The first year our plants were doing ok, we had jalapeno and habanero plants that were about 3 ft tall. We were so excited to see little peppers growing! and then one day the plants were GONE! Chopped all the way down to 6 inch nubs, the peppers were gone, the leaves were gone everything was gone.. WHAT??? Upon doing some research we realized it was DEER! So crazy we live in town a short walk to downtown in fact, so how can we have deer... well that was the city mouse in me, i guess. Deer can and do live in these parts, we are right near the cuyahoga river, have lots of wooded areas etc etc. But why would deer eat HOT peppers? seems deer are not picky eaters. they will eat what they can find. CURSES!
We also have rabbits. cute cute bunnies... till they eat all our lettuce (or till our cat eats them.. definitely not cute then either...). and our bunnies are crazy smart, they will wait till the lettuce is perfectly ready. it is full, it is hardy, it is a perfect amount for two nice salads... and then they eat it down to nubs. CURSES!
When we started the straw bales last year we placed them in the far back yard, we watered them, we fenced them to prevent the bunnies and the deer from making them dinner. we were prepared! till one day, when i noticed the leaves on the peppers were looking terrible, not like an mammal had attacked but more like BUGS! we put out some beer (it works wonders on slugs! so gross but the day after you put out a small bowl of beer the bowl will be FILLED with nasty dead slugs!) but it wasn't helping so we realized slugs were not the problem. so we bought some natural repellents: MARIGOLDS! pretty stinky marigolds! I went to the bales and realized I had forgotten my hand shovel, oh well I am a nature lovin' fool, I don't mind getting my hands dirty! I dug right in to the bales to make a hole to put in my flowers, and OUCH!! I felt a horrible stinging on my wrist, I withdrew my hand and..... my whole arm, up to my elbow was COVERED in medium sized black ants!!! BITING ANTS? i lived in Texas for a year and knew to avoid fire ants but these were no fire ants! they were larger and black(and not to mention in ohio!) what??!!?? Turns out the entire bale was engulfed with leaf cutter ants, they were eating the plants and decided to try eating me! CURSES!
I am gonna save the groundhog from hell for another post (or twenty-since he is my nemesis!) so now i will just address how we have avoided or plan to avoid the curses!
Deer: we think they were around because our home had stood vacant for five years or so before we moved in. The far back of the yard was a wilderness (saving that for another post too!) and no one was ever around. But during year two we reclaimed the back. Adding to that we, (wonderful girlfriend, me, our friends, our two cats and our dog) are around and outside all the time, and we haven't seen as many Deer. we also fenced in the gardens. so far we haven't had the deer problem again and are *hoping* they have moved on!
Bunnies: well... sorry to say it, because i am a big ole pacifist animal lover but.... our kitty Annie has helped keep the bunnies, the mice, the voles, the birds, and even a BAT! at bay. She is a killing machine (DISCLAIMER: Annie came to us as an indoor outdoor cat and CAN NOT be kept inside, like she literally dug a hole in the basement's sand stone walls to get out! our other cat Franklin is an indoor only cat and Annie is the only indoor/outdoor cat I have ever had!)
Ants: I tried pouring vinegar on the ants, as i read it would kill them and it did! however it also killed the plants... so, this is something we are going to have to figure out this year! there is a local "green" business that offers lots of advice and eco-friendly solutions so we are planning on asking them!
*in case you haven't noticed we try to be as "green" and natural as possible, we are not perfect and are definitely not "certified organic" but we do try to minimize the use of chemicals as much as possible!
