I planted my first garden this year sort of late in the season (around late July) – but like Justin Rhodes always says, “Just Plant.”

Much to my surprise, most of my little garden grew: the okra grew fast, the corn made 18 ears, the squash grew a few dinners worth, and the cantaloupes flourished.

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However, the straw-bale potatoes never grew at all and my Lowe’s tomato plants made one batch of green tomatoes and then staled the rest of the summer. I think these two issues were heat related but what do I know.

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The okra may have been magic beans because it grew 10 feet tall (and I don’t think that’s normal) but I did get a few dinners off of it before it grew completely out of reach.

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The squirrels ate every ear of my corn and then pulled the stalks down for good measure and danced on the remains (I’m just guess about that dance part).

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Everything else that was left, was eaten by rats – or so I’m guessing by the decimation and Tom&Jerry like holes in my cantaloupes.

The Garden

In all fairness, my garden was really no trouble to grow. The whole area is roughly 20X30 and only took a few hours to plant. I used the no-till method and so the weed pressure was minimal. All and all, I think it was a success – even if it only fed the local wildlife. Next year I’ll plant early and see what happens.

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I still have two Cantaloupes hanging on the vine, one I have rapped with a rubber snake and the other is completely defenseless. However, I have set a trap for the rats and can only hope I get at least one melon for my efforts.

Build A Better Mouse Trap

The trouble with most rat traps is that they are dangerous to things other than rats. Poison is just not an option. A simple spring loaded trap might work but that’s sort of a one shot one rat approach.

Instead I’m going with a bucket trap.

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Items needed

• 5 gallon bucket
• wire coat hanger
• scrap piece of thin tubing (I used a broken grabber I had laying around)
• Peanut Butter
• a little dish soap

Steps

• Cut the tubing slightly shorter than the diameter of the bucket.
• Cut the wire hanger 2″ longer than the diameter of the bucket.
• Poke two holes in the rim across from each other.
• Run the wire through the tube and through the holes – then bend over on each end.
• Rub peanut butter on the middle of the pipe.
• Fill the bucket half way up with water and a little dish soap.
• Vala! Rat Trap.

It rained all last night, so since the peanut butter was untouched this morning , I’m guessing that the rain kept the rats in their little burrow (which I think is actually my failed straw-bale potato experiment). I’ll let you know next week how it all works out.

SketchUp

I also spent a few hours yesterday building three of the storage bins I designed in SketchUp last week. It took a few hours because my shop is still upside-down while I renovate it and so I spent 20 minutes just trying to find a drill bit. The upside is that once the bins are complete, I can get some of the clutter under control. If all goes well my 3 day shop renovation that was started on 9/9/19, will be done by mid-November… of 2020!

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Note Worthy News

It’s confirmed that my humor article, The Christmas Goose will be published in the Dec/Jan 2019/2020 issue of Farm & Ranch Living. The magazine has a circulation of 400,000, so I couldn’t be more excited. Be sure to pickup your copy on newsstands next month.

On a similar note, I am now listed as #19 on the Top 60 Beekeeping Blogs and Websites in 2019. I have no idea how prestigious that is but it does mean people are starting to notice this bungling beekeeper’s beekeeping blog.

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