I always had a problem with shade. Big trees blocked the sun here on
Long Island. I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. Well,
I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. They grew
much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
getting big very fast. The grape tomatoes turned red first. There
were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
till they were a rich red.

So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. I
am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. It got worse
from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
or half eaten. I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
animals must have climbed from one plant to another.

It would have been a glorious yield but we started to see mice and
rats hanging around and that was it. We set traps but word must have
gotten out that the best restaurant in town was open for business.

The gardeners were here and I had them remove every plant, tomatoes,
cucumbers, zucchini, white eggplant and one very hot pepper plant. I
wouldn't touch the tomatoes in the sun in the back of the house
because those were disgusting but the plants on the side of the house
had some healthy looking green tomatoes so I pulled them off, two
large grocery bags filled, and now there is nothing but the herbs
left. The zucchini didn't grow at all but we had about 10 nice white
eggplants that the animals never got to.

I even had the gardeners take away the tomato cages and the wooden
stakes. It just got too good and they all came.

I still love fresh chives, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
use them all the time. So that will be nice but for all the
aggravation, and the work, I'll buy tomatoes at the farm stands and I
am sure I'll save lots of money too, not to mention me knees which
were not great after moving 5 yards of composted top soil into the
back yard.

I though perhaps there was a way to grow the tomatoes vertically
upside down but no matter what the setup, if I am the only one in the
neighborhood doing it, they don't stand a chance. I can see the
chipmunks playing Tarzan jumping for the vines and knocking down all
the tomatoes as they slide down the plants.

Alan

On Aug 26, 4:08*pm, Alan > wrote:
> I always had a problem with shade. *Big trees blocked the sun here on
> Long Island. *I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
> wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. *Well,
> I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. *They grew
> much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
> getting big very fast. *The grape tomatoes turned red first. *There
> were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
> till they were a rich red. *
>
> So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. *I
> am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. *It got worse
> from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
> or half eaten. *I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
> animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
>
> It would have been a glorious yield but we started to see mice and
> rats hanging around and that was it. *We set traps but word must have
> gotten out that the best restaurant in town was open for business.
>
> The gardeners were here and I had them remove every plant, tomatoes,
> cucumbers, zucchini, white eggplant and one very hot pepper plant. *I
> wouldn't touch the tomatoes in the sun in the back of the house
> because those were disgusting but the plants on the side of the house
> had some healthy looking green tomatoes so I pulled them off, two
> large grocery bags filled, and now there is nothing but the herbs
> left. *The zucchini didn't grow at all but we had about 10 nice white
> eggplants that the animals never got to.
>
> I even had the gardeners take away the tomato cages and the wooden
> stakes. *It just got too good and they all came. *
>
> I still love fresh chives, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
> use them all the time. *So that will be nice but for all the
> aggravation, and the work, I'll buy tomatoes at the farm stands and I
> am sure I'll save lots of money too, not to mention me knees which
> were not great after moving 5 yards of composted top soil into the
> back yard. *
>
> I though perhaps there was a way to grow the tomatoes vertically
> upside down but no matter what the setup, if I am the only one in the
> neighborhood doing it, they don't stand a chance. *I can see the
> chipmunks playing Tarzan jumping for the vines and knocking down all
> the tomatoes as they slide down the plants.
>
> Alan

Coulda been raccoons. They are really smart and very easily can out-
calculate the humans. When we lived on a farm, they would - swear to
God! - peel back the husk on the sweet corn to see how ripe the ear
was. The mother would knock one cornstalk over the electric fence (a
low one, but still), short it out, and lead her whole family across.
You've got to have a good, sturdy fence in order to keep the critters
out.

N.

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:08:47 -0400, Alan >
wrote:

>I always had a problem with shade. Big trees blocked the sun here on
>Long Island. I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
>wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. Well,
>I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. They grew
>much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
>getting big very fast. The grape tomatoes turned red first. There
>were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
>till they were a rich red.
>
>So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. I
>am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. It got worse
>from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
>or half eaten. I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
>animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
snip
>I though perhaps there was a way to grow the tomatoes vertically
>upside down but no matter what the setup, if I am the only one in the
>neighborhood doing it, they don't stand a chance. I can see the
>chipmunks playing Tarzan jumping for the vines and knocking down all
>the tomatoes as they slide down the plants.
>
>Alan

If it's any comfort, we've been going through the same thing this
year.

