[Homestead] Moles
Bill Jones
billj at harborside.com
Thu Feb 7 13:00:07 EST 2008
Gene GeRue wrote:
>
>Moles drive me nuts, overnight undermining tomato plants which then
>fall over, often so wilted I can't reestablish them. Better soil means
>more earthworms, which means more moles. The only success I have had
>so far in thwarting moles is hardware cloth in the bottom of solid-
>wall growing beds. When I build new beds I will try a thick layer of
>gravel and broken beer bottles at the bottom.
>_______________________________________________
>
>
Earthworms? You mean non-native invasives? I read something fascinating
that I've been meaning to share, to the effect that all our North
American earthworms are non-natives introduced from Europe. Apparently
the native ones died out millenia ago. I don't remember all the details.
My buddy Orlando is a REAL organic gardener (I'm just a hobbyist). He
says that there's usually just one or two moles at any given time, since
they're territorial, but they do get around a lot. He sets traps for
them with a determination to succeed, early in the season, and it seems
to work for him as he claims. In other words, trap the one or two
culprits early, and the problem will be solved. Can't vouch for it
personally though.
So I have raised beds too. I put a layer of cracked concrete on the
bottom. The Incas used packed interlocking rubble pieces with smaller
rock and gravel in between to plug the smaller holes. If all the
barrier material is small, they can probably undermine it. Near a city,
rubble chunks should be easy to come by. But it's not for me, nowhere
near a big city, nor do I have a supply of big rocks, nor beer bottles,
so I use the concrete barrier.
Bill
S. Oregon coast
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