Homestead mailing list

[Bill Jones <billj AT harborside.com>]

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