By Kathy Chapman
This year the bunnies are really bugging me! I am on the second planting of seeds now, after the first sprouts were chewed off to an inch above the ground. They’re eating everything in the garden. Actually they don’t touch the nasturchums and spicy lettuce but LOVE the kale, beet greens and tender corn salad. And forget about pumpkins, squashes and zucchini! Just when they are ready for harvest they are devoured.
Last month we installed a three foot wire fence around the rows of greens to combat the invaders.
They also love ripe tomatoes, so the toms need to be picked before they are vine ripened and then finished off in window light. They don’t have as great a flavor when sliced for salads, but they are delicious in my canned sauce with basil.
Next year there will be fencing around everything. To be fair, rabbits aren’t the only ones enjoying the garden. My neighbor’s chickens wander over, different species of birds and various sized critters with long tails all eat my organic East Gloucester fare! There is evidence the coyotes are working to reduce the rabbit population, but all I ask is please just leave some for me and my guests!
Photos © 2014 Kathy Chapman
http://www.kathychapman.com
Good Morning Gloucester 
Hi Kathy,
Beautiful tomatoes!!!
The bunny population has exploded! In the past, bunny explosions were typically cyclical, a single strong year followed by a number of years with fewer bunnies. Fox are the very best hunters of bunnies, chipmunks, and white-footed mice. Because coyotes are now the top predators in our region and have out competed the fox for habitat, which has dramatically decreased the fox population, we are now in the midst of a multi-year bunny/chipmunk/mouse explosion. The white-footed mouse and chipmunk are the greatest vectors of Lyme disease as well, not deer, as was previously believed.
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Thanks for the background info Kim…and yes, I like a variety of tomatoes. This year I’m experimenting with the plums.
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Your veggies look delicious. I’m glad you’re able to reap some of the rewards.
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Your garden looks pretty secure. Are you sure it rabbits? It could be mice, rats, or chipmunks slipping through the fence holes. I had the same problem. Wrap some bird netting around the fence perimeter and you should be fine.
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This is the second planting. I secured the garden after the first one was eaten! I saw the rabbits nibbling and chased them away. The rodents have their fun too, but now they are preoccupied with all the apples that have fallen off a large tree that hangs over the back section of the garden. We work together making fertilizer of the apples. Next year everything will have fence and netting, thanks for the suggestion.
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Get a pellet gun. It’s completely cured my problem w rabbits, squirrels, birds etc…
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Looks delish! I love that pitcher, where did you get it?
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Bought it at an estate sale on the Back Shore…vintage Fitz and Floyd.
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They found the food and great garden indeed easy pickens – as they have sensitive smell there are natural sprays or home made organic sprays that you may be able to spray around the garden to keep them at bay. This way with rice fields they put shinny tape they flickers in the wind.
Some Natural items here also!
http://www.carolinacountry.com/index.php/carolina-gardens/item/how-to-keep-deer-and-rabbits-out-of-your-gardens
Best of luck 🙂 Dave & Kim:-)
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Thanks Dave, I’ll check out the link.
I have been brushing my cat outside near the garden and leaving her fur in the corners of the tomato box. Hopefully this is a natural deterrent, but when my cat came within a few feet of a rabbit one day, they both just sat there and starred at each other. No backs flew up and no one hopped away. They were about the same size and I think they were examining the difference in their ears…!
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I have to be honest if I was a rabbit I be visting th garden myself that good food tempting 🙂 Dave & Kim:-)
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