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I have seven raised garden beds in a typical suburban block, plus espaliered fruit trees. If I had to revamp to make a more concerted effort to feed us rather t
by prawn 3y ago
I have seven raised garden beds in a typical suburban block, plus espaliered fruit trees. If I had to revamp to make a more concerted effort to feed us rather than just a hobby, I would build in a few things from the start. Probably at serious expense too.
Things like: permanent wiring and netting to keep out possums and rats, a bordering method to deter as many slugs as possible, frameworks such as tubes and hooks to convert beds to polyhouses or add shade for winter and summer. I have a couple of these things now, but they're a bit of a mishmash.
It's too easy to put in a lot of effort and end up with scraps because a pest cleaned you out.
- appplication 3y agoI have tried two years in a row to have garden boxes in SF, and I’m now giving up. The rats are an absolute force. I have ~4 ft high boxes and they have easily emptied literal tons of soil from them with their tunneling. They love to burrow through the roots of every plant, killing all but the most resilient. There is also no stopping them. I won’t do poison, due to having a dog + environmental concerns, but even orthodox traps I can catch 3-4 a night, night after night, and they just never stop coming.
- prawn 3y agoCould you have tried wicking beds? They might discourage the burrowing? I'm also limited in poisoning because the neighbour has a dog. Rats live in our compost bin and are tough to keep out. Possums here in South Australia are protected so we can't trap them and they cause trouble as well. Lost all my garlic and chives this year to black aphids. Virtually no stone fruit lasted until picking last year. Too hot through summer or not enough bees for zucchinis to set fruit. The things that did well are mostly herbs/chillis/etc that aren't exactly the bulk you live off! Sometimes I wonder if the best home approach is growing herbs so you don't get stuck paying a premium at the shop, and maybe 1-2 other things for the experience and to share with family/friends.
- fbdab103 3y agoNot sure if it is effective, but supposedly cat urine naturally deters rodents. If you could secure some used cat litter, sprinkle it around your garden perimeter.
- appplication 3y agoI, uh, might just deal with the rats in that case :)
- rstuart4133 3y agoThere are environmentally safe rodent poisons. You can even make them yourself, from stuff in your pantry: http://www.ratpoisonfacts.org/low-toxicity-rodenticides/ http://www.ratpoisonfacts.org/low-toxicity-rodenticides/