Gone Garden

I first noticed a kale plant, started by my brother-in-law, who gave it to my sister who gave it to me at Easter. Due to the heavy rains in mid to late April, I did not get the garden soil worked up as early as desired for cool season crops, hence this kale, an my own plants were not in the soil until late April. It was a less than a week later, that it was chewed to the ground. My other plants went missing, like they were pulled out, even with row covers. I put a wire basket around it, and since it has struggled to once again take off. My other kale plants have seen the same fate. I am not sure what it is this year, but critter damage to my garden started early and has continued. I have plants or vegetables being eaten that have never before been eaten. It began and April and has continued unabated. This has meant that much of my garden is gone.

Critters eating Kale

I am not sure why an animal would like kale, but for its supposed benefits of varied minerals. Yet, it is not just the kale. Leaves have been chopped off Brussel sprouts, the fruit and/or leaves of kohlrabi have been eaten. The collards have been left untouched, by a critter who seemingly prefers kale over collard greens, but now have the usual holes in the leaves eaten by some type of caterpillar or worm. Yet, even before all this my self-started kale, collards, broccoli, and cabbage plants were fully eaten to the ground. It was so bad, I had to go buy plants of kale and collards and broccoli plants. The critters got them too, and have little left. I am not sure what squirrels may do, but one time as I entered the garden I saw a squirrel with a plant in its mouth moving quickly out of the fenced in garden. 

My second planting of beans was all destroyed, likely by squirrels, but maybe chipmunks, digging up the seeds I had planted. I even covered the next planting with screen weighed down by stones, and some where still dug out.

Kohlrabi leavaess eaten 

My pea plants were eaten off at the ground in May, just as they were about to produce. Some of my bean plants had the same, but the bean plants in the raised bed were looking good until we got back from a camping trip on July 2, and noticed they were all eaten down.

While the garden is on a hill in the backyard, my eggplant seem to need more sun so I planted three on the southside of the house in our flower bed. A couple weeks ago I noticed the lower leaves had been eaten, but the critter left the small fruits starting to be produced on the plants. for two of the plants, I have placed a large tomato cage over the plants, and used old screening or chicken wire to wrap around the cage. The critter apparently did not like the fruit of the eggplant. Of course, the critter ate more than vegetables. I had a nice snapdragon from last year that survived and had flowered, and I dead-headed to get it to flower again, only to find a couple days later it had been eaten to the ground level as some cosmos.

Brussel Sprout leaves eaten

Fortunately, my tomato plants have been left unharmed, although earlier in the year deer seemed to have eaten them as they did my rose bushes which delayed roses on most of my rose shrubs.  Adding insult to injury, the impatiens I planted in a homemade planter, that sits about 7" above the concrete floor of the porch, were cut down to a couple inches high, destroying all the nice flowers. Our neighbor plants impatiens in the ground and they never have damage, perhaps because they have a dog, and while an inside dog, they do let it out in the backyard on occasion. I am not sure if the critters smell the dog even though it is not in the backyard too often, or what happens that they know to attack my plants. It all makes me wonder if the critters have trail cams to find out what we are up to and when we are away from the house. 

I do know that I have seen a rabbit in the garden, and not sure how it got in, perhaps through the door. I wonder, with all the damage it lives in there and hides under the rhubarb leaves. I want to know why the critters can not eat things, like the volunteer Kentucky Coffee trees that pop up, or the creeping Charlie, or the burdock, or the grapevines growing up back in my somewhat wild area? But, no, they have to eat something I put time and effort into growing and had to replace (some replaced twice, i.e.  three plantings). I know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. 

Kale

I have tried row covers over seedings and as another fence, but those techniques failed. I am now trying another fence, to have the kale and Brussel Sprouts fenced within the fenced in garden. I keep wondering if I have to put a netting over the top, supported by some type of structure. I am attempting to reinvigorate the remaining plants, but not sure if that will work to which I will have a mostly gone garden.