Hello all I live in Washington state garden zone 5/5b. I enjoy vegetable gardening , currently have many plants started from seed. We plant here about the second weekend in May, with some of the colder weather plants about two weeks earlier. Right now I am kind chomping at the bit to get the garden going. DW likes growing annual flowers and currently has about 800 starts growing some already transplanted into hanging baskets and in the unheated greenhouse and seem to be doing fine.happy to meet fellow gardeners.
It's great to have you here at GardenStew with us Tater. A warm welcome from Scotland. I look forward to getting to know you.
Welcome to GardenStew @Tater . Great name! Everyone can't wait to get their hands dirty in the garden this year
Welcome to the Stew Tater! Question for you: what is that tubby creature in your picture? He's got a shield and a ?mace? Flail weapon?
Thank you for the welcome, avatar is a picture of the scourge of my garden, a gopher. I have been fairly successful at trapping them before they get to the garden but some still make it. I need another line of defense so far I only trap and have a cat to fight them. Also have voles here.
Hooboy, gophers are very destructive! They used to dig holes in my family's sheep pasture, endangering the legs of the sheep (broken leges). I commiserate. Have you tried smoke bombs? I also commiserate about the voles....very destructive creatures as well. They are steadily eating their way through all my iris (all kinds!) and hakone grass. Aichht! I read recently that you can trap them. I might try that next. Let me know if you figure out a remedy.
@Cayuga Morning , no I have not tried the smoke bombs. I have only used traps on them with any success. Have also tried the juicy fruit gum method and have no way of knowing if it worked or not. I found a hole in green bean patch that I thought was gopher so I cleaned it out and put half a stick of the gum in the hole next day the gum was gone, not sure if it worked or if the cat got it or it moved on. It also may have been a vole not sure because I never saw it. I did find quite a few half eaten green beans in that area though.usually I see the gopher mounds moving towards the garden and I start trapping before they get there. We have gophers voles and deer mainly trying to eat our garden so hands are full.
