vegetable garden

MarylandWed

do you ever worry that a dog, a cat or other animal has come along and peed on your veggies? that is my one concern with doing a vegetable garden. is there a way to prevent this? i see people have wire to keep animals from nibbling i suppose, but i don't think that would prevent an animal from urinating on your carrots.

BMWwife

This freaks my husband out. I had a tiny veg garden 3 years ago and H refused to eat anything from it even though I thoroughly washed the produce with that produce wash whole food sells.

Bella in CT

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious!  I didn't know anyone ever really worried about that kind of thing - it would never occur to me. As long as the veggies are washed, I don't think it's a big deal.

You could always put chicken wire around the perimeter if you are worried.

nola Steph

This does worry me.  I know, it's insane, and it's never something I have vocalized, but I have thought about it!

We don't have a vegetable garden tho.  But J did just start an herb garden and he bought seeds for bell peppers and green onions the other day, too... I don't know what to do about this.

Back story:  There are a LOT of stray cats in this area.  It's HIGHLY annoying.  Especially when you have outdoor cats of your own - like we do.  We feed our cats obviously, but the food keeps the strays around.  Calling animal control is tiresome and only solves the problem for a couple of days, as then new ones "move in."  UGH!  Anyway, we set up a sandbox for Gabby about two weeks ago.  It was one w/o a cover.  Unfortunate it rained like hardcore that night so even tho we covered the sandbox with a tarp and kept it under the covered portion of the deck, it got wet.  So we needed to air it out a few days so the sand could dry before we let G play in it.  Right... within a day I had J go check to make sure the sand was dry and of course, it was full of cat pee.  W.T.F.  I'm starting to hate cats, yo... that's sad.    So we threw away the sand before my kid could even play in it.    When J brought home the "fixings" to start the garden... yeah I got nervous.

 I will probably ask my little old lady neighbor - they have a huge vegetable, herb and regular garden and see what she says. 

nola Steph

Oh and to add to my already long post:

J will NOT eat fruit grown in people's backyards.  Like, his parents have an orange tree and they are forever giving us oranges.  My uncle gave us beaucoup blood oranges recently also.  My cousin gives us grapefruits.  J wont touch any of them.  Why?  Because he's worried about the "bugs" that could get in them... wtf?  lol   But a pesticide laden orange from the grocery - oh he's all over that.  WEIRDO.

And now he wants to grow peppers and onions and tomatoes in our backyard... how is this gonna work?  lol

kokomama

nola Steph:

Oh and to add to my already long post:

J will NOT eat fruit grown in people's backyards.  Like, his parents have an orange tree and they are forever giving us oranges.  My uncle gave us beaucoup blood oranges recently also.  My cousin gives us grapefruits.  J wont touch any of them.  Why?  Because he's worried about the "bugs" that could get in them... wtf?  lol   But a pesticide laden orange from the grocery - oh he's all over that.  WEIRDO.

And now he wants to grow peppers and onions and tomatoes in our backyard... how is this gonna work?  lol

That's funny, because the citrus that is grown in people's yards tastes waaaay better than the stuff in the store.  It's picked when ripe and at it's tastiest.  Your H is totally missing out.

I used to have a small garden at a previous house - just some herbs and a few tomato plants.  I honestly never thought about animals peeing on the plants.  It was a fenced-in yard (6-foot tall fence), so it probably wasn't an issue for me.

 

MarylandWed

nola Steph:

This does worry me.  I know, it's insane, and it's never something I have vocalized, but I have thought about it!

We don't have a vegetable garden tho.  But J did just start an herb garden and he bought seeds for bell peppers and green onions the other day, too... I don't know what to do about this.

Back story:  There are a LOT of stray cats in this area.  It's HIGHLY annoying.  Especially when you have outdoor cats of your own - like we do.  We feed our cats obviously, but the food keeps the strays around.  Calling animal control is tiresome and only solves the problem for a couple of days, as then new ones "move in."  UGH!  Anyway, we set up a sandbox for Gabby about two weeks ago.  It was one w/o a cover.  Unfortunate it rained like hardcore that night so even tho we covered the sandbox with a tarp and kept it under the covered portion of the deck, it got wet.  So we needed to air it out a few days so the sand could dry before we let G play in it.  Right... within a day I had J go check to make sure the sand was dry and of course, it was full of cat pee.  W.T.F.  I'm starting to hate cats, yo... that's sad.    So we threw away the sand before my kid could even play in it.    When J brought home the "fixings" to start the garden... yeah I got nervous.

 I will probably ask my little old lady neighbor - they have a huge vegetable, herb and regular garden and see what she says. 

but how do you know they're "strays"? how do you know your cats aren't going into other people's yards similar to the ones that go into yours?

beeeyotch

I would just wash them really good and peel the things I can.

But the thought "Who p!ssed on your carrots?" Came to mind (rather than wheaties) hee hee

*city bride*

I can't say that this ever crossed my mind. My mom used to have a huge vegetable and herb garden, and I'd just pick the foods and eat them without rinsing. We had a dog, but he never bothered. or peed on, anything. I'd put up a small fence if you were worried about it. if you keep it about a foot away from the garden itself, you should be able to keep pee off of everything.. unless you have a champion pisser in the neighbourhood.

nola Steph

You're right Eden I don't. But if a cat has made it's home under my deck, is forever in my yard, and doesn't have a collar or tag - I'm calling him a stray. Not to mention it's been a big problem in this area for years. I wouldn't worry so much about a garden if I only had to worry about my two outdoor cats, but when there are 10 others coming in and out of my yard on a daily basis and eating the food I set out for my two animals - it just gets old.

MarylandWed

nola Steph:

You're right Eden I don't. But if a cat has made it's home under my deck, is forever in my yard, and doesn't have a collar or tag - I'm calling him a stray. Not to mention it's been a big problem in this area for years. I wouldn't worry so much about a garden if I only had to worry about my two outdoor cats, but when there are 10 others coming in and out of my yard on a daily basis and eating the food I set out for my two animals - it just gets old.

i'm sorry i reread my post and it sounds snarky. i dont want to upset you when you are already frustrated. have you thought about feeding your cats inside twice a day instead of free feed? it's hard to keep other animals from a dish of yummy food and you wouldn't want to invite vermin. although it sounds like there are enough cats in your yard to take care of that possibility!

nola Steph

Sorry - I realized I probably sounded kind of bitchy there huh?    We haven't had any other uninvited "guests" (haha), even raccoons and possums all disappeared after Katrina (we had raccoons and possums visiting us every night back then - bleh!).  Not so much a fan of letting the cats in either.  You're right tho - I am just frustrated with our current pet situation (and not to blame it on the pregnancy, but for real I'm a cranky biitch right now).