I sort of had visions of this idyllic self sufficient life wandering around my garden full of home grown veg and wildlife.......the reality is somewhat different. I have spent weeks covered in compost and manure as I make my no dig veg beds only for the wildlife to eat everything I'm trying to grow. I go out in the morning to watch the beautiful sunrise only to find rabbit fur and birds feathers scattered across the garden where the wildlife are eating each other.
I love seeing the foxes but not the smell of fox poo when the dogs have rolled in it everyday.....yes you two!
I loved seeing the stag but he has killed one of the trees and I don't think another will survive.
Badgers and rabbits are digging holes in the garden and I have millions of ants making impressive mounds in the middle of my veg beds.
To top it all my tomato plants are looking sick and probably about to kick the bucket. I think our hunger gap is going to last all year.
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| The saddest looking tomato plants you are likely to see |
and some little sods are eating the strawberries as soon as they ripen
Hey ho as they say, I still love it here.
..... and in other news, I have a school reunion next month. Anyone know how to lose lots of weight and look 10 years younger in a month?
Chickpea xx
Oh how disheartening for you having the wildlife eat all your hard work.
ReplyDeleteI hope something can be salvaged.
Hugs-x-
I will keep trying and hopefully end up with some nice veg :)
DeleteThis sounds so much like where I live.
ReplyDeleteI only grow a tomato plant or two now but for me it is the pack rats and the javelinas that devoue everything. I have a side yard "bunker " for the few thing I grow. Strawberries, lettuce, herbs carrots, parsnips all gone.
Hope it gets better.
cheers, parsno[
I think I will have to grow things they don't like. They haven't touched the garlic :)
DeleteWe had to erect a large fence around our veggie patch to stop the deer eating it all. That stag is magnificent and the dogs look so sweet in front of the stove. Good luck with all the wildlife! xx
ReplyDeleteI think he could get over most things, he was huge!
DeleteHa-ha! Well, you had me giggling throughout this post. When you move to wildlife territory, you have to find resourceful ways to keep them from eating things up. And no matter where you are, gardening is all about trial and error. At our community garden, it's the neighborhood kids who ruin much of what we put out there. They just don't understand the concept at all.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it's our first year here so we will learn what we can and can't grow successfully.
DeleteI had trillions of ants in my veggie patch. I emptied a whole container of garlic powder all over the patch and they fled for their life.
ReplyDeleteAs for wildlife eating eachother, the problem here is the cats bringing home snakes all the time, juck. Pam in Norway
I will try the garlic, hopefully it will chase them away. :)
DeleteYes you get some years like that. Smallholding farming makes you very stoic and pragmatic and more determined to succeed. There are no rose tinted spectacles with vegetables and livestock. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThanks, we need it, still a newby at this growing lark!
DeleteIf you find the answer to the weight loss and looking younger in a month please let me know. How disheartening to have so many problems with the garden. I have to admit despite your woes it was a joy to see that magnificent stag. Our dog loves rolling in the duck poo which has a vile smell too. Your stove looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHe was amazing, I'm hoping he will be back this year (but not in the garden)
DeleteI battle the wildlife here, too, in my small garden boxes. This year I decided enough was enough and my husband and I built some removable covers that sit on top of the boxes. They are easy to make - just screw together a base of 1X2s, then take chicken wire and put around the base, then enclose the top of the frame with more chicken wire. It's worked a treat! I got the idea out of the Square Foot gardening book.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good idea!
DeletePaper bag works for we, if not walk tall. Glad the wildlife is not putting you off.
ReplyDeleteLol, I'll get myself a fancy paper bag :)
DeleteOh dear, it sounds life self sufficiency is not an easy path. Magic underwear and dark glasses?
ReplyDeleteOooh magic underwear, if only :)
Deletespandex is the answer. I dont know where it goes!
DeleteThese things are sent to try us, I watched a Red Kite fly by the other day with a long snake dangling from its tallons it sort of makes up for all the crap bits :-)
ReplyDeleteI have just been watching the Housemartins building their nest, and yes it does balance it out :)
DeleteOh golly it's never easy being self sufficient is it. Things can only get better, Chickpea, so keep your chin up. As for the reunion... I bet everyone is thinking along the same lines, just enjoy yourself, my dear :)
ReplyDeleteI know for sure some of them are :)
DeleteOh Chickpea. My gran always said it took 5 years to get the garden going. Learning the light, the wind, the soil. And then the wild life! and what wild life it is!
ReplyDeleteis the compost around the tomatoes bought in? Have you ever looked at a blog called Marks veg plot? He had problems withs soil
http://marksvegplot.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=contaminated
to end on a good note, I love the stove. I love that you can cook with it! :)
Hi Sol, yes the soil is bought in, I think I either overwatered or underwatered or they got a lurgey. Everything else is ok in the soil, well apart from the ones with ants nests under them!!
DeleteIt can seem like utter sh*t sometimes can't it, but it'll get better. It always does. And if something fails or goes wrong, you just plonk something else in its place :) Try mulching under the strawberries with some straw to keep them off the ground (less easy for slugs) and maybe try a little bit of nitrogen-rich feed for the tomatoes if you haven't already. They'll probably pick up when the sunshine comes out to play again x
ReplyDeleteOh dear it sounds like you've got your hands full! Everything will taste so much better when you eventually manage to get it on the plate!
ReplyDeleteThe thing is ..you're having so much fun , being outside in the fresh air , getting the good earth on your hands , growing your own fruit and vegetables o.k so maybe you need to buy a couple more rolls of (blooming expensive ) chicken wire ,but it looks like its all coming together, crawling through muddy streams and watching the beautiful Cornish wildlife ,walking on the beach with your adorable dawgies .Whats happening with the climbing squash project ? Thanks for the brilliant recipe !
ReplyDeleteHey Chickpea! Hope the lovely weather is down there making your garden fab.
ReplyDeleteThis has a the makings of a hilarious rural situation comedy... the only catch is that you are the star, rather than the producer.
ReplyDeleteHoping you and yours are ok and that you have now got some more plants growing in the garden
ReplyDeletewhich have not been snaffled by the wildlife! Sue
Hey Chickpea, your email invite should have arrived. I have just realised I have the same pot you have on your stove but mine is black and white only. I got it in Millets when it was closing down!
ReplyDeleteYep, that's how it is ..... it takes time to find ways of outwitting the wildlife. At time it feels like they are all in a great big gang planning who's turn it is next to decimate the veg plot.
ReplyDeleteI knew I had turned a corner in my transition from townie to country girl when on seeing a huge pile of shredded rabbit fur my first thought was 'well someone went to bed with a full tummy last night' and not 'oh no poor bunny'.
Keep at it, if your tomato plants have indeed died a death since these photos were taken, look out for some more plants in the garden centres they are being sold off for pennies at the moment. And just replant, there are always lots of ways to keep the tunnels full and producing.
I cheated with Leeks last year when all mine went yellow and withered, a trip to the garden centre, £1.20 spent on a reduced tray of leek seedlings and I was back in business :-)
Just wondering how you are doing now. Have you managed to grow, and eat, a few strawberries and tomatoes?
ReplyDeleteDo hope you are all ok and that your silence is business rather than sadness and frustration. Sue
Still looking every day in the hope that life is treating you more kindly and that your son is ok.
ReplyDeleteAre you managing to harvest some food now?
It would be great if you have time just to let us know how you are. Sue