Holey...Moley...!

Holey…Moley…!

Let me set the stage for you. The morning after a severe line of storms comes through I go outside to check on my garden. As Kelly will tell you, I worry about the garden in storms. As it turned out, things got really wet and some branches came down, but we were okay. Tonight, they’re calling for frost (seems like I can’t win some days).

Okay, back to the story. I went outside just after first light this morning (6:30, or so) and checked on it. As I started looking out, I was shocked to find an odd looking divot in my Pepper plot which, as you recall, I planted on Sunday! Anyway, I walked over to the hole expecting to the see Pepper plant in the divot. To my surprise and initial confusion, there was no plant to be found, just a whole in the dirt (think sinkhole the size of your foot) that led to a smooth tunnel the size of a softball.

Well, I’m no expert on pests so I called one. Dadsy told me that I had a Mole that was eating my crops. This one also ate the dowel that was supporting the plant! He told me that he, as a professional, couldn’t do much with rodents because they are protected. He figured I’d have to gas it. Honestly, this troubled me.

The fact is, I invaded his territory. It’s not like a mouse in the house or a bat in the attic (don’t panic, we don’t have that issue) that has invaded the human space. I did go into his. So, I wasn’t inclined to gas the poor thing with Chlorine (think WW1 trenches here) but wasn’t aware of much else to do.

So, I went to Lowe’s (get ready, and *collective gasps emanate from the reading audience*). They have this thing, see picture, that you put into the ground and it vibrates or pulses which repels Moles, Voles, and Shrews (Oh My!). As a bonus, it is also solar powered. We’ll have to see if it works.

Also, if anybody has any other suggestions of how to get rid of Moles without lethal actions, I’m all ears.

& the Odd

These are just some unique pictures.

This is the “guard dog.” Honestly, I think Lucy was just confused that I was taking pictures at 8 am before going to work. I can’t say I blame her…


This next picture is just confusing me. This is a planter box. Notice the Marigold on the left. It is thriving and looking healthy. In fact, it actually has two stems that are thriving. The one on the right has brown leaves and is crusty. You’ll also notice the flopping of the flower. Not sure what happened here. They were comparable when I bought them.

The Bad...

The bad….

Frankly, this section is less than successful. Essentially, this is the section where I outline what issues/problems I’m having.

As you recall, I started growing Basil. I’m not sure what happened to it, but I probably planted it too deep, or the weeds got to it. Either way, the Basil never came up. I found some bulbs while shopping at Lowe’s (there are times that living as close to it is a drawback). Anyway, I found some onion bulbs that were “guaranteed” to grow. So, I gave them a plant. We’ll see what happens.


So, stick with me a moment for geography’s sake. The first picture is looking toward the driveway. The flowers and such in the background are in the fore of the second picture. This was an area that was dedicated to the Morning Glory. They, however, had issues (see below) so I found some annuals to put there. Petunias and some other flower whose name I cannot recall. Behind that is a Cherry Tomato plant. That space wasn’t used for anything originally.

The next picture is where the carrots were planted. They didn’t come up. Again, not really sure why. However, while I was at Lowe’s (sensing a theme here?), I found a product that had carrot seeds in a paper wrapper and guaranteed growth. As with the Onions, we’ll see.

The fourth picture is standing in the yard looking toward the fence. Originally, Sunflowers were planted there. However, my fine feathered friends decided that I really didn’t want to grow Sunflowers. They actually dug up the seeds *grumble*. Well, I found some Roma Tomato plants on sale ($.99 each) and so we’ll see how they do.

The next picture is the Peppers. I know what you’re thinking, “but you had Peppers in the pots!” Yeah, well… They needed more space and the Onions weren’t growing here. So, I tilled up the soil and planted the Pepper plants, plus some other $.25 plants (yay for stumbling on sales!). I draw attention to the upper picture. That’ll come into play in later posts…

Finally, the Morning Glory. Not sure what happened here. They came up, looked good, and then started to wither. Or, rather, some of them started to wither. So, I plucked some of the withered ones. Since doing that, some have started to grow again. So, maybe they just needed thinning. I guess time will tell.

The Good...

The success stories, so far…

The top pictures are my Bush Beans. Originally, only about ½ of them sprouted. I’m convinced something was eating them (I’m looking at you Possum). The half that came up were on the right side as you look at the picture. So, I transplanted them yesterday and spread them out rather than simply thinning. So far, they are all looking like they have improved.

Beneath that, is the Garlic in the garden. The potted is doing well too, but I couldn’t get a good picture. I guess if this whole education thing doesn’t turn out, I can start a career growing garlic. I might want to encourage more vampires to move to Northport to ensure a stable market however.

Finally, my final success to note at the moment is the Cucumbers. I had some empty pots that were recently vacated by the Peppers (see later pictures). I plucked the seedlings and separated them (which was harder than you’d think) and replanted. We’ll see how they hold up.

Tomorrow I’ll post the Bad and the New…