Garden imps and the 87 pound rabbit.

It has been too long and I am sorry.  My life became a whirlwind of unexpected proportion all of a sudden.  Now, with a couple days of quieter time, I have a moment to write.

Garden Imps:

Our garden has taken off.  I have harvested more peas,  lettuce and strawberries than ever before.  I am currently trying to keep up with the kale, cucumbers ans zucchini. Breads, soups, and kale crisps. 

Each time I walk about the back door there is a chirp or squeak and a trail of moving plants in this garden.  Some significant numbers of strawberries and cucumbers have been eaten but not enough to really make me upset.  

I was finally able to identify the imp by noting the holes in the sand under our chicken coop and patio pavers...5 stripe chipmunks.  Now, that left me with a question:  who is eating the strawberries and cucumbers? They were getting eaten whole.  I've seen a rabbit or two and thought it I had a solution that question too.

The 87 Pound Rabbit

Our home is set up so that the bedroom windows look out onto the garden.  I am usually the first one up and I have a routine.  I check out the back window on the gardens and the chickens and see that all is well in the morning sun.  I like the peacefulness of the space we have back there.  I feed the dog, make some coffee and let the dog out and sit down to my morning emails. Nice, quiet, peaceful before the day gets going.

It happened that walking the dog a week or so ago, I got badly stung by hornets - never saw the nest, 3 maybe 4 stings on my hand.  It blew up to be the shape of a latex glove used as a balloon and caused nights to be uncomfortable.  All of this is relevant because I was not the first up in the morning.  I woke up to hearing my partner in the kitchen letting the dog out and getting something for breakfast.

I went to the window and saw with my own eyes who has been taking the cucumbers and strawberries.  Its Obie our dog.  I watched as he walked over to the garden, poked his nose under leaf after leaf, take that one, and this one, oh, that one is good too.  87 pounds of rabbit.

He likes kale stems, strawberries (they're done now) and cucumbers.  We have to watch him because he really likes the cucumbers and he's sneaky.

Next post: growing chickens, plant guilds and nest boxes.