingbirds – delightful!! They are really using the feeders & yesterday morning, one was sitting on top of the shepherd’s crook that holds the feeder – fluffing some wet feathers after thunder storms overnight. Another male came along, chased off #1 and then spent some time looking handsome on the same perch.
I have, for the first time, a couple of jalapeno plants. They were mistake purchases by my mom. I’m growing them to give to my neighbor who loves them.
Question is, when are they ready to pick? Having never grown them I’m clueless.
Thanks.
Does anyone know if putting an old decrepit hose near the vegetables deters the rabbits, raccoons, and other critters from snacking where they’re not appreciated? I’m hoping mine looks like a snake and scares some of them off.