Squirrels with issues...

My squirrels have developed addictions this year.

I've always had the usual problem with the pesky rats with tails getting into my bird feeders, snitching my sunflower seeds and other bird favorites. I've adapted. I put a hot pepper mix on the seeds and it keeps them away for a while. I have fun in my pottery studio with them, too. I'll put the seeds in the window feeder, then sneak over and bang on the two-way glass when they climb in... After a couple of scares they usually stay away.

Now, however, I have a tomato addict.

And, I have a sugar water addict.

I added some extra fencing around my raised tomato bed initially, not knowing what was getting into it. Then I walked out one day and saw a squirrel sitting inside the bed munching away on my tomatoes. It sat there brazenly snacking until I was just a couple of feet away, almost within swatting range (not that I'd take a chance on tangling with a potentially rabid squirrel). It scampered off to a nearby tree where it sat at eye-level on a branch, one beady eye focused on me, while it finished its delicacy. Grrrrr...

I've been spraying stuff to keep deer and other animals away around the bed and even on the bottom tomatoes (as I've given them up to the cause). It's been working. However, we've been having rain every day lately and I notice that there are once again discarded tomatoes on the ground around my plants.

A few days ago I went out and found one of my hummingbird feeder on the ground, empty, ants crawling all over it. We'd had a bad storm so I "assumed" it had gotten knocked off in the high winds. I refilled it only to find it completely empty the next day. I refilled it and moved it. Humph, empty again. I moved it around the house to the other side on a taller pole, next to another one. Hump, empty today.

So, I'm going to move the shepherd's hook away from any nearby climbing or hanging spots and grease the hook. I don't know if that'll work but I want my hummingbirds and I don't want the squirrels.

I went out and did a little research. Some have suggested hanging them from a baffle and even share how to make a home-made baffle with pie pans. I may try that next.

Sugar is highly addictive. It's what they feed to drug addicts to wean them off the 'hard' stuff. Having a sugar addicted squirrel is going to be difficult. I can't put pepper water in the feeder as the hummingbirds won't touch it. However, once the hummingbirds leave, that's exactly what I'm going to do if this keeps up.

Ideas anyone?

I did find it funny when I read the comments on other discussion boards about the subject. Quite a few people said squirrels don't like sugar water. I found that humorous. I used to have those baby feeders hanging inside my window bird feeder. I'd sit there and watch the squirrels come up, tip the feeder and greedily finish off the sugar water in the little thing. I quit putting them out down there.

Love to have any suggestions from friends. I didn't have any luck doing an Internet search, just found a lot of people with the same problem!

I don't mind sharing, but...

OK bugs, I really don't mind sharing. It's fine if you want to nibble on a leaf here or there, snack on one of my tomatoes for a bit or suck on a stem. However, there is a line and you've crossed it. I am tired of carrying a bottle of alcohol with me when I go to look at my roses. You nasty little white sucker things that pop up overnight need to just move on. Gosh, I'm not even sure how you get on the plant in the first place. I mean, when I soak you in the alcohol you don't even move... you just die. Bleh. I don't even know what you are.

And you striped beetles that are ruining my cantaloupes... I have fly paper, spray regularly, squish you and cut off the fruit and leaves you ruin. I think I'm fighting a losing battle this year. We'll see. I'm not quite ready to give up.

Whoa, you caterpillars! As if I'm not having enough problems this year you are attacking everything green. I have never had a problem with anything other than the occasional horned green monsters on my tomatoes. This year I have a couple of different kinds. You're a little easier to manage. I can see you and you don't fly.

Not sure what's going on with the drooping leaves on some of the plants. I'm thinking that something is getting into the stems and chewing through... I haven't been able to find the culprit yet, but I will. I'm buying books, going on-line to garden sites and forums, asking questions. I will outwit you.

So, let's see... ah, I know, I forgot the brown spots that I wrote about in an earlier post. Still there. Still ugly. I cut one plant back to the soil almost thinking it had died. A little ray of sunshine there, though as I went out on the porch yesterday and saw new leaves and growth. Yes!

As if all those problems weren't enough to deal with, the guys who do the garden bumped one of my blueberry bushes that was just hanging in there, and now it's gone. Brown, shriveled up and dead. I think they guys accidentally yanked it up with the riding mower or something, then just stuck it back in the ground. Oh well, I still have two, knock on live wood, and I can plant another. Hate it though as this was its second year and I expected blueberries next year. The other two I planted last year gave me a handful of berries... then the birds found the bushes and had a nice little feast. Next year, netting or something.

What else? Tried peas for the first time, something ate them before they grew to an inch high. Next year I start them inside and transplant them when they're bigger.

The squirrels found my grape tomatoes and ate every last one. Which wasn't that big a deal as something else was attacking the bush and killing it.

Did I mention the deer that snacked on my big tomato bush? Pretty. Grrrrr....

I really want to be organic. The first few years of growing went so well... I guess each year I've been rolling the bug dice. This year I crapped out. Next year I plan to win big.

Is it the heat? Combating another problem in the garden...

I'm trying to figure out why I'm having so many problems with pests in my garden this year. I'm wondering if the continual high heat we're experiencing could be a factor.

I know part of my problem is that I didn't rotate my plantings. I planted cucumbers in the same spot as I did last year, ditto on my tomatoes.

At the end of the season I'm going to pull everything up and start over. I'm reconditioning the soil and will treat it with Preem (or is it Preen?) to cut back on the weeds that keep popping up. Well, maybe I'll do that. I happen to like the marigolds and periwinkles that come back up on their own each year.

I haven't thought much about it, but is Preem something I can even use if I'm going organic? Hmmm, probably not.

I am combating a different problem in the garden that I don't think has anything to do with bugs. Could be wrong, could be horribly wrong! My hydrangeas bloomed for only a short time this year and now they have a problem with spots on the leaves. They've been there for at least ten years, well before we bought the house. I believe the reason they didn't continue to bloom is a lack of water. I've never had to water them before, but as mentioned above, the heat is much worse this year.

I'm including a picture of the leaf just in case anyone has any ideas. I fertilized a few times with the 10-10-10, or whatever the standard fertilizer is... I'll have to go look at the bag.

I thought maybe it was a missing nutrient in the soil. Then I thought maybe it was some sort of fungus or disease.

I've checked the plant carefully and not been able to find any kind of bug, but I suppose it could be a tiny mite.

I've noticed the spots on some other plants and trees but they don't quite seem to be the same. I have sprayed with a fungicide (organic) to see if that will help. I also pruned the dead flowers so the plant could use its' energy to fight off whatever it is.

Something is attacking my garden. Well, a number of somethings are attacking. I learn a bit more each year about taking better care of my garden! What in the world did people do before the Internet? Guess they got up off their butts and talked to people!

Can you tell I'm pretty much a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants garden novice? I don't have a lot of time to spend in the garden, but love it. I get up every morning and water the plants, check for bugs, and do a bit of weeding or pruning. I usually try to spray with Neem or whatever treatment the forums say might work in the evenings.

I made an early mistake in not putting in quality soil. I'm slowly correcting that and this year will be completely rectifying the problem. However, between the bags of good soil and added fertilizer, not to mention mulch, I think the plants are getting enough nutrients.

Well, enough rambling for the day...