Of my entire plot of corn, we've gotten 1 ear. Almost all my tomatoes
have been destroyed (usually partially eaten or just tasted and ripped
off the vine), the blueberries vanished overnight a couple of days
before they were ready to pick. It has been a sad year of gardening.

We had a mild winter over '07-'08 and I am guessing the population of
critters did not experience the usual cull by nature. We are the only
veggie plot in the immediate neighborhood and our food plantings have
been extensive.

We're seen damage by squirrels, chipmunks, possums, groundhogs and
raccoons. The deer don't get into the back yard as it's fenced, but
they ate the tulip bulbs this year. That, too, was rare.

We've been trapping and releasing into a non-residential area near a
river. It is illegal to do so (surprisingly, it is perfectly legal to
kill every critter we trap, though), but the area where we release is
filled with this same wildlife, and although I am sure some don't make
it, I think most do as that area has appropriate food aplenty and they
have a fighting chance. I do understand the implications of moving
them out of home turf.

I don't mind sharing with them, honestly I don't, but it is hard to
see a whole season's efforts come to naught.

And they're messy little *******s, too.

Boron

Alan wrote:
> I always had a problem with shade. Big trees blocked the sun here on
> Long Island. I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
> wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. Well,
> I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. They grew
> much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
> getting big very fast. The grape tomatoes turned red first. There
> were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
> till they were a rich red.
>
> So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. I
> am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. It got worse
> from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
> or half eaten. I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
> animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
>
> It would have been a glorious yield but we started to see mice and
> rats hanging around and that was it. We set traps but word must have
> gotten out that the best restaurant in town was open for business.

Do you have deer? When I lived in New Jersey the deer got into
everything. They even ate the green tomatoes off the vines. They jumped
8 foot fences, too. The next door neighbor flood lit his garden and left
the dog out all night, but the deer still ate everything.

We never had any problems until some developers began clearing wooded
areas for houses. They took away the deer's habitat and the deer paid us
humans back.


--
Janet Wilder
Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
Good Friends. Good Life

In article >,
Boron Elgar > wrote:

> And they're messy little *******s, too.
>
> Boron

I love your way with words, Madam.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller, blahblahblog is back and
most recently updated last night, 8-17-2008. Fair entries are DONE!

On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:04:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> Boron Elgar > wrote:
>
>> And they're messy little *******s, too.
>>
>> Boron
>
>I love your way with words, Madam.


It's twoo! It's twoo! Not one of those critters had married parents.

Boron

In article >,
Boron Elgar > wrote:

> On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:04:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
> >In article >,
> > Boron Elgar > wrote:
> >
> >> And they're messy little *******s, too.
> >>
> >> Boron
> >
> >I love your way with words, Madam.
>
>
> It's twoo! It's twoo! Not one of those critters had married parents.
>
> Boron

And IME sometimes the genealogy can be pristine and the offspring can
still be a *******!

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller, blahblahblog is back and
most recently updated last night, 8-17-2008. Fair entries are DONE!

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:17:34 -0400, Boron Elgar wrote:

> On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:04:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
>>In article >,
>> Boron Elgar > wrote:
>>
>>> And they're messy little *******s, too.
>>>
>>> Boron
>>
>>I love your way with words, Madam.
>
>
> It's twoo! It's twoo! Not one of those critters had married parents.
>
> Boron

maybe it was a very informal ceremony, not reported in the papers.

your pal,
blake

On Aug 26, 8:36*pm, Janet Wilder > wrote:
> Alan wrote:
> > I always had a problem with shade. *Big trees blocked the sun here on
> > Long Island. *I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
> > wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. *Well,
> > I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. *They grew
> > much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
> > getting big very fast. *The grape tomatoes turned red first. *There
> > were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
> > till they were a rich red. *
>
> > So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. *I
> > am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. *It got worse
> > from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
> > or half eaten. *I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
> > animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
>
> > It would have been a glorious yield but we started to see mice and
> > rats hanging around and that was it. *We set traps but word must have
> > gotten out that the best restaurant in town was open for business.
>
> Do you have deer? *When I lived in New Jersey the deer got into
> everything. They even ate the green tomatoes off the vines. They jumped
> 8 foot fences, too. The next door neighbor flood lit his garden and left
> the dog out all night, but the deer still ate everything.
>
> We never had any problems until some developers began clearing wooded
> areas for houses. They took away the deer's habitat and the deer paid us
> humans back.
>
> --
> Janet Wilder
> Bad spelling. Bad punctuation
> Good Friends. Good Life- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -


We have urban deer herds - officially culled every year, but still I
get to see a small group leaping across the street when I'm on the bus
going to work.

