What did you do in the garden today?

[WthrLady]

All of the things I catch die before being released, but it's quick and painless. Then they fertilize my trees.

Except the cat I caught, I let that one go. Despite the poop it leaves in my garden.

Some day I'll trap a skunk. Then I'll have to get creative.

I don't enjoy killing the critters, but my plot is small and I feed my family from it. Not the urban scavengers.

I tried to critter proof the garden once, the city wrote me a letter... I argued, and lost. Didn't get a fine though. Still want to know who told the city.... Or maybe not. So, I use the critters as fertilizer.

I can help you with skunks. I've caught and dealt with SO many. You do have to remember they can go off when dead too LOL.

Always treat a skunk like it is loaded.

 

[WthrLady]

won’t go so far as to say we’re lawless here but we don’t live in a county that much cares what you do with critters. I assume the ‘dispatching’ is done under the cloak of darkness so to speak. It wouldn’t make much sense to limit relocation to 100 yards yet be ok with killing.

Me? Dispatching in the cloak of darkness? Nope.
Full daylight. We're allowed to dispatch nuisance animals, period, no questions asked. But, you cannot release them in a foreign, to them, space. The 100 yard rule for compassionate release both confuses me and annoys me. What's the point? "you've learned your lesson, right, annoyed coyote? And you'll never come back, right?"

"sure crazy woman, I've learned never to step into a box with cat food in it ever again."

 

[Rick589]

Me? Dispatching in the cloak of darkness? Nope.
Full daylight. We're allowed to dispatch nuisance animals, period, no questions asked. But, you cannot release them in a foreign, to them, space. The 100 yard rule for compassionate release both confuses me and annoys me. What's the point? "you've learned your lesson, right, annoyed coyote? And you'll never come back, right?"

"sure crazy woman, I've learned never to step into a box with cat food in it ever again."

That sounds absolutely insane. You can kill the animal but you can’t relocate it outside of its ‘known’ territory. And here I am thinking that a wild animal has the capacity to adjust to the wild environment. Isn’t that what many of these wild animal rescues end up doing?

 

[TJAnonymous]

All of the things I catch die before being released, but it's quick and painless. Then they fertilize my trees.

Except the cat I caught, I let that one go. Despite the poop it leaves in my garden.

Some day I'll trap a skunk. Then I'll have to get creative.

I don't enjoy killing the critters, but my plot is small and I feed my family from it. Not the urban scavengers.

I tried to critter proof the garden once, the city wrote me a letter... I argued, and lost. Didn't get a fine though. Still want to know who told the city.... Or maybe not. So, I use the critters as fertilizer.

I totally understand those who choose to put the critters down. We did for years so no judgment here. With everything (bees, insects, and critters alike) struggling to get by these days, I simply choose a different path because I can. In the past 5 years, I've tried really hard to not kill anything needlessly. Except fire ants and wasps. Those (bleep) can die any day of the week.

 

[Smokerbill]

Picked leaf lettuce, kale, bok choi, chives and watercress from the garden and had a giant salad for lunch. It was good!

And planted strawberry crowns for the grandkids. Dang HomeDepot lack of quality. Supposed to be 10 crowns, there were 9. Two or three looked good, the rest iffy. I'll save the receipt and package just in case...

 

[TJAnonymous]

After looking at green stalks. I think "greenleaf" is the type of greenstalk. They have a shallower planting cup.

I know several people here have Greenstalks. I have 2 of them... The deep 5-tier ones. I'm not sure I'm a fan... I have one dedicated as a strawberry tower. The other one was used to grow lettuce last year. This year it's dedicated for cilantro, chives, Bunching onions, and parsley. OK... Here's my beef with them:

1. Top 2 tiers seem to dry out really fast and need watered more often.

2. I've watered by hand by filling the top reservoir AND through the watering system I bought from them. In both cases, the top 2 tiers get a good soaking. The bottom 2 tiers don't get much at all.... Lots of wasted water pours out of the bottom while you are waiting for the bottom tiers to get watered well. Instead, I just lose patience and use the hose to spray from top to bottom so all the soil gets a good QUICK watering. Of course, this means foliage gets wet so I have to do this early in the morning.

3. You MUST use good soil that has water beads or Vermiculite. I've used different kinds of container soil and discovered only good soil works well in these beds.

4. I've had some trouble getting good sun exposure on all sides and, thus, couldn't get stuff to thrive in all tiers from top to bottom. Even this year, I've had to reseed stuff twice now.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

I considered green stalks for my strawberries but opted for hanging grow bags because of the chipmunk population here. They can’t climb up the poles to get into the bags. I did buy a smaller version of the green stalk to grow lettuce and salad greens on the patio area to be closer to the kitchen door. I almost have the big bed ready to plant the peas. I used the weed whacker to remove the grass around the edges of the bed. I’m recharging the battery so I can finish that. I already tilled it up and it only needs raking and smoothing out to plant the peas. The weather folks are telling us we’re getting about an inch of rain tomorrow so I’m really motivated to plant today.

 

[Acre4Me]

It’s raining! Ground is getting a good soak. This is good bc my predatory nematodes arrived today. The ground needs to be moist for the application.

 

[Rick589]

I totally understand those who choose to put the critters down. We did for years so no judgment here. With everything (bees, insects, and critters alike) struggling to get by these days, I simply choose a different path because I can. In the past 5 years, I've tried really hard to not kill anything needlessly. Except fire ants and wasps. Those (bleep) can die any day of the week.

I’m with you. I’ve killed a few rabbits and a squirrel or two in my time but I really don’t have the desire to kill anything. Over the years I’ve had skunks(which I just cut loose back into the yard), groundhogs, possum, squirrels, and rabbits. With a few exceptions I live catch then take down the road aways and let them go. Having said this, if the live trap doesn’t work after given a chance then out comes the gun.

 

[CatInTheHenHouse]

I know several people here have Greenstalks. I have 2 of them... The deep 5-tier ones. I'm not sure I'm a fan... I have one dedicated as a strawberry tower. The other one was used to grow lettuce last year. This year it's dedicated for cilantro, chives, Bunching onions, and parsley. OK... Here's my beef with them:

1. Top 2 tiers seem to dry out really fast and need watered more often.

2. I've watered by hand by filling the top reservoir AND through the watering system I bought from them. In both cases, the top 2 tiers get a good soaking. The bottom 2 tiers don't get much at all.... Lots of wasted water pours out of the bottom while you are waiting for the bottom tiers to get watered well. Instead, I just lose patience and use the hose to spray from top to bottom so all the soil gets a good QUICK watering. Of course, this means foliage gets wet so I have to do this early in the morning.

3. You MUST use good soil that has water beads or Vermiculite. I've used different kinds of container soil and discovered only good soil works well in these beds.

4. I've had some trouble getting good sun exposure on all sides and, thus, couldn't get stuff to thrive in all tiers from top to bottom. Even this year, I've had to reseed stuff twice now.

Thank you! I’ve been feeling bothered that I didn’t know about these when I started with containers, but haven’t wanted to go out and buy one when what I have is functional. I feel better about sticking with my City Picker boxes now!