So then, a year went by

Too busy to keep the blog updated, but I will say that I did plant again this year, and I incorporated lessons from last year's pilot crop.

This year there's only one type of corn (Silver Queen), and the crop has been staggered to spread the harvest out. Also, I gave up on gravity-fed irrigation, and ran a hose to the roof with drip irrigation and timers.

Corn's looking good!

Boom. Take That, Rodent.

If necessity is the mother of invention, PVC is its basic cell structure. You can do almost anything with it. It's cheap, sturdy, easily sawable, etc.

Only a few hours after discovering my corn's demise, I have a squirrel baffle in place:

Shown: PVC. Not shown: chicken wire, elbow fittings, staple gun.

Support posts. 

Cross bracing. 

Complete! 

The top panels are removable for access. They are held on with the green wire, which is gardening "training wire." I basically "sewed" the top and side panels together with it, but the wire can quickly be removed like a "zip-strip" when I need to get in there. The bottoms of the side panels are stapled to the box. If you remember the ledges I created when the box was put together, you can now see how they are supporting the corner pieces.

The whole thing will cut the sunlight a little bit, but it will only be on until the stalks are 2 feet tall, and by then, I will have to build something larger to defend against wind anyway.

Total cost: 2 hours, $41. And I finished in time for one of my hometown's signature events, The Preakness!

To paraphrase Bill Murray (badly), Au revoir, squirrel.

Imprisoned, but also protected. 

When Squirrels Attack

3/8 of my tomato plants were severed Wednesday and/or Thursday night, and I suspected cutworm, one of the few natural enemies of tomatoes. Although that would seem unlikely, since the planters are self-contained and on the roof.

My roof-farming neighbor (with the pools) suggested squirrels might be the culprits.

Squirrels? What would squirrels care for tomatoes? Or corn, for that matter?

Yes, corn as well. I went up to the roof today to find half my little cornstalks had been nibbled away. Grrrr!

N00b. I should have realized that city-slicking squirrels don't really care if it's food or not. They just want to maraud.

So now I have to replant a few things. I'm pretty sure the tomato plants are shot, but fortunately I have a few seedlings left, and the rest I'll start from scratch and hope for a late harvest. The corn, I'll give a couple days to see if it recovers.

And more importantly, I have to build a squirrel baffle. Fast. Which is really not something I'd planned for.

If you look closely, you can see the tomato stem to the left of the upper leaf.

This is the same cornstalk that looked so joyous on Thursday. 

If You Plant It....

... It Will Grow

The largest corn sprout, a Silver Queen.

They're all becoming more visible. 

First Big Setback

I had a few days where I didn't access the backyard planter because we had guests downstairs. It rained in that time, which was good for the roof, but bad for my lettuces. Under the wet plastic sheeting, they, and the rosemary, all began to rot. The cucumber seems okay.

Today I pulled off all the sheeting and planted all my seedling herbs.  I'll give the damaged plants a few days to see if they recover; if not, I'll re-plant.

8 for 8

Hard to see in this pic, but I confirmed all 8 seeds now have sprouts showing above the soil. 

First Sign of Corn!

Checked on the corn planter tonight, and the very first sprout is shooting up! Hooray!

Gimme some sun!