We had a hit and run marauder at The Zest Quest this past month. He/She crept in and stole the top off my only sunflower and ate the branches and leaves off a few tomato plants but left the tomatoes. Of course, there isn’t much hope for a leafless, branch-less, stick-like tomato plant, even if it has a few tomatoes.
The critter even dug up the sole marigold in its path.
See — I have this plan and so far it has worked. I plant marigolds around all my vegetables, which in theory is supposed to stink out the critters. Marigolds are pretty stinky and although I think they’re beautiful, the marauder thought he’d/she’d be cute and dig up the one in it’s path. Not just once, mind you, but several times the week before its path of destruction. I would replant the Marigold, only to find it dug up again the next day.
Then, one day I found a path from the edge of the vegetable bed where the lone marigold was pulled out of its hole and smooshed into the dusty, dry soil. The path went through several plants, all which had been denuded of their foliage, including a sunflower head that had yet to bloom.
Now, tell me. What exactly is the point of eating an unbloomed sunflower head without the seeds?
Pure meanness?
It was war at The Zest Quest because the beautiful yellow Zucchini “Sebring” was about to be harvested as well as cucumbers and tomatoes.
So, I developed a new plan. I piled junk in the garden in the critter’s pathway. A plastic table turned over on its side. A small, ash-filled Chimenea in place of the dead stinky Marigold. A cement fairy angel statue that will hopefully cast her magic spell. Plus I left the rest of the Marigolds to continue to stink up the place just in case the Marauder, who shall remain nameless but height-wise resembles the cute Groundhog I saw at the zoo this week, gets the bright idea to make another nighttime raid on my bounty!
So far I’m winning. No critter and I have produce!
