Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>]

> Some beast has eaten most of the leaves off my young melon plants at night
>
> Assuming a rabbit - any suggestions short of sitting out there all night
> with the dog to chase them off would be appreciated.

I have been seeing a *lot* of rabbits all over my place this season, but 
so far, zero damage in the garden. A big factor for me (and this seems 
to help with regard to deer and groundhogs as well) is that my garden 
area is surrounded by pasture that has a good deal of clover in it. The 
rabbits prefer the clover to almost anything in the garden.

Don't know if you have sufficient space around your garden, but if you 
do, try overseeding with clover this fall and next spring. This won't 
guarantee you'll never have problems with unwelcome grazers (deer and 
groundhogs seem to *love* sweet potato vines, and have made raids even 
when there was plenty of clover), but it should help a great deal in 
future seasons.

~Harvey

--
Harvey in northern Va
www.themodernhomestead.us