I had mice run through the small carrots also, little bastages. Went out and they were all just mowed down – Gone. Traps took care of them and the second planting is sprouting and getting their first set of leaves. Voles look to have gotten the seed carrots over the winter from last year. I put two off to the side where they could grow this year and they had not started to sprout yet. Dug around and found nothing but small, rotted stumps. Got two Wegman’s organic carrots from the fridge and dug them in. Sprouting great.
No idea what kind or if they are hybrids or not, but we will see. I still have some seeds left from this year and they will be good for next year as a backup plan.
Tomatoes are going a bit wild. I knew I overplanted in the small area I have so would have to keep up on pruning. It is just hard to decide on what branches to kill and what to let grow. Since I am down to such small areas to garden in now, it is very easy to keep up on soil amending so everything is really healthy. The area looks to be able to support a very lush growth. Maybe we just prune branches back from the flowers in front and let them grow up like Topsy for a bit.
When you are used to a much larger garden, it was easy to just plant a few feet apart and let them go with minor pruning, just staking. No worries about shading each other or losing a few plants or fruits. In a suburban garden, every inch counts! Lol! Cram what ya can in, companion plant, succession plant and overfeed.
Pic 1, the tomato patch. The 1’ chicken wire is for the rabbits, the bane of my gardening. Not enough predators to keep them in check so they are in abundance!
Pic 2 is the sunflower patch. Sunflowers going nicely in the back, at their feet are cucumbers. Left side is carrots, the taller patch is what the mice left, the rest is just sprouting. And yes, there were a few volunteer radishes there! I figured bird dropping spread them around. Romaine lettuce on the right is just about done. Cut off a few at the ground and letting them resprout to grow for seed. Have not decided what to plant in succession there. Open to suggestions! It will be the fall lettuce/radish/spinach area so keep that in mind. Potatoes maybe?
I will try and remember to get pics of the squash mound and peas this afternoon if the sun comes out.