Dear Chipmunk(s), Fork You

 Like most gardeners, I get excited about things some people think are stupid.  If you're a gardener, you understand that these things aren't stupid.  If you're not, you look at people you know who are gardeners and say, "That's kind of stupid."

So, when the chipmunks dug up my corn and I decided to start the fourth batch at my house because chipmunks don't want to eat the stalks, just the dried kernel that is ever so tasty to them, I was excited.  On Sunday I planted them in a seeding medium and turned on the heat map designed for seeds.  On Monday I had corn sprouts.  By Tuesday, I could turn off the mat and take the dome off as they were pretty solid.  Wednesday they were out on the deck and Thursday afternoon, I put them in the garden.

To say this had me squeeing hard enough to make an anime fangirl look like a piker would be an understatement. There they were, standing tall in my three-sister box embracing the sun and soil with relief. If they could talk, I'm sure they would have sighed with delight and said, "We're home."

Yeah, I get it if you think it's stupid.  For me, it was truly exciting.

Friday morning, I stopped off at the garden to drop off some stuff for the composting bin and noticed one seedling had been attacked but the rest were fine.  OK, maybe the chipmunk tried one and was... yeah... no thanks.  There were people down there watering and weeding and tending to their plots, so I happily went off to do my food shopping and picked up a couple of boxes of compostable forks because my dahlias were under attack again.  Seems those furry rat bastards with the good PR firm really like to dig up Dahlia tubers and snack on them.  Someone suggested plastic forks make a good protective fence, so I picked some up at the store.

Because I headed downtown first, I was shocked to see almost all the corn dug up - but not eaten.  The roots were still there and strong.  New plan of attack.  I decided to replant the corn and then plant two boxes of plastic forks as their companion planting for the box.  I then walked over to the local dollar store and bought two more packs of forks, these ones are clear and plastic, to put around my dahlia and lily bulbs for protection.  I guess I'll know if that technique worked or not in the morning.

Today was a small work day for me.  I replaced the manky old trellis netting with fresh netting, pulled a few weeds, and planted biodegradable plant-based plastic substitute forks with my corn.

I found there is a three-foot-long garter snake in the garden.  I usually only see the one I call tiny snek because he's about a foot long and, aside from startling me every so often, is cute.  I'm hoping the big one decides the chipmunk would be a tasty meal and take care of the problem.  We'll see.  Someone suggested I use a white vinegar/salt solution to take care of my mint problem along the non-growing sides of things.  I'm seriously considering it.  So far I've learned that if I have it in a spray bottle that can do a targeted stream vs a misting spray, it could just get the ones along the fences and open spaces where I don't have beds.  I haven't decided yet or not, but if I pull one more freaking mint plant... well, let's just say, I'm seriously considering things.