Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Veggies Gone Missing (already)

... those pesky voles!  Some of my extra onion bulbs I stuck in at the end of the asparagus patch have been pulled through the soil into Mr. & Mrs. Vole's tunnel.  Others are just limp from  having the roots gnawed off.  Seems to only be a problem at this one spot that did not get rototilled.  Let's hope they are satisfied with the excess bulbs and don't head over to the big patch of onions. 

4 comments:

Sandy said...

What's the best remedy for
those awful slugs, Mrs. Mac?
Our big beautiful garden is
suddenly being overtaken by
them!! We're trying the broken
egg shells and we tried the
beer. Any other ideas? We are
desperate!

Mr. H. said...

Too bad, I am surprised you have voles way up there on the hill. They used to be a huge problem for us as well. I thought perhaps they all drowned this year.

It's supposed to be sunny and warm next week.:)

Roasted Garlicious said...

Voles, moles and slugs.. o my!!! it's rare we have issues with the voles and moles, as for the slugs.. i'm up to my neck with them this year... i've sprinkled a fair bit of oystershell everywhere and so far so good, haven't seen any actually in the garden areas.. just on the outskirts.. big black gooey ones this year, haven't seen the smaller grey ones yet...

Mrs. Mac said...

Sandy .. I grind the dry egg shells (after saving them all year) .. and get a few large coffee cans filled with them (using an old elec. coffee grinder). Check your vulnerable plants such a lettuce .. hand pick any slugs and make a circle around each plant with the shells. The slugs don't like to travel over the stuff. You could try mixing up a soapy/pepper spray and spraying them. I'll post a recipe today.