For some critters, if you put a portable radio out in the garden
overnight, tuned to voices, it's enough to keep them away, at least
until they figure it out.

N.

On Aug 27, 7:29*am, "Michael \"Dog3\"" > wrote:
> Alan > *news:rcq8b4p2hmumvh0ke5m2595mkejqd7uhrb@
> 4ax.com: in rec.food.cooking
>
>
>
> > I though perhaps there was a way to grow the tomatoes vertically
> > upside down but no matter what the setup, if I am the only one in the
> > neighborhood doing it, they don't stand a chance. *I can see the
> > chipmunks playing Tarzan jumping for the vines and knocking down all
> > the tomatoes as they slide down the plants.
>
> Alan, I sympathize. *There is only one area we get any sun besides the
> front lawn. *I had thought about growing tomatoes on the side that got
> sun... until my neighbor clued me in. *He's tried all ways of growing
> tomatoes but the tree rats and racoons get to them before the humans do. I
> didn't bother to try it although I'm tempted every year.
>
> Michael
>
> --
> "No More Getting Jerked Around by the Gas Nozzle"
> * * * * * * * * ~ Senator Larry Craig R-Idaho on Cspan-2
>
> *To email - michael at lonergan dot us dot com

I've grown tomatoes on my deck, in giant pots, and the squirrels never
touched the tomatoes - they only dug in the dirt and gnawed around the
edges of the pots. I don't think tree rats eat tomatoes - but I could
be wrong. Maybe it's just mine that don't eat tomatoes - or maybe the
tomatoes weren't the right kind. ;-)

N.

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:22:20 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> Boron Elgar > wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:04:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >In article >,
>> > Boron Elgar > wrote:
>> >
>> >> And they're messy little *******s, too.
>> >>
>> >> Boron
>> >
>> >I love your way with words, Madam.
>>
>>
>> It's twoo! It's twoo! Not one of those critters had married parents.
>>
>> Boron
>
>And IME sometimes the genealogy can be pristine and the offspring can
>still be a *******!

You betcha.

Boron

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:58:03 GMT, blake murphy
> wrote:

>On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:17:34 -0400, Boron Elgar wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:04:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>>
>>>In article >,
>>> Boron Elgar > wrote:
>>>
>>>> And they're messy little *******s, too.
>>>>
>>>> Boron
>>>
>>>I love your way with words, Madam.
>>
>>
>> It's twoo! It's twoo! Not one of those critters had married parents.
>>
>> Boron
>
>maybe it was a very informal ceremony, not reported in the papers.
>
>your pal,
>blake

No shotguns?

Boron

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:05:33 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> wrote:


>
>I've grown tomatoes on my deck, in giant pots, and the squirrels never
>touched the tomatoes - they only dug in the dirt and gnawed around the
>edges of the pots. I don't think tree rats eat tomatoes - but I could
>be wrong. Maybe it's just mine that don't eat tomatoes - or maybe the
>tomatoes weren't the right kind. ;-)
>
>N.

I do a lot of my vegetable growing up on the deck in pots to keep the
groundhogs away, but the squirrels and raccoons manage to climb up
pretty easily.

The squirrels do, indeed, eat tomatoes. From web reading, it is
mentioned they do so in times of drought, but it appears that around
here, the easy availability of water (I live between two small lakes,
a reservoir and many streams) makes no difference. We've caught them
eating the tomatoes almost every day.

Boron

Nancy2 wrote:

On Aug 26, 4:08 pm, Alan > wrote:
> I always had a problem with shade. Big trees blocked the sun here on
> Long Island. I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
> wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. Well,
> I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. They grew
> much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
> getting big very fast. The grape tomatoes turned red first. There
> were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
> till they were a rich red.
>
> So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. I
> am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. It got worse
> from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
> or half eaten. I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
> animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
>
> It would have been a glorious yield but we started to see mice and
> rats hanging around and that was it. We set traps but word must have
> gotten out that the best restaurant in town was open for business.
>
> The gardeners were here and I had them remove every plant, tomatoes,
> cucumbers, zucchini, white eggplant and one very hot pepper plant. I
> wouldn't touch the tomatoes in the sun in the back of the house
> because those were disgusting but the plants on the side of the house
> had some healthy looking green tomatoes so I pulled them off, two
> large grocery bags filled, and now there is nothing but the herbs
> left. The zucchini didn't grow at all but we had about 10 nice white
> eggplants that the animals never got to.
>
> I even had the gardeners take away the tomato cages and the wooden
> stakes. It just got too good and they all came.
>
> I still love fresh chives, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
> use them all the time. So that will be nice but for all the
> aggravation, and the work, I'll buy tomatoes at the farm stands and I
> am sure I'll save lots of money too, not to mention me knees which
> were not great after moving 5 yards of composted top soil into the
> back yard.
>
> I though perhaps there was a way to grow the tomatoes vertically
> upside down but no matter what the setup, if I am the only one in the
> neighborhood doing it, they don't stand a chance. I can see the
> chipmunks playing Tarzan jumping for the vines and knocking down all
> the tomatoes as they slide down the plants.
>
> Alan

