The war on the critters in my garden

Last year, we planted our first ever fruit/vegetable garden and the results were so-so. I thought we did everything right. We had the magical mix of soil, compost and sand we should have used, but the things we planted from seed didn't come up so well. I used tomato plants that were already grown and they did great. We had tons of tomatoes, but what happened to our other plants? This year we used compost from our own composter (I'm like, an organic farmer or something) and planted our seeds (and tomato plants) again this year. The next morning after planting I opened my windows to let the birds land on my fingers while I sang like Snow White. Seriously, this really is what I'm like when I wake up in the morning. So, I'm letting sparrows brush my hair when I see it. A squirrel, paws deep in our garden eating all of the seeds. I ran to the door to let the dog out. Not because my slow dog could ever catch another animal in his life, but I wanted him to pull his weight in security detail. The dog ran, the squirrel climbed up onto the phone wires and stayed right there, hovering over our garden. This meant war. (caption id="attachment_4218" align="alignright" width="200")

Check yourself, squirrels(/caption) The day before squirrel attack '14 happened, we were at the garden center with everyone and their mom. It was one of the first warm days of spring after this colder than ever winter. People were slowly opening their eyes and wandering around buying up plants and mulch, still getting used to the idea that they no longer live in a frozen wasteland (for the next 5-6 months anyway). I was looking at flowers when I heard Fran ask, "Hey, do we need a falcon?" Franky was holding a plastic falcon and he immediately decided his new friend could no longer reside at the garden center. He named it the Phantom Falcon in honor of his obsession with a phantom from Scooby Doo. I thought the Phantom Falcon was all fun and games until I saw that squirrel the next morning. We filled the Phantom Falcon with sand and weighted him on the corner of our garden. I shook my fist at the squirrel. "Take that you furry beast!" We then had a stare down and he shook his tail and hissed at me. Now, two things are happening. 1. I haven't seen any squirrels or chipmunks in our garden. 2. Every time I look outside I think, "Look at that bird! Oh, yeah, it's not real." Every.single.time. I'm still staying on top of my game. I'll also be on the lookout for two other critters that might be messing up our garden: Rabbits. We had baby bunnies in our yard last year. If anyone (AKA my kids) ask, the bunnies ran away. I wish that was what happened, but the mom left and they didn't hang on too much longer. (caption id="attachment_4220" align="alignleft" width="300")

Fluffy, cute, murderer of spinach(/caption) Okay, chin up! What I'm trying to say is that we have a ton of rabbits around the area. Maybe they aren't eating our seeds, but I did notice our spinach and other plants getting chomped on last year. Hopefully the Phantom Falcon will take care of that. I mean, if I keep thinking the bird is real, the rabbits will too, right? Please tell me I'm smarter than a rabbit. Never mind, don't. Fraggles. You might say, "Christine, the Fraggles were fictional puppets created in the 80's." Says you. I know those guys really love radishes and other vegetables and guess what we had in our garden? Yep, Fraggle food. I'm just saying it's a possibility.

Do you have any critters eating up your garden? What's your advice? For more fun and adventures from The New Abides, please follow me on Facebook and Twitter! To subscribe to The New Abides, type your email address in the box and click the "create subscription" button. My list is completely spam free, and you can opt out at any time.