Don’t you hate it when the internet is broke? Sorry about yesterday. We are right on the very steep edges of a black hole of nefarious internet coverage. Evidently there was a man up the only tower that can reach us. I guess he was reading the book because it took him two days to come down and give us the thumbs up!
The gardens had a set back yesterday. While I had my head turned to the firewood pile…
The peahens (not Kupa of course) …
crept into this garden …
and ate all the little tasty green baby cabbages and broccoli and onion, well just about everything actually. John is so furious he has gone even silenter than usual so today I have to build a pen for peafowl. They are to be locked up while the plants are little. “Trouble in the Gardens”. The other day I put my potted sunflowers out to get some sun and Tui and Pania climbed the step and ate every single one of them. In all fairness I have to say that the silent one just laughed when they ate all my sunflowers, but now the tables have turned!! Rather miserably. I have been over-feeding all the free range birds grain, at the barn, trying to head this off.
Ah well, I try desperately to take this kind of thing seriously but I have a chromosome missing and just cannot find anger at birds for doing what birds do. Once something is done it is done. Now we work out a way to ensure it is not done again. There are more cabbages – all is not lost.
Good morning. I will enclose the sunny side of the barn loft with strong chicken mesh. Most of the framework is there, it is huge and this is where they roost and hang out for most of the day anyway. When they are not skulking about where they do not belong. There are two advantages to this plan. Firstly the peahens have their nests up there so if they have chicks they will be catcheable. And secondly we will be able to stack the hay and straw right to the sides of the loft when the birds are free range again. The downside is carrying daily feed and water up the ladder.
Kupa will only be in there until the eggs are laid, then he can come out. I cannot bear to lock him up for long. The Duke of Kupa is special. He would never eat the king’s cabbages and he is not as sneaky as the girls.
Have a lovely day.
celi
On this day a year ago The Duke of Kupa had only just arrived and was being checked out by the barn flock. This made me laugh rereading it! c
The Kitchen's Garden 
71 responses to “Trouble in The Gardens.”
I have been away, and although i have been able to read the blog I have not been able to share my thoughts, I have been on the journey towards spring !! {sigh} I’ve lost more plantlings to wildlife than I care to recall. The best : technology….carrots seeds in a “tape”…wow…until a bird grabs a seed and flys off with the entire row…..I laughed so hard I couldn’t be angry….
Hope you can get a handle on it !!
nanster
There you are darling, I had wondered, laughed at the bird stealing the whole row!! c
Never a quiet day on the farmy. Today it was the peahens’ turn. Watch out for the guinea fowl, Celi. We’ve not heard much about them for some time. They’re overdo for some mischief. 🙂
I hope you got the warmth today — minus the winds, of course. It keeps trying to rain but we’ve had just a few sprinkles so far. Hopefully that will change overnight.
Have a good night!
same here.. no rain at all, just the wind! fingers crossed! c
Good to see your internet back up and running!
Celi, my geese do this to me from time to time. The difference is, that they wait to the end to eat the crop! It is frustrating to wait so long for a crop only to go out and find they have flown the fence and picked everything for me. Glad you have extras! 😉
Oh Miss C, the gardening woes.
I’m regularly visited by a black wallaby who adores anything green, his absolute favourite is raddichio; although he did consume a large row of shallots last night.
Maybe the Duke of Kupa is so sneaky you do not realize he’s sneaky at all.
What naughty girls but they obviously know what is class Grade A food xx
This reminds me of last year, here, when the deer decided my garden was an all you can eat buffet. At first I was discouraged and then I had to smile that they are alive, beautiful, came to visit, and were well fed!
I do see what you mean, deer are so deautiful, i am always startled when i see one.. c
Arrrrggggg…..Damn nature and animal instinct- sometimes they forget to read the human rule book…Eat everything green and lush except the little ones that we plant out.
Best kept secret: attitude 🙂
Chin up… and replant. x wendy
Never a dull day on the farm, eh?
You do lead an interesting life on the farm. Loved the story, and photos
Gosh, it doesn’t seem a year since Kupa arrived! How fast things move.
I tend to share your attitude toward birds doing birdy things in the garden, but I have my work cut out for me in anger management when it comes to cutting squirrels the same slack. Fat little rats dug up, disemboweled and overturned my latest planter boxes. I’m pretty certain I won’t be putting out more special treats for them willingly, but I’m far from sure how to thwart them entirely. Phooey. Guess I just have to count on the large quantity of plantings to win the day. Good luck with your pea-flock’s monkeyshines!
I sympathise with your internet issues and the birds! All my new seedlings are covered in chicken mesh to save them from my free ranging chickens!
the things we do! c