The Backyard War Zone

I have to say that the results of digging up 10x12' of sod and then bringing in some rich, loamy soil to sit on top of our clay produced some astounding results.  We grew corn, egg plant, tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, lemon balm (no food value but hey, it smelled real good), pumpkin (the imperialist vegetable that takes over the entire garden!), watermelon, radishes, and a few other plants. I was, and still am, amazed at how much this garden will produce.

Radishes:  Don't those little bunches of radishes at the grocery store look so fresh and appetizing with their recent dose of mist from the sprayer?  In fact everything looks super good-- you want to buy them all. Well, how about buying 20 of these bunches?  How fast would you eat 20 bunches of radishes?  This little garden of ours grew about 20 bunches. That's really cool to the gardener with it's attendant sense of having produced a lot of food but no one eats them.  And, to make their eating more challenging, they are very hot.  The "spice" in radishes is diferent than that found in hot peppers.  In peppers it is called capisum. In radishes it is a compound called isothiocyanate. I think that the amount of isothiocyanate is due to the length of time the plant has been growing-- too slow or too long (so they say) . Anyway, this iso stuff is the same compound found in Wasabi, mustard and horseradish.

I didn't plant radishes in the 2010 garden at Dexter Woods.

Well, perhaps more on the vegetables later (like the imperial ground hog called pumpkin).  I'll finish with what the title of this post is-- The Backyard War Zone.  Forty-seven different insects, lots of deer, lots of rabbits, and an occasional bird and racoon resulted in this gardner conducting chemical warfare. Additionally, a plethora of invasive weeds always needing to be dealt with. 

In defending against animals, I'm beholding to the fact that in our subdivision, we cannot build fences except around swimming pools. "No fence shall be erected or placed on any lot except as necessary to safeguard a swimming pool which the Trustee has approved for that lot. (AMENDMENT NO. 5, JULY 8, 1992)"  With a numerous foe attacking the garden, what are my choices?  I opted for chemical warfare.  I must say to the environmentallly conscious reader, that I love this earth and see there is a great duty and benefit in being careful with our environment.  I've also learned that there are several chemicals and concoctions available on the market that will do the job of a backyard defender of the garden without producing harmful side effects.  Yep, chemical fences that keep the deer and rabbits at bay.  Yes, chemical spray to partially eliminate harmful surface insects and chemicals for weeds.  With the weeds, a constant dose of the hoe and the hand are warranted as well.

One of the insects that caught my attention early was the one that seemed to entirely infest the imperialist pumpkins--

 

Though this isn't a picture from my garden, this is what I saw.  They completely covered the pumpkins. A few shots of something from the local Lowes completely eliminated them.  As long as I am diligent, I am master and commander in the backyard battlefield of the garden.

No, the owl wasn't effective. I think they are mainly used for scaring pigeons away from office building and bridges.  I don't have an office building, bridge, or a pigeon in my backyard.  So why did I ceremoniously bring the owl back to the garden again this year?  I dunno-- maybe just a tradition now.