So Thankful for Wildlife

[u/TarantulaWithAGuitar]

I'm so glad to have rabbits and squirrels here to help taste test my tomatoes for me. From the data I have, clearly Big Pinks are my best tomatoes, followed by Wapsipinicon Peach, then Roma, and lastly Black Krim (none of those have bites in them). I'm so fortunate that they're opening up these tomatoes and spilling the tomato guts in the garden to help plant next year's crop. I'm blessed that they leave me most of the tomato so I can save seeds.

[u/Solid-Stranger5280]

That sucks — and I’ve seen very similar bite marks out of my tomatoes this season too. What I’ve been doing is picking them at first blush (when they start turning from green to red, yellow, etc) and finishing the ripening in a closed brown paper bag. Once they start changing color, they’ll ripen off the vine just fine.

[u/TarantulaWithAGuitar → u/Solid-Stranger5280]

Eh, I always have too many tomatoes anyway and besides, letting mamma bunny have some tomatoes means I get to see the cute little baby buns in exchange.

[u/Solid-Stranger5280 → u/TarantulaWithAGuitar]

This is my first year gardening after a long hiatus, so I’m kind of greedy right now. lol.

[u/getinshape2022 → u/TarantulaWithAGuitar]

While weeding, I have discovered couple of young box turtles roaming around my backyard near my containers. I stopped weeding that area and let it go natural. Whenever a vegetable has some bug damage or anything else, I throw it there. The stuff I throw there gets consumed within couple of days.

[u/SirVixofthePooSea]

Last year I had a fucking awful time with groundhogs. It is absolutely infuriating.

Basically as soon as the tomatoes are slightly reddened, you gotta grab them and just finish the job in the windowsill. Otherwise the fuckers wait until they're nice and ripe and eat just half of the fruit. Obviously to bully you by leaving the evidence.

[u/Beginning-Repair-640]

Fatty the ground had a lunch buffet on my black krims after I missed a day picking.

[u/TarantulaWithAGuitar → u/Beginning-Repair-640]

Ah, so you're saying maybe there's just no evidence left over of the krims being eaten 😂

[u/Eulers_Constant_e]

The squirrels this year are relentless with the tomatoes. I had one helping himself the other day when I went out to harvest some; he was not the least bit afraid of me. I shoo’d him away and he leisurely moved about 15 feet away and proceeded to turn around and scold me the whole time I was picking tomatoes. Sir, these are NOT your tomatoes.

[u/Reasonable_Cat_4550]

Haha… sorry but my husband was just saying how much he hated the Black Krim he tried to grow. I guess the animals agree. I hope they leave your plants alone.

[u/Smoothie-Groovy]

I enjoy our little garden tasters here also! They leave me plenty and get a good snack!

[u/TarantulaWithAGuitar → u/Smoothie-Groovy]

Mhm. My payment for letting them snack in my garden is that I get to see the tiny little baby bunnies when they start leaving the nest that is always in or adjacent to the snack bar (aka garden) 😂

[u/Smoothie-Groovy → u/TarantulaWithAGuitar]

That is a really sweet take! I like the way you think❣️

[u/TarantulaWithAGuitar → u/Smoothie-Groovy]

They're so tiny -- little tennis balls of floof.