Coulda been raccoons. They are really smart and very easily can out-
calculate the humans. When we lived on a farm, they would - swear to
God! - peel back the husk on the sweet corn to see how ripe the ear
was. The mother would knock one cornstalk over the electric fence (a
low one, but still), short it out, and lead her whole family across.
You've got to have a good, sturdy fence in order to keep the critters
out.
------------------

GM replies:

Yup, in the mid - 60's new strains of super - sweet corn appeared (Illini
Super Sweet, etc...) and so folks started growing a lot of this corn in our
western Illinois area. My dad and his friends planted a lot of these tasty
new hybrids and the raccoons got into the act, too...we tried everything,
e.g. electric fences, lights, noisemakers, dogs, the bit. Those masked
bandits were absolutely undeterred...

It actually got to be pretty comical...coulda been a plot of _Green
Acres_...


--
Best
Greg

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:02:53 -0400, Boron Elgar wrote:

> On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:58:03 GMT, blake murphy
> > wrote:
>
>>On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:17:34 -0400, Boron Elgar wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:04:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>>In article >,
>>>> Boron Elgar > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> And they're messy little *******s, too.
>>>>>
>>>>> Boron
>>>>
>>>>I love your way with words, Madam.
>>>
>>>
>>> It's twoo! It's twoo! Not one of those critters had married parents.
>>>
>>> Boron
>>
>>maybe it was a very informal ceremony, not reported in the papers.
>>
>>your pal,
>>blake
>
> No shotguns?
>
> Boron

i think that's a different kind of informal ceremony.

your pal,
blake

Nancy,

I don't think we have raccoons (but we probably do) and there aren't
any deer here. However, we have some very active chipmunks, squirrels
and we have seen at least one rat that was pretty big and a few mice.
There is tons of building going on here, tearing down houses and
rebuilding 7500 sq ft houses and up. Since nobody else is growing
vegetables, we think, they all come to us.

I drove buy the farm where I will be going once all the tomatoes are
gone and they had their corn crop growing with the plants about a foot
and a half high. For only a second I though about corn but realized
the sugar in the corn would bring just as many animals as the tomatoes
did. I wonder how they stop the animals. Maybe it's just that there
is so much corn they notice it.

Alan


On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:22:22 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> wrote:

>On Aug 26, 4:08*pm, Alan > wrote:
>> I always had a problem with shade. *Big trees blocked the sun here on
>> Long Island. *I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
>> wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. *Well,
>> I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. *They grew
>> much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
>> getting big very fast. *The grape tomatoes turned red first. *There
>> were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
>> till they were a rich red. *
>>
>> So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. *I
>> am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. *It got worse
>> from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
>> or half eaten. *I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
>> animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
>>
>> It would have been a glorious yield but we started to see mice and
>> rats hanging around and that was it. *We set traps but word must have
>> gotten out that the best restaurant in town was open for business.
>>
>> The gardeners were here and I had them remove every plant, tomatoes,
>> cucumbers, zucchini, white eggplant and one very hot pepper plant. *I
>> wouldn't touch the tomatoes in the sun in the back of the house
>> because those were disgusting but the plants on the side of the house
>> had some healthy looking green tomatoes so I pulled them off, two
>> large grocery bags filled, and now there is nothing but the herbs
>> left. *The zucchini didn't grow at all but we had about 10 nice white
>> eggplants that the animals never got to.
>>
>> I even had the gardeners take away the tomato cages and the wooden
>> stakes. *It just got too good and they all came. *
>>
>> I still love fresh chives, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
>> use them all the time. *So that will be nice but for all the
>> aggravation, and the work, I'll buy tomatoes at the farm stands and I
>> am sure I'll save lots of money too, not to mention me knees which
>> were not great after moving 5 yards of composted top soil into the
>> back yard. *
>>
>> I though perhaps there was a way to grow the tomatoes vertically
>> upside down but no matter what the setup, if I am the only one in the
>> neighborhood doing it, they don't stand a chance. *I can see the
>> chipmunks playing Tarzan jumping for the vines and knocking down all
>> the tomatoes as they slide down the plants.
>>
>> Alan
>
>Coulda been raccoons. They are really smart and very easily can out-
>calculate the humans. When we lived on a farm, they would - swear to
>God! - peel back the husk on the sweet corn to see how ripe the ear
>was. The mother would knock one cornstalk over the electric fence (a
>low one, but still), short it out, and lead her whole family across.
>You've got to have a good, sturdy fence in order to keep the critters
>out.
>
>N.

