Vege's? [& Pest Control]

12 Sep '04 8:23 am

What is everyone else growing?

I have onions, garlic, carrots, red cabbage and silverbeet actively growing. The first time for the garlic and I am looking forward to it immensely!

This is also the first year I have the luxury of a little glasshouse (hence my interest in the moosey one Wink

)
Seeds I have sown therein so far include tomato, cucumber, rock melon, pumpkin (of course) and basil Smile

12 Sep '04 6:09 pm

A vegetable garden would be a very fine thing indeed, I can grow the most wonderful selection of everything edible..in my imagination... The reality means not much more than some members of the onion family(garlic, chives perpetual leeks...)sometimes a pumpkin and if they are well barricaded whilst still young, even tomatoes.
The bane of my gardening life is POSSUMS Exclamation

Those cutsie wootsie fluffy VERMIN Evil or Very Mad

I have tried and tried for years to have a half way decent vege patch and the same thing happens, overnight the plants are chewed to stumps. Because we live amidst bush and with pine plantations behind that there is a never ending procession of the horrible beasts trekking through my garden.The damage a single possum can inflict in one night is terrible to behold and has reduced me to tears on many occasions.
My dream is to one day have a garden where such things will no longer give me sleepless nights listening to their evil cackling and chomping.
I would even be happy to have a small flower garden and put most of my energies into the vegetables, but until we retire and move away then I will just have to pick over what is on offer in the supermarket. Sad

13 Sep '04 7:50 am

I can relate to the vermin tale Swallowstitch.
In my case it was rabbits.
But my latest problem is my chooks.I need to have a wing clipping session to stop them getting over the backyard fence and eating my vege garden so until I can catch all the little blighters I only grow chook-proof stuff e.g beans(runner and dwarf),zucchini,peppers,cucumbers,spuds and pumpkins.Any brassica type things are no-go as the chooks just love them.
If you have possum trouble have you tried a trap(cage of course)-the only trouble with that type of trapping is you them have to dispatch the possum.

13 Sep '04 7:06 pm

Hi Chooky

Yes, we do trap them, when I remember to put it out, trouble is we are surrounded by the little beggars and while one is languishing in the trap one of it's brothers or sisters is munching on something lucious and precious on the other side of the garden Sad

My husband despatches the trapee bang!),sometimes we can get a good run of captures, then we forget to reset or think we've got on top of them, and it's not till I see fresh damage that I know we were only kidding ourselves.
I can sympathise with you over chook damage, much as I love the sight and sound of free range hens there is a limit to where you want them to range Smile

and the vege garden would most definitely be a no-go area.
Still, you are able to grow a far larger range of veges than I can.
Today I ressurected an old wooden cloche I made years ago, relined the boards with black plastic and filled it with rich dark composty, wormy soil. This is where I shall grow lettuces, but it will need to be well barricaded.It was this Veges Post which inspired me to have another go at growing something, whether I succeed or not is up to my vigilance and perseverance.

14 Sep '04 7:31 pm

eek! Thank goodness I have neither of those problems Shocked

... at least the chooks would give you something in return I suppose Wink

The couple of resident pukekos here have been remarkably well behaved... hmmm... waiting for the harvest? Confused

I remember seeing somewhere that fish fertiliser keeps the possums away Swallowstitch, maybe it's worth a try?

15 Sep '04 9:35 am

Hi there

I have tried the fish fert. to repel rabbits and it seemed to work well(good for your plants as well)The one I tried was called Alaska.
Gardening with chooks is challenging sometimes.Not only is there the vege eating issue but also mulch scratching is a favourite pastime of a chook and planting out small seedlings is a waste of time so I tend to use potted colour for my annuals-more expensive but at least they don't end up scratched up on the lawn!! Sad

And then you get the chooks who sometimes choose to lay an egg in the garden and squash down a favourite plant. Mad

But you gotta luv em. Razz

15 Sep '04 6:52 pm

Yes, the Fish Fertilizer had it's trial run here last summer and sadly was not a success. The first to go was my beautiful 'Sally Holmes" rose even though she smelt like a fish factory. The irony of it all was that the fertilizer was so good it encouraged lots of lovely fresh shoots so the possums were able to come back for seconds and thirds.Sigh Sad

I have decided to show you my quaint set up which is a fresh attempt to thwart these dastardly devils, and I only use those terms because this is a family forum and bad language is frowned on. Very Happy

Behind the wooden frame are my Sweet Peas, hiding within their 3 litre fruit juice containers, despite what you are told about peas hating root disturbance these were teased apart(gently)and planted bare rooted, well watered then immediately covered up and touch wood Smile

they have gone from strength to strength.The trellis was made from pliable willow branches, a cheap and relatively easy although time consumimg,, it is arrangement. I shall get some rigid netting and "hoop" it over the wooden frame to give the lettuces head room as they grow.
I would like to finish by singing the praises of a product which I am not even sure whether it is still available... Safers Evergreen. You spray this on the foliage of transplanted plants and it is just wonderful, they NEVER wilt, it helps them withstand mild frosts and I rarely ever lose a plant when I use this stuff.I have a container which has been carefully hoarded, but a very little goes a long way and even after it is made up and sitting in the sprayer it seems to keep on working for months.I thoroughly reccommend it.
Enough of the ads... on with the show...

15 Sep '04 7:00 pm

I seemed to have messed up my first attempt to attach the file, so I'll have another go.

16 Sep '04 6:24 pm

Nice raised bed there Swallowstitch Smile

In the latest Gardener mag there is this link which may be of some help to you: PossumChase

LOL @ your chooks chooky! They sound adorable Very Happy

fertilizer AND eggs!

17 Sep '04 7:28 am

Sorry to hear your fish fert was not a success-but at least your plants got a good feed.
Yes Pumpkin gardening with chooks is a bit of a laugh-not to mention my ducks.They don't tend to scratch but just squash plants with their massive feet. Exclamation

Had a chook in the house the other day too-it was drinking out of the dogs water bowl. Very Happy

Bit of a bu##er with summer(what's that Question

) coming up when you can't leave the doors open for fear of poopy chooks coming inside.

Swallow-your raised bed looks great-what do you fert. your sweet peas with Question

Vege's? [& Pest Control]

Vege's? [& Pest Control]

Veges?

re Vermin

The Answer To Pests?

Oops