Why I'm a bit sad this October
By The Horse
@TheHorse (218921)
Walnut Creek, California
October 25, 2015 11:18am CST
If you know me, you know that I enjoy teaching farming (gardening, actually, but farming sounds more impressive) to the kids I work with. It teaches them self-reliance, it teaches them about science, and it keeps them busy when we're together.
I've been doing this for years, and over the years, we've harvested green beans, snow peas, corn, sunflower seeds, squash, tomatoes, and other "crops."
I'm a bit sad this October because there will be no harvest for me and the kids I work with. We worked through the drought, watered every day, and had a nice little farm going, but somewhere along the way--I think it was early July--the drought got so bad that it killed off all of the surrounding plants that the local ground squirrels eat for food and water.
At that point, they invaded our garden and ate everything, including the squash plants, which they initially wouldn't touch. They even ate the cacti that we had near the garden.
We will try again in the Spring, but this October, I have to look at barren dirt where I had hoped there would be tall corn and sunflower plants, with squash, tomatoes and green beans underneath.
The photo is from May, just as things were taking hold in spite of the drought.
Did your "farms" and gardens do well this Summer?
17 people like this
18 responses
@allknowing (136531)
• India
26 Oct 15
Being a gardener myself I know how you feel. These things are a routine affair in the life of a gardener. We need to take this in our stride and move on. I have no issues with the drought but seeds not giving me the desired results do frustrate me at times. I had orderd for doubl petalled balsam. They have all turned out to be single
4 people like this
@ThankyouLord (698)
• St. Petersburg, Florida
11 Nov 15
If you can cover the garden plot with about 4" of hay (salt hay/rotten hay, cheap) or get a free load of tree chips from a tree company (also free) you will have a wonderful, moist plot ready to plant in the spring, drought or no drought.You may not even have to water. I'm in Florida, on dry sand. I have mulched thickly with chips, free from the tree trimmers. If you dig down underneath, even when it doesn't rain, you find moist sand with the chips breaking down, and my trees have just gone crazy with this treatment. There are also a lot of clips on YouTube on "planting in the desert" that shows how to plant and grow a good garden even under the worst of conditions. I spent about two weeks watching all these clips, and was fascinated on huge efforts to hold back the desert and grow food at the same time. As for the squirrels, they might have been after water AND food. If you set up a feeding station for them some distance away from the garden with corn (from a feed store) and peanuts, and a water trough, they might leave your garden alone. I do a version of this with possums and raccoon that come to check out the cat food. I sprinkle dry (cheap) cat food all over the alley, away from my house. It works!
3 people like this
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
11 Nov 15
Wow, really great advice the soil here is very hard and dry most times but it does hold a lot of water but it sounds like your idea would be great to grow what I want to grow thanks very much Lynn.
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
11 Nov 15
Thanks for the advice! I have access to unlimited horse poop (mixed with shavings), but I'll have to see whether I can harvest some old straw from the stalls out there. I did try to create a watering station for the ground squirrels, but they didn't seem interested in it.
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
25 Oct 15
I guess teaching that farming can be harsh and cruel when crops fail due to nature is itself a valuable lesson to teach
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
26 Oct 15
@TheHorse I read about that period in the work of John Steinbeck - pretty awful times.
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
26 Oct 15
@arthurchappell Steinbeck is great! I first learned about the Dust Bowl days (as a child) by listening to the songs of Woody Guthrie.
1 person likes this
@antonbunot (11093)
• Calgary, Alberta
12 Nov 15
O, man! It is different story here in Calgary . . we have two apple trees (crab apples) loaded with fruits! What happened? Before we could pick the fruits up, birds started to sample them all! Whew!
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Nov 15
@antonbunot Well, you will have some fat and happy birds in your area.
@fawkes62 (1276)
• United States
26 Oct 15
We planted late because we were going to move but then decided not to, so we only got a couple cereal bowls full of peas. The carrots ran out of growing season before they got large enough to harvest. We did get about 5 or 10 strawberries from the plants we had in pots before we put them in the garden. Hopefully next year won't be so dry for you.
1 person likes this
@crewgirl (191)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I love the fact that you educate the local kids about horticulture. Our garden did very well this year. We grew tomatoes, lettuce, kale, green beans, strawberries, watermelons, cantaloupes, grapes, and apples. I've heard that California is having a huge drought right now, so I'm sorry about your garden and the squirrels. We use organic sprays to keep bugs and animals away from our crops, but I guess if the squirrels are extremely hungry, they'll eat anything.
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
26 Oct 15
They were so hungry they ate EVERYTHING! I was surprised they even went for the cacti. The squash were the last of our "regular" crops to go. The plants smell kind of peppery. I didn't even think about water-loving things like melons this year.
@crewgirl (191)
• United States
26 Oct 15
@crewgirl This is the only video I found of a squirrel eating a cactus, and it doesn't show much...
This is one of the more vicious cactus species around, as the spines are barbed. It is amazing that this little critter can climb around in such a place, pic...
@GardenGerty (160697)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I guess you helped save the ground squirrels with your farm.
@lovinangelsinstead21 (36850)
• Pamplona, Spain
11 Nov 15
Not really. We have planted ten bushes and they are only just starting to grow quite timidly. The Calla Lilly flowers are coming up very nicely but won´t flower yet. But seeing as they are strong and healthy looking I am not bothered.
Tomatoes are something you cannot grow well here at all. Apart from that all the wild flowers have done really well this year. Its a shame hardly any of it worked out for you. Perhaps next time there will be better luck hope so.
@DeborahDiane (40294)
• Laguna Woods, California
26 Oct 15
I just have a lemon and orange tree and, so far, no critters seem to like them.
@just4him (317089)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
25 Oct 15
I'm sorry the drought and animals took your garden and you have no harvest. I have a black thumb so no garden for me. Nothing ever grows, drought or no drought.
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
26 Oct 15
@just4him Oh, DON'T give up! Some of the easiest things I've grown: green beans, snow peas (when it's cooler), corn, and even sunflowers. Just use good soil (I like Miracle Gro's products) and start everything in little planters (I even use Dollar Store paper cups for cost-effectiveness). If you have a garden space outside, use Miracle Gro "Quick Start" to reduce "transplant shock" when you transfer the plants to the ground.
1 person likes this
@mrsg1981 (133)
• Exeter, England
11 Nov 15
That is such a shame. We started our little allotment at the end of May. We lost all our potatoes and tomatoes to blight and had no success with some other stuff. However we were inundated with runner beans and courgettes.
@Samanthavv (1380)
• United States
25 Oct 15
I did my very first garden this summer, having lived in Alaska most of my life, I couldn't really have a nice garden before. I moved to Minnesota last year and I had my very first garden. Sme did well. Some didnt. I had a lot of good tomatoes though!
@RasmaSandra (79892)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
25 Oct 15
@TheHorse our tomato plants got some problems and only about half survived in our greenhouse. This year our apple trees had very little apples so this was not a good year fro a harvest for us as well. Hope you do better next spring.
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
25 Oct 15
OH dear how sad I bet the kids were upset. Still I am sure that you turned what was a disaster into something as a warning for the future.
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
26 Oct 15
I framed in terms of always trying your hardest and dealing with failure well. Only one kid was really mad at the squirrels. I reminded him that it was all part of the circle of life, and they had to eat too. I told him the only way we'd be mean to the squirrels would be if the garden was our ONLY source of food. Then we went to McDonalds.
