Nature's Wrath

Talk about timing, this is one that's hard to believe. As many of you might know by now, I'm growing lots of tomato plants for our garden, both of them. I probably seeded close to 100 plants, figuring not all of them would make it, and if they did, I could give them away. People appreciate that, and even pay money for them. I know I have in the past... not this year.

Our community garden has a greenhouse that we can leave the starters in to grow through the spring, thus avoiding any frost dangers. Plus, they're our neighbors and friends, so they are willing to water the plants when we are away. The setup is amazing, they do a great job of hosting the gardens on so many levels, plus it's withing walking distance. You just can't beat it.

We were planning on being away so I figured it was a great time to put our seedlings into the greenhouse. I contacted them and they said they'd be happy to water the plants, and everything was set, Plus, they're expert gardeners, so they know the drill. I put the seedlings in on Saturday, and on Sunday morning I gave them some water. Later that same Sunday, as we were packed and ready to take our trip, I asked if we could stop by the greenhouse so I could have one last look at the plants, and about 75% of them had the tops clipped or eaten right off, all within the span of a few hours. I couldn't believe it.

I wasn't sure what to do, we were on our way out for our trip. I was so bummed, our precious little seedlings had been decimated, but fortunately we were not in a hurry to leave. We were lucky in the sense that a lot of the seeds had not yet sprouted, so they hadn't been eaten, though a few had been dug up as if the critter was searching for some more to eat. We had to do something, so we gathered up the seedlings and took them back home to the mud room.

We had leftover seeds, so we re-seeded the ones that had tops bit off, figuring they wouldn't bounce back at that point, and if they did, we could just trim off the excess. R and the kids helped, and before long, the job was done. I gave them a quick spritz and then had to ask our friends who were watching the cats if they could do us one more favor and keep an eye on the plants, as well. As you would expect, they were all happy to help out.

Boy, talk about drama before our departure. I'm an animal lover, but sometimes critters can get on your nerves. I think the greenhouse would benefit from having a cat, like Misty and Dusty, our resident feline assassins.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Luke Healey for the pic.