Posted on 09/06/2013 11:58:59 AM PDT by greeneyes
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He’ll be so well fed here, he won’t wanna go back. :)
You can generally find traps at farm stores. I have one small and 2 larger HavAhart live traps. It’s a real bummer when I catch a skunk instead of the raccoons...
Very nice!
Thanks for the chuckle. That’s so cute.LOL
Me too. Except, it does seem to need more water more often.
I got one of those ceramic spikes that you can push into the soil, then fill a liter soda bottle and stick it into the ceramic gizmo, and let the thing self water for a few days.
I will probably be getting some more of those. I wish the soda bottles were gallon size-that would take even less time, and all the liquid fertilizer directions are for a gallon.LOL
Yes, we’ve had to water every day, which is not terribly convenient, but I’d rather that than having to weed and tend at ground level. I’d like to get more large containers. Those old whiskey barrels were great, but they’re so expensive now!
I like my containers to be somewhat attractive as well, especially those in the front yard.
I got the squirrel trap at Home Depot. Also got a good looking cherry tomato plant in a green container and mainly bought it for the container. It is green, about 7 inches deep and has a good structure in it about two feet high to hold up the tomato. It’s called, “Patio The Container Tomato”. Also got another long planter, this one 36” long, it’s about 6 inches tall, for plants. This one with the other two that are 24” long, will help with planting these plants under the grow lamp.
I was very hot when I got home but I got the stuff out of the car and I’ll put the trap together, whatever that requires, and get it set out this evening. I may have a squirrel in the morning. rightly, will you be home tomorrow?
That sounds like a great container for a tomato, being as deep as it is. I may try growing Sweet 100s again next year.
What is a sweet 100?
It’s a type of cherry tomato:
From Burpee’s
Sweet 100
This garden favorite bears 100 or more small, sweet red tomatoes in clusters on long branches.
Spacing: 24-36in (60-90cm)
Exposure: Full Sun - 6+ hours direct sun
Fruit size: 1in (3cm)
Days to harvest: 70
Bursting with sugary flavor, Sweet 100s produce scarlet, cherry-sized fruits in long clusters right up to frost. You’ll definitely want to stake or cage these vigorous climbers to keep the fruit off the ground and avoid pests and diseases. These tomatoes need at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water per week and prefer six hours or more of direct sun each day.
Cherry-type tomatoes do very well in sunny patio containers and hanging baskets. Be sure to offer plenty of light, and monitor moisture; plants in containers can dry out faster than those planted in the ground.
Plant cherry tomatoes in the garden 3 feet apart in rows. Each row should be spaced 48 inches apart. It’s very tempting to put them closer at planting time, but if you get them too close you’ll only increase the chance of disease.
Patio tomatos are extremely popular. They have a thick, strong stalk that makes for a good container tomater. In the spring, Lowes has many of these as they are so popular with apartment dwellers with so little space to grow anything.
I’ll be here probably, putting a fan belt on my truck. Email before driving, I may have to run back to the parts store if the part is not right. I gotta get my Nissan going, I can’t afford to feed the Chevy truck.
I’ll email so I’ll know if you are there.
Sweet 100, I looked at them and I’ll get some in the spring.
I’ve been studying how to “refresh” my potting soil mix for next year and years after that. I know now what to add to it, plus a pro says I can’t grow tomatoes in the same potting mix every year even thought I refresh the mix. Have to let that mix rest from tomatoes for two years but can grow other plants in it after refreshing it.
I have tomatoes in only one of the big tomato planters with the lattice attached, so that one can hold something else next year and plant tomatoes in the other big one with new soil mix in it. If I bought one more big one, the new big one could be used the third year, then start all over with the first one that had tomatoes. Guess I should number them so won’t get them mixed up.
I want to be able to have stored an extra year of the stuff, like snail castings and peat moss and another one or two fertilizing agents to refresh the potting soil mix. If the SHTF, I’d still have another year of stuff to refresh the mix. I’m still researching for the best additional additives to add to the potting soil mix.
Yep, that link that Black Agnes (I think) posted re: crop rotation can come in handy for knowing what to plant after various stuff.
I have a simpler rotation that is based on 4 years:
Legumes- peas and beans etc.
Leaves- lettuce and spinach
Fruit- Tomatoes, potatoes, corn etc.
Roots- Carrots, beets etc.
We don’t really have much in the front yard, other than a patch of lilies and iris, and roses. A few box wood near the foundation where it is too shady to do much.
We are still filling in the back yard. Evenually we’ll get around to the front though.
Keep in mind that if you want to do peppers in containers you need a BIG container. Bigger than a bushel basket for sure. Peppers have tremendous root sytems and they do well in containers especially if you water regularly, you just need a big pot.
Squirrel is delicious, favorite way - squirrel stroganoff. Noodles, squirrel, mushrooms and a mushroom/sour cream sauce. Yummy!
It has a door on each side, but they advised using one door if the animal did not go in with two open, so I have one door open. Think it would be possible to steal the food and not trip the trapping piece if he went in that other door.
Well, trial and error.
/johnny
Compost is the best. In the past, we’ve planted in pure compost, which is wonderful. We just can’t have a compost heap here, what with dogs, bears, fisher cats, coyotes, feral cats, and mice, of all things. It’s just too difficult.
I suppose that we might be able to add some compostables directly to our containers and allow it to break down over winter, though.
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