Greg,

Even the imbeciles can figure out how to eat a tomato. I ws
surprised that they got all the red grape tomatoes because they were
pretty high, at least 4 feet.

Alan

On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 22:23:53 -0500, "Gregory Morrow"
> wrote:

>
>
>Nancy2 wrote:
>
>On Aug 26, 4:08 pm, Alan > wrote:
>> I always had a problem with shade. Big trees blocked the sun here on
>> Long Island. I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
>> wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. Well,
>> I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. They grew
>> much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
>> getting big very fast. The grape tomatoes turned red first. There
>> were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
>> till they were a rich red.
>>
>> So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. I
>> am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. It got worse
>> from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
>> or half eaten. I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
>> animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
>>
>> It would have been a glorious yield but we started to see mice and
>> rats hanging around and that was it. We set traps but word must have
>> gotten out that the best restaurant in town was open for business.
>>
>> The gardeners were here and I had them remove every plant, tomatoes,
>> cucumbers, zucchini, white eggplant and one very hot pepper plant. I
>> wouldn't touch the tomatoes in the sun in the back of the house
>> because those were disgusting but the plants on the side of the house
>> had some healthy looking green tomatoes so I pulled them off, two
>> large grocery bags filled, and now there is nothing but the herbs
>> left. The zucchini didn't grow at all but we had about 10 nice white
>> eggplants that the animals never got to.
>>
>> I even had the gardeners take away the tomato cages and the wooden
>> stakes. It just got too good and they all came.
>>
>> I still love fresh chives, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
>> use them all the time. So that will be nice but for all the
>> aggravation, and the work, I'll buy tomatoes at the farm stands and I
>> am sure I'll save lots of money too, not to mention me knees which
>> were not great after moving 5 yards of composted top soil into the
>> back yard.
>>
>> I though perhaps there was a way to grow the tomatoes vertically
>> upside down but no matter what the setup, if I am the only one in the
>> neighborhood doing it, they don't stand a chance. I can see the
>> chipmunks playing Tarzan jumping for the vines and knocking down all
>> the tomatoes as they slide down the plants.
>>
>> Alan
>
>Coulda been raccoons. They are really smart and very easily can out-
>calculate the humans. When we lived on a farm, they would - swear to
>God! - peel back the husk on the sweet corn to see how ripe the ear
>was. The mother would knock one cornstalk over the electric fence (a
>low one, but still), short it out, and lead her whole family across.
>You've got to have a good, sturdy fence in order to keep the critters
>out.
>------------------
>
>GM replies:
>
>Yup, in the mid - 60's new strains of super - sweet corn appeared (Illini
>Super Sweet, etc...) and so folks started growing a lot of this corn in our
>western Illinois area. My dad and his friends planted a lot of these tasty
>new hybrids and the raccoons got into the act, too...we tried everything,
>e.g. electric fences, lights, noisemakers, dogs, the bit. Those masked
>bandits were absolutely undeterred...
>
>It actually got to be pretty comical...coulda been a plot of _Green
>Acres_...

Boron,

For the first time this year we noticed lots of holes in the lawn and
in the beds. Either it's a new type of critter or the tomatoes are
giving them so much energy they are digging up the lawn. Actually, I
saw the holes before the tomatoes started to get red.

Like you, being the only one in the area is a bad thing. That's why I
pulled everything out but the herbs so they start looking elsewhere
before the winter.

