From: Snag_one@msn.com   
      
   On 3/7/2025 5:52 PM, Carol wrote:   
   > Snag wrote:   
   >   
   >> On 3/7/2025 9:48 AM, fos@sdf.org wrote:   
   >>> On 2025-03-07, Snag  wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>>     So far I've got lettuce and bok choi seedlings peeping up thru   
   >> the   
   >>>> soil . I've also got carrots in a tray and peppers and tomatoes   
   >>>> in 4" pots but I don't expect to see any action there for a few   
   >>>> more days .   
   >>>   
   >>> i need to fortify my woodchuck defense before growing greens,   
   >>> cauliflower, broccoli, etc, again. last year i got the seeds in   
   >>> very early and had beautiful looking plants growing. previously   
   >>> i had started them too late and they bolted from the heat. last   
   >>> year, the woodchuck got through the fence around the raised beds   
   >>> and had itself quite the feast leaving me with mostly plant   
   >>> stumps.   
   >>>   
   >>> this spring i'm going to rototill a trench right next to the   
   >>> fence all the way around a foot deep and as wide as the tiller   
   >>> tines, about 2 feet, and bury galvanized expanded metal   
   >>> vertically and horizontally along the fence in the trench.   
   >>> which reminds me. i need to source the expanded metal and get   
   >>> my oxy-acetylene tanks filled. welding for gardening? would that   
   >>> make it heavy metal gardening? :P   
   >>>   
   >>   
   >> Chicken wire . I use a 24" wide 1" chicken wire with the bottom 6"   
   >> folded to the outside . I have a steel wire supporting the top with 3   
   >> strands of electrified wire above that . The bottom electric wire is   
   >> just an inch or two above the top of the chicken wire so small   
   >> critters can't just crawl over it . This has stopped everything but   
   >> armadillos including the local bears . 'Dillos just bull thru ,   
   >> they're like tanks . The only 2 things I've found that will stop them   
   >> is a bullet or my dog . If Max (75 pound Mountain Cur) gets a hold of   
   >> one it's crunch city .   
   >   
   > Although my garden didn't work well last year,I DID manage an effective   
   > rat defense.  Marigolds and spearmint.   
   >   
      
      Small furry mammals don't live long around here . Miz Kitty FatCat ,   
   Mr Black , Mama Ruby and recently shown up Lady Marmalade are all   
   accomplished hunters . Added benefit of lower rodent population is   
   lowered copperhead population ... we live in a clearing out in the woods   
   and it's always a trade off with the local wildlife .   
      I'm going to be trying some container gardening this year . A local   
   hardware/lumber/etc store had 2 cf bags of Miracle-Gro potting mix for   
   10 bucks a bag so I grabbed a couple today . Might grab a couple more   
   tomorrow when I go to the local grocery's annual March Madness Meat Sale   
   . The only time I can afford steak so I stock up and vacuum bag/freeze   
   them .   
   --   
   Snag   
   We live in a time where intelligent people   
   are being silenced so that   
   stupid people won't be offended.   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)