Think the growing season is coming to a close? Think again! Maine is the best place to cultivate cold weather crops and we are trying out a few of our own here in the raised beds near the greenhouse.
Two months ago I started carrot seeds in the greenhouse. When the seedlings had their first set of leaves, I carefully transplanted them out into the raised beds where they are thriving. They are currently sharing the bed with impatiens but due to the frost last night, the imapiens are about ready to come out and the carrots can suck up all the sun and nutrients they need.
Happy baby carrot!Carrots need plenty of depth and nice, soft soil so their roots (the part we eat) can grow straight and strong. Usually people don't transplant carrots but I decided to take my chances.
This morning when i poked my head out into the frosty air to check on the carrots (and to see the damage from the frost) this is what I saw:
As you may be able to see from the above photo, I found the soil all dug up and lumpy, like someone had been trying to eat my little carrots! I glared around for the culprit, finding no one nearby. Opting for the detective approach, i tried to identify the footprints of the irritating fellow. My first thought was human but when i looked again none of the carrots were actually disturbed, just the soil around them. My over-active imagination then leaped to blame deer (where, luckily, it didn't linger long since it would be nearly impossible for a deer to make it up the long, narrow metal staircase onto the patio and even less likely that Kathy at the front desk would have admitted a deer to the dining center).
Upon closer inspection i found a clue that lead me to the answer:
Acorn tops among the carrots! There aren't any trees in the vicinity that could drop their acorns on the patio so some little creature must have brought them. I had noticed a wily squirrel out on the patio a few times, running along the railing. I hadn't paid her much mind at the time but had i known she'd been digging in my gardens i would have done my territorial duty to dissuade her from returning. I'll be more aware next year.
For now i suppose she won't bother my gardens any more since she's planted probably 20 to 40 nuts in them already. For the next month or so we'll see how the carrots grow around them. Unfortunately for Ms. Squirrel, the other bed which is currently empty (and where she also did some visible digging), will not be empty for long as I will be planting garlic in it in the next week or so. I will leave her nuts in the carrot bed, but those in the garlic bed will have to go!
Next week: Garlic!
Grow On,
Your Squirrel Scout
This morning when i poked my head out into the frosty air to check on the carrots (and to see the damage from the frost) this is what I saw:
As you may be able to see from the above photo, I found the soil all dug up and lumpy, like someone had been trying to eat my little carrots! I glared around for the culprit, finding no one nearby. Opting for the detective approach, i tried to identify the footprints of the irritating fellow. My first thought was human but when i looked again none of the carrots were actually disturbed, just the soil around them. My over-active imagination then leaped to blame deer (where, luckily, it didn't linger long since it would be nearly impossible for a deer to make it up the long, narrow metal staircase onto the patio and even less likely that Kathy at the front desk would have admitted a deer to the dining center).Upon closer inspection i found a clue that lead me to the answer:
Acorn tops among the carrots! There aren't any trees in the vicinity that could drop their acorns on the patio so some little creature must have brought them. I had noticed a wily squirrel out on the patio a few times, running along the railing. I hadn't paid her much mind at the time but had i known she'd been digging in my gardens i would have done my territorial duty to dissuade her from returning. I'll be more aware next year.For now i suppose she won't bother my gardens any more since she's planted probably 20 to 40 nuts in them already. For the next month or so we'll see how the carrots grow around them. Unfortunately for Ms. Squirrel, the other bed which is currently empty (and where she also did some visible digging), will not be empty for long as I will be planting garlic in it in the next week or so. I will leave her nuts in the carrot bed, but those in the garlic bed will have to go!
Next week: Garlic!
Grow On,
Your Squirrel Scout
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