Homestead mailing list

[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

Bill Jones wrote:

> Lynda wrote:
>
>  
>
> > What do you do to keep out the voles?
> >
> >    
> I have raised beds with cracked concrete bottoms.
>
> I was told to just plant mole plant.  I'm darn sure they won't eat the 
> mole plant, but that won't help me.  Personally I find it far fetched to 
> think that hungry rodents accustomed to eating my roots will give up and 
> starve before putting up with a citrusy smell.
Actually I don't mean to ridicule this idea.  It's well known that the 
Incas planted their native marigold, T. minuta, among and around all 
their root crops.  It sounds small but this is a giant species (with 
minute flowers).

My beds avoid the bottom land, to take advantage of the less fertile 
high ground.  But we have some bottom land that would make a great 
garden spot, if only during summer.  This winter-flooded area can't 
support voles during winter as it is.  I'll make sure to try some T. 
minuta in back (the north side) and some smaller marigolds in front.

Potatoes are one of several edible crops that actually feed rodents as 
part of their survival strategy.  It must be so.  If every little tuber 
made it and put out one or more stems during the next year, they would 
soon choke each other out.  The other two "root" crops I know that are 
just like this are ulluco and Chinese artichoke.

Bill
S. Oregon coast