Help MBE grow his dinner 2011

mrbadexample

MBE is not a happy bunny. :mad:

After a lovely productive weekend, I woke this morning to find:



Something's defecated on my dinner. :mad:

And something's trampled all over, and dug up my newly prepared and seeded beds.





Whilst I don't know who left me the present, Mr Fox is going to regret setting paw in my garden. :mad:

Throughout the day my thoughts have wandered from bear traps to landmines, to snares and log-traps, to rifles and electric fences. However, I should probably (and somewhat reluctantly) avoid killing the neighbourhood cats.

I can't realistically prevent the fox from entering my garden; certainly not until the fence is done next weekend, and since any fox worth his salt could jump it without too much trouble, probably never.

So I need to construct some kind of barrier over the veg plot. It needs to be strong enough to stop foxes and cats, yet light enough for me to move easily when I need to. It must allow insects in to munch my veg (price you pay for pollination, I reckon ), and not block the sunlight.

Any ideas? I've got some netting I can use as a temporary solution, but once things start growing I'll need to sort something more permanent.

Sally_A

...or cat? looking at the pile of poop in one of the squares (sorry to get graphic, but fox poop tends to be a lot squelchier).

Try laying chicken wire over the beds, this stops cats scratching up for a dump.

mrbadexample

Yes, I think that the most likely candidate for the faeces is a cat.

But the digging is the work of a fox, I'm sure. There are loads round here. The footprints are too big for cats, and I've seen them in the garden before. They had a go at my tubs last year.

Sally_A

Badger???, but you should see sharp claw marks on closer examination.

nopot2pin

The guy up the road from me, has sticks in random places, with loads of twine round them, over his lily bulbs.
He says he doesn't want to stop the foxes coming into his garden, as these keep the cats out.
The twine just over the bulbs is low enough to stop anything treading on the soil, and close enough for the foxes/cats not to walk over it, for fear of getting their legs caught in the twine. Foxes still walk through his garden, just not the flower bed.

mrbadexample

Well, I've never been pro-hunting before.

It's not a badger (unless they can jump about 4' to get in?). Mr Fox it is. I've just been and bought some chicken wire, which I can cover the beds with as a temporary fix. That'll have to do for the moment.

mrbadexample

While I think about it, does the size of a seed potato have any bearing on the size of the resulting crop?

mrbadexample

nopot2pin wrote: »

My chillis/peppers have not taken off
And I have the same worries about starting more

I feel your pain! Mine are planted, but none have germinated yet, and one of the varieties (lemon drop) is supposedly slow to do so - I might not have any of those until about May. I think you have nothing to lose if you try more.

Fortunately, it's going to be a glorious summer*, and everything will catch up in the greenhouse.















*Yes, I am optimistic, aren't I?

annie123

You have my sympathy, I've been battling foxes and cats for years.

I use cut bits of holly dotted around for newly planted beds, that keeps them off of it as a rule, and squares of chicken wire resting against tattie leaves otherwise they try to dig them up :mad::mad::mad:
In return I've opened my front door and found fox poo on my door mat, lovely first thing in the morning:mad:

Sally_A

mrbadexample wrote: »

While I think about it, does the size of a seed potato have any bearing on the size of the resulting crop?

Unsure, as I've never made notes before, but there is strong belief that the fewer chits (2 or 3) on the planted seed spud the larger the size of the potatoes in the crop, or lots of chits = lots of smaller spuds.