The Winter Garden

Varmints

It should not surprise you to learn that other eyes than your own are watching what is happening in your backyard. It would be nice if you could talk with these creatures and find a way to compromise and share the bounty, but, alas, that is not in the nature of varmints.

picture of rodent damage to plants

Varmints come in many varieties, but they have in common a disregard for the needs of any others but themselves. They will eat everything. If you're going to have a garden, you must find a way to keep the varmints out of it. You must also find a way to keep your spirits up when your best efforts fail, and you're left to peruse the destruction. At your earliest opportunity, when you suffer a loss, you must replant. Replanting is my answer to every setback in the garden.


Having fought this battle for many years, creature by creature,
here is what I've learned:

picture of rabbit









picture of squirrel







picture of field mouse







picture of aphid







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Photo credit (rabbit): By Larry D. Moore, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4254154
Photo credit (squirrel): By Mariappan Jawaharlal - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15002287
Photo credit (vole): By Original by Soebe, edited by Fashionslide - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10198072
Photo credit (aphid): By Claudio Gratton, University of Wisconsin - http://www.planthealth.info/images/high_res/aphid_oneil_highres.jpg, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5882415