Theft in the patio garden!
Although they got a late start, the Rainbow Lacinato kale was coming along nicely. I even got one handful of a harvest on January 2nd. It had been growing well under a lightweight row cover cloth, but seeing as how we were forecast to have a week+ of sunshine I thought I’d take the row cover off to allow as much sunlight as possible.
I also decided to pull out the fish fertilizer to try to bump up the nutrients as much as possible… and then it happened!
On Thursday morning I woke up to find that the kale plant closest to my patio edge was stripped down to the stalk.
On Friday morning I woke up to find that the thief had been back overnight, but at least this time had mercy and left a leaf and the growing tip.
The consensus on Facebook is that this is some type of rodent (rabbit, raccoon) coming by to eat the yummy leaves during this cold snap we are having. I have a feeling the fish fertilizer was the attractant.
Since the second plant may have a fighting chance, I have placed a toilet paper tube around the base and replaced the row cover. Hopefully this will be enough to keep the thief away. If not, I will use the GoPro and conduct some surveillance!
On another note the beets are still surviving, but I have my doubts that they are actually making any edible roots. It makes me wonder if these are the Kestrel variety I thought I got or if they are actually Bull’s Blood, which are grown for salad greens and don’t really make bulbs.
