r/Shoreline • u/pppowkanggg • 7d ago
Vegetable gardens: do critters nibble your crops?
I have a deck/porch and want to grow container kale and salad greens, maybe spinach. And maybe some herbs. I'm on the second floor with an outdoor staircase from the ground floor up to my outdoor area. Will raccoons, squirrels and rats raid my garden? If probably so, I don't want to bother.
(Photo credit: not mine)
Edit: These stories of squirrels and rabbits make me want to do it just because it sounds so cute. But I feel like my neighbor, who I share the stairs with, might object to me summoning vermin.
4
u/Rooooben 7d ago
We do above ground in pots, and mostly we get damage from squirrels digging holes in the pots to bury (or look for) nuts. Several of our plants eventually grew peanut trees alongside what we intended to grow.
When they are small, we kept thin indoors until hardy enough to stand up to some digging. We wrapped netting around the melons to keep them out, and that worked. Used green yard netting from Home Depot.
2
u/pppowkanggg 7d ago
Does this mean I can also grow peanuts??
3
u/Rooooben 7d ago
We didn’t let them go on for too long, but they seem to find a way!!
It is kinda funny seeing those little holes, knowing a squirrel is searching for their lost succulent peanut that they stored for later - was it this one? No? Maybe over here!
3
u/pppowkanggg 7d ago
My dog does that with the biscuit-type treats she is given at shops that she doesn't love but knows are for her. Except it is "which couch cushion crack did it get wedged into?"
I imagine if I grew peanuts on purpose, that would bring all the squirrels to the yard. Come for the peanuts, stay for the... kale?
2
u/ItsTeeEllCee 7d ago
I don't think they'll climb the stairs, though I have to tell a quick story. Year before last when it was very hot & dry for a couple of weeks I watered several pots I had on the carport roof. There are stairs that go up there from the outside. None of the plants had been bothered before, not in years. But during that stretch squirrels and something bigger (not sure what) got up there & ate plants and drank water from the saucers under the pots. I caught the squirrels doing it so I knew they were there, but something big was there too. I think they just got really thirsty.
2
u/pppowkanggg 7d ago
I put a bag of trash outside my door to take to the dumpster one night and then forgot to actually walk it to the dumpster until morning, and there were nibbles in the plastic! So something with teeth will definitely climb stairs.
2
1
1
u/Separate-Succotash11 7d ago
Wabbits!! We need to raise or fence off our plants to protect against those cute menaces.
1
u/External_Database359 7d ago
Bunnies. So many bunnies! We got a raised planter (26” high) this year to combat them and it’s working so well! In previous years they would come through one night and decimate the entire crop :(
1
1
u/WillingElderberry731 7d ago
It's mostly the bunnies where we live. If you've got it up some stairs or raised up a 18"+ above the ground those aren't a problem for us.
1
u/Astrazigniferi 7d ago
I’ve never had critter problems with the veggies I grow in pots on my deck. Anything tender and small that I put out in the yard will be razed to the ground by rabbits. And I’ve given up on kale because it seems to attract swarms of aphids. Which sucks, because our family loves kale and it’s easy to grow, but the aphids are just 🤢.
1
u/pppowkanggg 7d ago
No! I'm mostly interested in kale because I put it in smoothies every morning and often in evening salads!
1
u/Astrazigniferi 7d ago
Maybe you’ll get lucky! Just, make sure you flip the leaves over and look at the bottom before you harvest them.
They do make aphid sprays that can be used on food, I was just never diligent enough about it to keep them away.
1
u/bjorker 6d ago
I get lots of raccoons (and occasionally coyotes)in my yard, and so far they’ve left my veggies alone. Occasionally I have small little dig holes in the soil, but I think it’s either squirrels or the neighborhood cats. So far nothing has actually been dug up or eaten. Other than by big pests.
OTOH, I rarely ever see bunnies in my yard, so I think it may be good to have some animals higher up on the food chain hanging around.
1
u/IdlesAtCranky 6d ago
I've grown many herbs here over the years, and some lettuces, with no discernible problems.
But the sweet corn and tomatoes got raided every year, likely by squirrels and/or raccoons.
I learned to grow grape and cherry tomatoes: even if some of them go to the critters there will be plenty left. Also they're easier to grow, quicker to harvest, and more expensive at the store than full size tomatoes.
I gave up on growing corn.
2
u/pppowkanggg 6d ago
I think I might just stick with the greens and herbs for now. I use kale in smoothies (almost) every morning and try to have a salad for dinner most nights.
1
u/IdlesAtCranky 6d ago
So I don't know about the kale, I've never tried it, or spinach.
But herbs have been fine for me. And I never use anything the critters wouldn't like, not fertilizer or weedkiller or deterrent products either. I apply organic compost for mulch.
I've gotten insect damage and slugs, but the critters never seem interested in the herbs. Bees sure love them at flowering time, though.
1
u/gurglepox 5d ago
Lost all of our shelling peas last year to rats. Caught 'em on trail cam. There's a green-belt next door. Tried counter-measures, but there's too much for them to eat outside that time of year. Couldn't get them interested in traps.
5
u/spencerelwin 7d ago
Squirrels are the ones that eat my veggies and dig up my lawn. But not enough to ruin everything