Never fun. This is this garden’s first year and it’s no bumper crop. That may have been the only Zapotec for the year. Thankfully I have other Black Princes and paste varieties. I put out some water for the birds and that seems to have stemmed the carnage. Now to keep up with their water…
That’s rough! I’m picking at just-not-green and ripening in the window sill. I saw a clever caging system I may have to try next year. May you could only grow spicy peppers!
It was like they made a parrot cage…for their tomatoes. Which makes sense, right? If a bird cage can keep a bird in, it surely can keep them out as well.
Thankfully they’ve left mine alone now that I’ve started picking them super early to ripen on the windowsill.
My yard is INFESTED with insects of all kinds — big caterpillars, tent caterpillars, leaf-footed bugs, beetles, fire ants. But even with a few mushy fruit specimens tossed to the compost, I still am still bringing in a full basket of tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant every-other day. It’s amazing. I really don’t mind sharing with the creepy guys.
This year, I have lost count of the green anoles and snakes and frogs on the property, particularly in my smallish garden space. I think it’s they — and the birds! — who are keeping infestations from spinning way out of control.
Have heart! You’ve only just begun the stewardship for your new property. Things will balance out in time and you will be back to prolific yields.
PS – Don’t forget it’s the tomato hornworm that becomes one of the garden’s best pollinators: the sphinx moth. I let them defoliate the cooking ‘maters so that the cherry variety continue to crank out nuggets of sunshine through the hot summer months. Leaf-footed bugs don’t seem to ‘hang out’ in the cherries either. A two-fer!
DH has a special hatred for those caterpillars. They nearly took out his baby pecan tree one year. I’ve yet to find an anole or frog here (the last house had them – and more!) We do have a ton of dragonflies and grasshoppers…and snails and pill bugs. And butterflies and blue jays.
plumdirt 
oh my-not fun:-(
Never fun. This is this garden’s first year and it’s no bumper crop. That may have been the only Zapotec for the year. Thankfully I have other Black Princes and paste varieties. I put out some water for the birds and that seems to have stemmed the carnage. Now to keep up with their water…
I am worried about my peppers for the cool, rainy weather is not looking to good for peppers in our area:-( crazy weather this year.
It really is! My onions rotted in the ground and I only have one carrot left.
That is sad – and a bit heart-breaking.
A neighbor thinks hers are all going to a family of opossum. It’s a hungry year, apparently.
That’s why I only tried growing vegetables once. The squirrels were merciless and I had absolutely nothing to show for it at the end.
That’s rough! I’m picking at just-not-green and ripening in the window sill. I saw a clever caging system I may have to try next year. May you could only grow spicy peppers!
‘Clever caging system?’ Do share!
It was like they made a parrot cage…for their tomatoes. Which makes sense, right? If a bird cage can keep a bird in, it surely can keep them out as well.
Thankfully they’ve left mine alone now that I’ve started picking them super early to ripen on the windowsill.
Is it the birds that you want to keep out?
Yep.
I quit growing tomatoes because the birds and squirrels got them before I did. So frustrating…
I’m so sorry! Maybe you’ll live someplace else one day with less hungry birds (or at least fewer of them.)
My yard is INFESTED with insects of all kinds — big caterpillars, tent caterpillars, leaf-footed bugs, beetles, fire ants. But even with a few mushy fruit specimens tossed to the compost, I still am still bringing in a full basket of tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplant every-other day. It’s amazing. I really don’t mind sharing with the creepy guys.
This year, I have lost count of the green anoles and snakes and frogs on the property, particularly in my smallish garden space. I think it’s they — and the birds! — who are keeping infestations from spinning way out of control.
Have heart! You’ve only just begun the stewardship for your new property. Things will balance out in time and you will be back to prolific yields.
PS – Don’t forget it’s the tomato hornworm that becomes one of the garden’s best pollinators: the sphinx moth. I let them defoliate the cooking ‘maters so that the cherry variety continue to crank out nuggets of sunshine through the hot summer months. Leaf-footed bugs don’t seem to ‘hang out’ in the cherries either. A two-fer!
DH has a special hatred for those caterpillars. They nearly took out his baby pecan tree one year. I’ve yet to find an anole or frog here (the last house had them – and more!) We do have a ton of dragonflies and grasshoppers…and snails and pill bugs. And butterflies and blue jays.