Bad attitude delays seed starting

I love almost all aspects of gardening. Seed starting is probably one of my favorite parts.  Usually I can't wait to start my warm weather seeds. Matter of fact I often start them a little early. Not this year. I have been struggling to keep anything alive in the garden because of rodents, and/or squirrels. I don't mean to be a complainer. And to those of you who always have to deal with these pests I apologize.
I'm just so bummed. The critters are taking the joy out of gardening for me. The only things growing now are in cages. If it's a short cage anything that grows beyond the cage get eaten.
I really don't want to cage every garden bed. I like  to just pop in and mess around at any given moment, and an enclosure will make that so much harder. I won't give up, but at this moment I'm just totally frustrated with the entire thing.  
I start seeds in the the house. Once they have a couple of true leaves they go into the greenhouse. The problem I'm having won't affect the process, but for some reason, I just keep putting it off. I need to get in gear.  Maybe it will help bring the joy of gardening back.

If you've read Hemenway's Gaia's Garden, you might remember the story of the Bullock Brothers' Washington State island farmstead, which had an explosion of muskrats destroying their gardens. After a few seasons though, otters, eagles, hawks and owls arrived and took the muskrat population down to non-threatening levels. I really hope that happens for you, with the squirrel population. My garden has been dug up some by rodents this winter, because my raised rows are the only place to easily bury their acorns in a neighborhood of brick-like clay soil. We have lots of hawk activity here, though, so I do not despair.

Best wishes for you garden in 2025--I hope something good happens to change your situation.    

Last year was the first time Ive had issues with anything except birds grabbing a few newly emerged seedlings.  First it was baby rabbits in the new garden eating my beans.  For some reason they favored the hyacinth beans and chewed the stalks in two right as they were ready to bloom.  Then they started on beans in another part of the garden and seemed to favor the noodle beans.  I had a roll of aluminum soffit and ended up encircling the trellis with it and it worked but was a major PITA as I had to step over it or move it to drag the hoses in for watering (gravity fed system).  Moles/voles have been a minor issue in the past with an occasional plant disappearing and being replaced by a hole.  Last year I had a fully grown pepper plant suddenly wilt and didn't think anything of it as we were experiencing severe drought.  Upon closer inspection I discovered the plant's roots had been eaten.  Something is also living in my old garden and I suspected it was a mouse as I'd find a pile of chewed pea or bean hulls while weeding my paths.  for that one I blame myself as the weeds got ahead of me and my beds are more of a priority than the paths.

As for seed starting, I'm procrastinating.  I had what I thought was a minor injury but has kept me a bit incapacitated since June.  I did get a lot accomplished last year, but lots left to do and of course I'm wondering how much of an issue those rodents will be this year.  I brought in the soil and have 95% of my seeds but just cant get in gear.

One of my coworkers has a barn cat that's a very good mouser. He thinks she might be pregnant. If she has kittens. I told him if he lets them stay with mom long enough to learn to hunt would take two.
It's a lot of if and might, but a couple of good hunters would help a lot I think.  
We live between a walnut orchard and an almond orchard. We have always had these critters. 2024 is the first time I have had them making nests in my raised beds. I've had times when the squirrels steel my seeds, but a good sprinkling of cayenne pepper always stopped that for a long time. Not last year. All my tricks that usually work , like spraying ammonia around the outside of the garden and beds, cayenne, and flashing, moving stuff. Nothing worked. Something is out of balance. The outside cat that adopted us (just showed up and stayed) died in the winter of 2023.  We think it was hit by a car.  We also had to do a major trim on a huge walnut tree, and cut down a volunteer plum that was choking out our apricot tree. It was a miserable year With lots of projects that had to be done, so the wood piles sat. I suspect this helped increase the rodent population. We are slowly addressing this problem. We gave my nephew a lot of the wood to burn in his wood stove. I have been using some in new raised beds I've built, and my son is making a burn barrel to get rid of the branches. I hope in a way that gets me lots of charcoal to turn into bio char.  Our goal is to have it done by Easter. (It helps to have a goal)
Thanks for your support. I hope those of you dealing with critter problems find a way to eliminate or coexist in a way that allows you to enjoy your garden.

I know I have rabbits stealing from my garden. But I don't mind them so much. The garden is big enough that I don't notice the damage. Deer on the other hand... They just keep coming back.

Last summer I was thinking I would try starting tomatoes and peppers again next season. I've had success in the past, I just got away from doing that.

I am having trouble getting around to simply organizing my seeds.

I've stopped starting them indoors. If they won't sprout & grow in our growing season, I'm just not going to plant them. I've 100% had it, with spending weeks babying them, fretting over them, trying to get them sufficient light, moving them in and out, to harden them off.
Direct sow, or no go.

I understand Carla. It's a lot of work. I do enjoy it though. There's something special about putting a little seed in the soil and getting a plant.
I enjoy starting tomatoes and peppers mostly inside. It's actually more important this year. The bigger I can get the plants the more likely they will survive the critters that plague the garden right now.
I did finally get some seeds started. I still feel a great deal of frustration, but it's time to stop feeling sorry for myself and get to work. I'm not going to let the critters steal the joy of gardening from me.

I agree, Jen! My long-term endeavor is going to be (some day, I hope) to build cold frames over my raised beds. Then, I'll be able to direct sow, and harden them off by making simple adjustments to the cold frames, and finally just removing the frames. Then, I'll have the best of both worlds. At least, in theory! 🤣

Jen Fulkerson wrote: I have been struggling to keep anything alive in the garden because of rodents, and/or squirrels. I don't mean to be a complainer. And to those of you who always have to deal with these pests I apologize.
I'm just so bummed. The critters are taking the joy out of gardening for me.

Hello human.  You are allowed to have negative feelings and express them without apology.  I know this isn't the topic of your thread and I apologize for that.  But, first and foremost, we're all human.  A "complainer" is someone who complains habitually.  Expressing a frustration because of how the critters are destroying all of your hard work isn't complaining.  

And with the level of skills, knowledge, and ingenuity I've seen on Permies, someone is bound to have a few solutions for you to try.  Where I live, I know folks in the suburbs who can't even grow flowers because deer and everything else come and eat them.  It's so disheartening.  I'm sorry I don't have any solutions.  I just wanted to at least show some support and understanding for your valid frustrations!