What did you do in the garden today?

[fuzzi]

I had around 5 watermelons in various stages of growth that I intended to harvest. Checked on them today and discovered every single one of them has been completely eaten by garden rats or other critters. Just a shell left...

I lost all my cantaloupes that way.

 

[Smokerbill]

Last night most of my new kale seedling got chewed to shreds. It was most likely earwigs. There are lots of them hiding in the rotting woodchip and dry grass mulch.

They barely touched the collards and bok choi, and they don't like carrot tops at all. I need to throw out some Sluggo Plus. It's made to kill earwigs along with slugs.

 

[Jenbirdee]

i managed to pick some peppers ! and some dandelion leaves

 

[Sally PB]

now I'm frying some whole potatoes, all the little ones. From pea size to olive size.

Well, dang, that sounds good!

 

[Sally PB]

I've never grown chard before, so I've never had a big bunch to need to deal with at one time.

What's the best way to preserve it? Frozen, I'm guessing? Chopped and bagged...?

 

[Liz Birdlover]

I had around 5 watermelons in various stages of growth that I intended to harvest. Checked on them today and discovered every single one of them has been completely eaten by garden rats or other critters. Just a shell left...

Wow, that totally sucks! What critters found your watermelons? Sounds like they had a smorgasbord party. I'd be super ticked off, too.

I wonder if it was groundhogs? They love melons.

 

[Smokerbill]

Well, dang, that sounds good!

They were ok. I just mixed them into some ham and beans.

 

[Molpet]

I've never grown chard before, so I've never had a big bunch to need to deal with at one time.

N the best way to preserve it? Frozen, I'm guessing? Chopped and bagged...?

I froze in a layer and then crunched it up into pieces in the bag . I also have chopped.
Supposed to boil it for a couple minutes first to stop enzymes then freeze.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

It was so breezy & cooler outside today. Oh I wore shorts & a t-shirt, but near dusk I had to grab a warm jacket. I enjoyed some time to tend to the garden. Found some little squash bugs attacking the cucumbers, those are some PITA bugs, so tiny. I sprayed soapy water last week. This time I sprayed some herbal oil type stuff, it smells really nice. I picked so many tomatoes & some cucumbers. Okra is not ready yet, but looking forward to it maybe next week. The corn is coming along. Sunflowers are in bloom, theyre the smaller flower heads. Those darn groundhogs ate my large ones so next year I will plant them inside the garden netting. We have not had decent rain, and I mean really, not 1 good summer rain at all this summer. It may rain north or south of us, but it's kind of bizarre how it always misses this area. I watered the fruit trees & fig. I hope they will do OK overall. They look stressed, but not dead.

Some pics

 

[TJAnonymous]

Wow, that totally sucks! What critters found your watermelons? Sounds like they had a smorgasbord party. I'd be super ticked off, too.

I wonder if it was groundhogs? They love melons.

I've never seen a groundhog out there but that doesn't mean anything... I noticed a critter turd out there yesterday about the size of a cat turd. I also saw an opossum in the driveway last weekend. Do opossum eat watermelon? I have absolutely seen rats out there so I assumed that they were the culprit. The watermelon was inside the hoop house but since the door broke off the frame any critter could walk in there.