Denise Kersting

I love all the options posted here, and I think (for my tomatoes) I'll have to go with a cage-type solution mentioned above. My squirrels are voracious, and maybe a bit vindictive, they eat a lot of the birdseed I put out, and the corn for the ducks, and all the acorns from all the oaks in our neighborhood, yet they continue to want to take just 1 bite or 2 out of all fruit/veg planted, I think just to sample, then they leave all the bitten fruit/veg remains scattered all over the yard. Nothing is worse than seeing all your tomatoes, 1 day before you would have picked them, strewn about the yard with bite marks in them. Animal control is out of question for us, our cat was attacked by a pit bull and now she is terrified of dogs, and as we live in a city, I can't let her roam. Kitty gets supervised time outside, but not enough to be an effective deterrent. Planter cages it is! I love the idea of using clothespins to secure the the panels, as that would give easy access to the plants.

So they aren't really condoms, but the only way I've found in my urban garden to save any of my fruit crop is to surround a potted plant in mesh. (See photos) I've been using mesh laundry bags to try to utilize covers that are both breathable and water permeable, but I am soon going to be beyond the size that my laundry bags can handle. Long term, I'd like to build a garden house out of beams with hardware cloth attached to them, but in the meantime I need a way to keep the critters out of my fruit/veg plants. I'm dealing with starving squirrels, chipmunks, shrews, birds, rabbits, skunks, fox, and who knows what else. I've given up on the traditional in-ground garden until I have means to protect it, and have gone to container only for the most part. The pics are of 3 young blueberry bushes and a hanging strawberry plant. Problem is, my mesh bags won't fit over the tomato planters that I have and I'd really like to have a decent harvest for once. Has anyone in a small garden situation found a good way to protect fruit/veg container plants that doesn't involve locking them up inside?

Thank you all, I'm glad to hear that tree tubes work well for them, and I'll try that next time. And Michael thank you for trying to locate your friend's supplier, I appreciate that! I found a seller that is fairly close to me in south central Pennsylvania that has seeds for sale that he's already stratified, so I may give those a chance. I thought it was nice that he is offering several varieties and can sell you a mix of early, mid, and late ripening seeds. Here's the link to his seeds in case anyone else wants to check them out: https://www.etsy.com/listing/291209493/10-ready-to-plant-2017-pawpaw-seeds

So my neighbor was having landscaping and mulching done today and he wanted to have them put the mulch from on the side of his house to our house (there's only a few feet in between our homes that we just keep as a wide mulch pathway of sorts). Close to the side of our house I keep my mushroom logs and it's where I set up a nursery for young or vulnerable plants until they are ready for transplant. We told the head of the crew not to mess with my seedlings, and the message apparently didn't get conveyed to the rest of the crew. Long story short, they pulled out the larger two of my three remaining 2yr old pawpaw seedlings that I had planted last year. I'm taking a long-shot with them anyway, because to shade them for the first couple of years the best spot I have is that side yard. I've heard they are tough to transplant, but it's a risk I'd probably have to make because my yard is so sunny I might not be able to get them going anywhere else until they are more tolerant. I'd like to ask if anyone has any leftover pawpaw seeds if I could buy or send a envelope with postage on it for 1-5 pawpaw seeds so I can start over. I can easily wait until next year, the wildlife conservation district in my area sells seedlings every year, but in the off chance that I could start a different strain, it might be better for fruit production. Kind regards, Dee.

The peeps just left to their new home where they will have plenty of acres to free-range. I'm very glad we were able to get them to someone that is knows how to raise chickens and was happy to take them!

Thanks Phil, appreciate that! Sorry to hear people dump cats on your property, I wish none of us had to deal with irresponsible people's discarded pets.

Hi All, I wanted to see if anyone here near south central PA wouldn't mind increasing their flock by 3. Someone dumped 3 chicks (I'm guessing they were Easter "presents" that got too big) at the park behind my house. So, I took them in, because it was too cold and dangerous for them outside, and have had them inside in a large tub for a week now. I can not keep them due to city regs, plus I know nothing about raising chickens. I'm don't know the sex of any of them or the breed. They are getting all their feathers in and they are a mix of cream, light tan, and ochre colored.  Please contact me if anyone close would like to add them to their flock. Thanks for looking!

You might want to try contacting the Canadian chapter of the House Rabbit Society, https://www.vrra.org/wp-beta1/?page_id=2 or the parent organization, https://rabbit.org/. They might be able to give you answers regarding parasites/bugs/etc and they may be able to relocate them to homes for you. That bunny does look like it had been a "housed bunny" before, and during the spring or summer I'm sure it would be fine free-ranging, but I'd worry about it over winter. The parent org link above has some really good info on care and FAQ. Good Luck!

I had to "relocate" a bunny that someone had as a pet and let it be free on a friend's property, it was digging burrows under their front steps. I set a have-a-heart trap out baited with timothy hay, baby carrots, and dried strawberries. Caught it after a few days trial and error, I had to start with the "bait" outside of the trap, and slowly move it towards the inside of the trap. Was able to rehome it with a co-worker. You might want to see if you have a local org that will come trap and relocate for you, I'd suggest doing a few internet searches on bunny and adoption with your respective area to see if there are any close to you that will help. Good Luck!

I know in my neck of the woods the conservation sales don't apply chemicals to the seedlings, and with the varieties they sell, a GMO hasn't been created yet (hybrids, possibly) but here are a couple sales I found you might be interested in. Here's a link to the New Mexico conservation seedling sale: http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SFD/treepublic/ConservationSeedlings.html, quite a few choices, but not a lot of nut trees. I'm not sure if a drive to Santa Fe would be too far for you (they offer shipping too), but here is another one: http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/SFD/treepublic/ConservationSeedlings.html. This one charges extra shipping for out of state, but might still be a option, for example their price on hazelnuts is 0.40 ea for 25 plants, https://mdc6.mdc.mo.gov/Applications/TreeSeedling/?page=1.