Alan



On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:26:37 -0400, Boron Elgar
> wrote:

>On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:08:47 -0400, Alan >
>wrote:
>
>>I always had a problem with shade. Big trees blocked the sun here on
>>Long Island. I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
>>wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. Well,
>>I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. They grew
>>much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
>>getting big very fast. The grape tomatoes turned red first. There
>>were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
>>till they were a rich red.
>>
>>So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. I
>>am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. It got worse
>>from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
>>or half eaten. I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
>>animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
>snip
>>I though perhaps there was a way to grow the tomatoes vertically
>>upside down but no matter what the setup, if I am the only one in the
>>neighborhood doing it, they don't stand a chance. I can see the
>>chipmunks playing Tarzan jumping for the vines and knocking down all
>>the tomatoes as they slide down the plants.
>>
>>Alan
>
>If it's any comfort, we've been going through the same thing this
>year.
>
>Of my entire plot of corn, we've gotten 1 ear. Almost all my tomatoes
>have been destroyed (usually partially eaten or just tasted and ripped
>off the vine), the blueberries vanished overnight a couple of days
>before they were ready to pick. It has been a sad year of gardening.
>
>We had a mild winter over '07-'08 and I am guessing the population of
>critters did not experience the usual cull by nature. We are the only
>veggie plot in the immediate neighborhood and our food plantings have
>been extensive.
>
>We're seen damage by squirrels, chipmunks, possums, groundhogs and
>raccoons. The deer don't get into the back yard as it's fenced, but
>they ate the tulip bulbs this year. That, too, was rare.
>
>We've been trapping and releasing into a non-residential area near a
>river. It is illegal to do so (surprisingly, it is perfectly legal to
>kill every critter we trap, though), but the area where we release is
>filled with this same wildlife, and although I am sure some don't make
>it, I think most do as that area has appropriate food aplenty and they
>have a fighting chance. I do understand the implications of moving
>them out of home turf.
>
>I don't mind sharing with them, honestly I don't, but it is hard to
>see a whole season's efforts come to naught.
>
>And they're messy little *******s, too.
>
>Boron

Janet,

Here too, no problems until this year when building went wild. Nothing
ever touched our green tomatoes but that could be because we had so
many great red ones.


On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 20:36:54 -0500, Janet Wilder
> wrote:

>Alan wrote:
>> I always had a problem with shade. Big trees blocked the sun here on
>> Long Island. I finally used a great spot in the backyard, which my
>> wife was never thrilled with, better on the side of the house. Well,
>> I planted lots of tomato plants and they grew like crazy. They grew
>> much faster than the plants on the side of the house and they were
>> getting big very fast. The grape tomatoes turned red first. There
>> were so many orange to red ones but I decided to wait a few more days
>> till they were a rich red.
>>
>> So, I went outside one morning and all the red tomatoes were gone. I
>> am talking about red grape tomatoes that were high up. It got worse
>> from there and every good tomato, except the cherries were either gone
>> or half eaten. I planted a lot of tomatoes in a small area so the
>> animals must have climbed from one plant to another.
>>
>> It would have been a glorious yield but we started to see mice and
>> rats hanging around and that was it. We set traps but word must have
>> gotten out that the best restaurant in town was open for business.
>
>Do you have deer? When I lived in New Jersey the deer got into
>everything. They even ate the green tomatoes off the vines. They jumped
>8 foot fences, too. The next door neighbor flood lit his garden and left
>the dog out all night, but the deer still ate everything.
>
>We never had any problems until some developers began clearing wooded
>areas for houses. They took away the deer's habitat and the deer paid us
>humans back.

On Aug 27, 4:23*pm, Boron Elgar > wrote:
> On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:05:33 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
>
> > wrote:
>
> >I've grown tomatoes on my deck, in giant pots, and the squirrels never
> >touched the tomatoes - they only dug in the dirt and gnawed around the
> >edges of the pots. *I don't think tree rats eat tomatoes - but I could
> >be wrong. *Maybe it's just mine that don't eat tomatoes - or maybe the
> >tomatoes weren't the right kind. *;-)
>
> >N.
>
> I do a lot of my vegetable growing up on the deck in pots to keep the
> groundhogs away, but the squirrels and raccoons manage to climb up
> pretty easily.
>
> The squirrels do, indeed, eat tomatoes. From web reading, it is
> mentioned they do so in times of drought, but it appears that around
> here, the easy availability of water (I live between two small lakes,
> a reservoir and many streams) makes no difference. We've caught them
> eating the tomatoes almost every day.
>
> Boron

Plant decoy crops! My house is in an old walnut orchard, I have one
big tree in back that has reverted to California black walnut stock.
There are lots of squirrels and they never touch my vegetables.

The coons show up for the cat food and to wash things in the cats'
water dish. They seem to enjoy one of the neighbor's avocado trees
because I occasionally find an avocado with a few bites out of it in
the yard.

Susan B.