This photograph is from the end of September, the day that my Edible Landscaping class took all these seedlings, both in the greenhouse and on shelves and tables outside, and planted them out in our garden. (Did I tell you about the new greenhouse at school? It’s excellent.) There are always so many seedlings that there are extras for the students to take home and plant in their own gardens, and then for a few weeks there are a few stray seedlings in the greenhouse just waiting for a taker - maybe someone from another class, or the garden club. But finally, when I’m sure the ones left are definitely up for grabs, I bring them home. It always yields an interesting assortment of things, some I would have definitely planted on my own (broccoli, cauliflower, turnip) and some I probably wouldn’t have (mustard greens, always there are a ton of mustard greens… not my favorite, but good in small doses, and also for the chickens). I reserved my two 4x4 beds for this purpose, and planted them out the third week of October.
And then, suddenly, they started disappearing. Just the leaves - and not the mustard leaves, no, just the brassica leaves. Very weird. I thought, well, the snails are back (we had one very light rain), or maybe it’s birds. I went to a local nursery and bought a bunch of cabbage seedlings, four different kinds. Tom and I like a leafy salad that also has some crunchy things in it, and cabbage fits the bill. I planted them out and then spread netting over the beds, figuring job done.
But every morning, I’d go out and one or two would be eaten. Pretty soon, not much was left, and I was frustrated. It’s getting towards the time, here in Nor Cal, that the nights are getting very chilly and even though the soil is still warm and the days are sunny and in the 60s, the plants aren’t going to do much growing, or even get their roots firmly established by the time true winter sets in. So I asked Tom to place the wildlife camera IN the bed, at soil level, to see what was eating the greens.
I guess I didn’t know that rats would eat my garden. Or maybe was just naive, or maybe just hopeful. I’ve certainly never had this issue before. I mean, tomatoes, sure. But never the greens. The rats usually stick to the birdseed that has fallen from the feeder, or the scattered chicken food, or the odds and ends in the compost bin.
Anyway, I knew that it was time to change tactics. I planted two kinds of onion in this particular bed instead (“Candy,” and “Cabernet”) and netted it more tightly with the sides clamped down. Rats, of course, can tunnel under beds, just like voles (one of our tough customers at school), but hopefully the combination of alliums and netting will do the trick. Just in case they don’t, Tom has set traps all over the place by the bed in question. Hopefully, we’ll have lots of dead rats in the coming days.
Reminder - the rats we have in our neck of the woods are either roof rats, or Norway rats, both of which are non-native and invasive, and taking a few out of commission won’t even put a dent in the population. Normally I do not encourage killing any kind of wildlife, but this is one species it’s ok to target. However, I would never use poison on rats, because that would then kill their predators (opossums, owls, hawks), and that would upset the balance of the ecosystem. The traps we set are snap traps and kill the rats as quickly and humanely as possible.
Perhaps this is a good time to review Integrated Pest Management (IPM) best practices. I use the definition set by University of California Agricultural and Natural Resources: “IPM is an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties.”
credit: UCANR
Note that chemical control is the absolute last resort, and even then it’s done very carefully and mindfully.
So - we’ll see what happens with these two 4x4 beds where the rats have been feasting. I’m hoping my cultural, physical and mechanical controls (plus any biological control that would like to visit my garden - I’m talking to you, barn owl!) will help keep my crops safe, so we have a winter of good eating.