Nuisance and Willful Animals
Nuisance and Willful Animals
This has certainly been a summer of learning for me and my summer camp students. First after working so hard all summer to get my raised beds built and planted and trying to get the hens to lay, I have a new problem. Nuisance and Willful Animals.
Raised Beds, Raised Problems
The raised beds are for the most part thriving. Particularly the hybrid hugelkultur beds that rain their own water. Their moisture and Nitrogen levels remain every consistent.
I really like this design for a raised bed as they are incredibly durable and hold a great deal of material. Having them so close to the bioreactor's raised water tower makes it easier to manage these as well.
As for my six raised beds to the east of the parterre, the results are mixed. They are hard to water, and the watering system I have devised is not sufficient to water all of them. Additionally the bioreactor does not generate enough water pressure - neither does city pressure - to get sufficient water to Bed 1 at the southern edge of the garden.
Then There Are The Squirrels and That ONE Chicken...
This was the year that the squirrels realized they could climb the vertical farming trellis and eat every lastone of the leaves off my sweet potatoes. I am furious!
I am in the process of applying a low-watt electrical connection to the steel trellis to deter them from climbing. I am alse regularly spraying the sweet potato vines with cinnamon and cayenne pepper. That will give those greedy little demons a jolt and a mouthful of regret!
So She Flew the Coop!
Then there's the chicken who has steadfastly decided that she does not want to lay her eggs like a plebeian in the coop with the OTHER common chickens. No, she wants to lay her eggs in the raised bed with the vertical growing tower and all the missing sweet potato leaves.
I found a clutch of eight eggs in that bed the other day. What is that bird thinking? I am even more surprised that the raccoons didn't find them.
Never a dull moment here at Mezzacello. But I love what the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation kids did with the systems they helped me redesign. It was fun and I continue to learn a lot!
This is a part of the City of Columbus Parks and Recreation Summer Grant Grant #1521-2023.