"Do you need me to build a fence around your raised bed garden ? " Rob asked. "No" I said . "The only thing interested in my garden last year was the flea beetles and that won't keep them out. Nothing else seems to have the slightest interest in my little garden".
And somewhere in the woods, all the little chipmunks cheered. But I didn't hear them.
When the three lined potato beetles arrived and began eating my tomatillo plants I looked it up online, and then began diligently removing the larvae that were decimating the leaves. I scraped them off (did you know they cover themselves in their own excrement to deter predators? Well it deterred me too at first). I dumped them and any adult beetle I could find into a container of hot soapy water. I then sprayed my plants with a bit of soapy water just to make sure.
It took a couple of weeks, but eventually I seemed to be making headway. I was pretty pleased with my efforts.
Then one morning this week I was on my way out for a nice relaxing walk and stopped for a quick check on my garden. I was more than dismayed to see part of a big lovely green tomato lying in the garden bed, with half of it chewed away. I assumed it might be deer, so thought I might have to put up a trail cam later in the day to make sure, and maybe a solar power motion detector light to deter them. I tossed the tomato out and went for my walk.
On my return I decided to check around the garden to see if there were any deer tracks. There were no tracks at all. There was however, the remains of another chewed tomato lying in state. Not to mention a cute little chipmunk playing hide and seek in amongst the tomato plants. I clapped my hands and made hissing noises but it just hid behind the tomato plant leaves, now lying all broken in a heap.
So I looked up "do chipmunks eat tomatoes? " Well yes they do. Not the whole tomato of course, just parts of it before moving on to removing and chewing on the next one.
"They are just thirsty" said one person in an online gardening forum. So I kindly filled a ceramic dish with water for it, and placed it nearby.
Hmmm... but now there were three more tomatoes lying in state.
"Place ground up cayenne pepper around the plants" was the next suggestion. I used Jalapeño powder instead as I had lots of that available. I sprinkled it on the soil, and for good measure, all around the perimeter of the garden.
A short while later there were two more half eaten tomatoes now lying in plain view.
"Sprinkle used coffee grounds around your plants " was the next suggestion. So I scraped out the grounds from the morning coffee filter, and spread them all around the tomato stems. As the sun hit the soil, I could smell the grounds. "Yay" I thought.
A quick check an hour later and there were more chewed up tomatoes, and now some of the cherry tomatoes were added to the pile.
"Spray a mix of garlic and cayenne chiles that have been steeped in water" was the next suggestion. So I boiled up some Ghost peppers, (I'm not messing around any more !) and some garlic in two cups of water. I strained it, let it cool, poured it into a spray bottle, donned safety glasses and gloves and sprayed the tomatoes, leaves, soil and for good measure the wooden planter sides too. I washed my hands well afterwards just in case! (20 years in the chile business taught me that !)
I was beginning to wonder why it was that all these people even thought that chipmunks actually have a sense of smell ? And why would they think that chipmunks specifically don't like the smell of garlic, or chile peppers ? There were no large tomatoes down the next morning, but the cherry tomatoes were definitely now next on the chipmunk hit list.
"Cat hair on the soil works every time" was the next suggestion. I brushed our sweet old cat and prepared to scatter cat hair all around the base. By now the garden needed water, so I watered the garden and reapplied coffee grounds and sprayed more chile pepper/garlic infused water on everything, and then carefully placed cat hair all around.
For a couple of hours there is no activity, but of course just when I think I have been successful, more chewed up tomatoes appear.
"Electric fence" is Rob's suggestion. After I calm down, I learn that he doesn't mean to electrocute them, but that we can devise one as a deterrent. I am not convinced that we can accurately figure out what sort of electric current would scare them without harming them so I go off to the store and buy Irish Spring soap instead. It was the latest suggestion in that gardening forum. For some reason I feel a need to tell the cashier it's not for me. "It's for the chipmunks" I think of saying, but somehow that doesn't sound right so I keep quiet.
I carve the soap up into small pieces, scatter some around the plants, rub it into the wooden planter sides, and place more pieces of it around the perimeter, and wait.
Twenty four hours later, the garden appears to be untouched. All I can smell in the area now is Irish Spring Soap though.
I keep garden notes each year to remind myself of successes and failures. I'm hopeful this last attempt is a success but I don't have high hopes. Regardless though I am already designing next year's garden to include a fence. Not an electric one, just a fence. Hardware cloth has been the most frequent suggestion.
I check back on the gardening forum. There is one more suggestion. "Take $50 and go buy tomatoes from a local farmer's market for the rest of the summer. And enjoy your cute little chipmunk".
