Squirrels and tomatoes
Garden Variety readers: meet my co-worker Stephanie. She of the giant zucchini and the tomato-eating squrrels. Can anyone help her?
I thought it would be fun to grow a few veggies in the backyard -- tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, the stuff my kids love.
I had these visions of the kids helping me weed and water while learning about how things grow and where their food comes from.
So I bought my seedlings at the farmer’s market downtown and planted them on Mother’s Day.
The tomato plants are taller than the fence already and we picked an enormous zucchini last week.
But I fear we will never eat a single tomato from our garden.
I knew about rabbits and bugs, but it seems the squirrels are our enemy.
We have watched in horror from the kitchen window as squirrels pick the green tomatoes from the vine and nibble at them as if they are nuts.
Help! How do I keep the squirrels from eating my tomatoes?
Comments
My tomatoes haven't ripened yet, but last year I actually had sqirrels sitting comfortably on the fence, picking them. This year, I have "volunteer plants" in unusual places. (I suspect a corelation.)
I like to think that the dog hair that I practically mulched the garden with was successful. To a degree, I think it was in that the squirrels had to find more creative perches for harvest.
Posted by: Eve | July 21, 2009 9:29 AM
Something, I think it is squirrels, are sampling the tomatoes in our community garden (the worst part is that they don't really like tomatoes, they just take a bite and leave the rest). My plot has not been hit very hard - just a couple of what look to be teeth marks in some of the lower tomatoes. I use coffee grounds around my garden as a soil conditioner, and I read somewhere that coffee also repels some garden thiefs, like squirrels and rabbits.
Posted by: Deborah | July 21, 2009 6:21 PM
Try an old-fashioned method: sprinkle your plants and tomatoes with powdered lime. This strategy was probably meant to discourage insects, but it works great for deer so why not squirrels, too? You only need a little to dust the leaves and fruits sufficiently.
Posted by: Ellen Nibali | July 24, 2009 9:34 AM
I have those bitemarks also on my tomatoes but I think it is turtles.
Turtles? Wow, Lori. Please explain! --Susan
Posted by: Lori | July 27, 2009 8:28 AM