Battling the Squirrels

I have gardened everywhere we have lived.  From New Mexico to Florida, (really lots of sand and deserts), I have grown plants.  Strawberries, watermelons, peppers (sweet and hot), tomatoes, onions and salad greens, some with more success than others.  

I have had to deal with rabbits, all sorts of rodents, birds, and, in the case of Florida, cotton mouth snakes in the yard.

But no squirrels.  When there were enough trees, there were lots of predators.

Where we are now, there are squirrels.  Lots of the little bastards who think the soft dirt in my containers is wonderful for digging.  That the beautiful seedlings I put out are perfect for snacking, especially those early spring leaf buds on the blueberry bush.

Neem oil, diluted in a spray bottle of water, sprayed liberally on any leafy bits seems to be doing a good job of protecting what is left of the first batch of seedlings and the blueberry plant from their hungry maws.

To keep them from digging, I mixed up what I have labelled as Squirrel Repellent, but could honestly be used in a decent chili.

Garlic, black pepper, and chili powder.  Cayenne would also be a nice addition.  Sprinkled liberally on the surface of the dirt, avoiding as much of the plant(s) as possible.  While we have had quite a lot of rain lately, it does seem to be working, despite having to re-apply after a decent rainfall.  Yes, it does smell, but it mostly smells of someones dinner, so I don't mind.

I went looking for bird netting, as it's served me well in the past, finally found a non-Amazon source with the netting in stock...but it's going to take a little longer to get here.  Yes, I do know the squirrels might get tangled and/or strangled by it.  I've dealt with the aftermath before.   If it's me and mine being able to eat salad and cucumbers or the squirrels...yeah, the squirrels can piss right the hells off.

I've also managed to save seeds from the hot peppers from last year, originally bought as seedlings.

Dragon Cayenne and Thai Hots(usually sold as ornamental locally).  The fruits from last season were not for the faint of heart and dried beautifully.  I was directly reminded of their firey-ness when I absent mindedly touched the end of my nose while harvesting this bounty of seeds (after I re-seeded the pots of course), which set the end of my nose on fire, (leading to me looking very silly with yogurt on the end of my nose for a bit).

It's still the very beginning of the proper growing season here.  There will be green things.  Soon.