The Gardener's Rake

Elmer Fudd Gardening 101 – What’s Happening?

Gardening sounds so easy and most of the time it is, but once in a while strange things happen.

I call this Elmer Fudd Gardening. Why? Well, poor Elmer had his hands full tackling that rabbit named Bugs and it seems other little things popped up that made life interesting. Gardening can be a lot like this at times.

I remember my second year gardening. For some reason I could not get my cucumber plants to grow. I went through five seed packets, followed the directions on the back of the package but I had no plants. It was a little early in the spring and I thought I might be pushing the cucumber season. They do like warmer weather to start growing.

I read a few gardening books and then I realized, my tender plants were being snipped off at night by bugs. They come out after dusk and chew the plants off right at the soil line. Sure enough, after checking, I had little cucumber plant stems in my garden.

I solved this problem by covering my seedlings as soon as they were staring to pop out of the ground with terra cotta pots. The pots protected my plants and even kept them a little warmer at night, just in case my zone 5 climate decided to have a cool night.
Since I started using terra cotta pots in my garden I have not lost one plant. I also think the pots scare away rabbits and over small wild animals.

What garden challenges have you had?

Tags: Elmer Fudd gardening, problems when gardening,

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Denise

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3 responses to “Elmer Fudd Gardening 101 – What’s Happening?”

  1. hedgewitch

    I remember Elmer Fudd, lol!

    And the cucumber story made me smile. I think I am probably someone who learns things the hard way, too.. though I’m not sure there is any other way with gardening? I have several extremely experienced and knowledgeable gardeners amongst my acquaintance, but there is still no substitute for learning by trial and error myself. And when this makes me feel a bit Elmer Fudd, I find that when I ask around everyone has their own Elmer Fudd stories!

    I’ll just share one .. a few years back I spent a summer carefully tending my first ever squash plant. Think it was a pumpkin. I visited it every day, made sure it had enough water and light, fed it, removed any problem leaves and generally nurtured it. In response to this attention, it dutifully began to grow a lovely squash. I was so excited! I would check on it every day and it got bigger each time I looked until it was bigger than a tennis ball and looking good.

    What did I have to learn the hard way? When the squash gets to a certain weight it has to be supported from below (they naturally lie on the ground).. because mine was in a container, it dangled over the edge and when the weight got too much it dropped off and rolled down the roof to where I found it … in the gutter! Won’t ever be making that mistake again!

  2. Denise

    Yes, experience is the best garden teacher. Sharing stories help too, but many times I have not used a tip I was given until too late.

    I grow a lot of gourds and they get too heavy for the vines. I use panty hose to keep them secured to the vines and distribute the weight.

    Thanks for your story and your site is great! I really enjoy it. Denise

  3. Donald

    That kwazy wabbit!

    Mine was cats but chicken wire took care of the problem. Thanks for the tip on the terra cotta pots. My lettuce seedlings are just starting out and I think I will use them this week with the cold rain coming.

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