Vanquishing the Killer Rabbit

I went to the garden this week with a strategy in mind. When I was getting my seeds, I had a look at protective coverings. My intent was to do battle with descendants of the killer rabbit of Caerbannog.

At least my rabbits only kill vegetables.

Those of you who have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail (if you haven’t I recommend you do; I laughed helplessly throughout it.) know that Tim the Enchanter took Arthur and his knights to the cave of the awful beast. The knights were unimpressed and unobservant (“Look at the bones! That rabbit is vicious!”) and thus slaughtered. Since I am tired of having my lettuces, carrot tops, beet greens, radish tops and assorted other young crops devoured, I ordered three different kinds of covers. One is a simple chicken wire cloche. I planted radishes underneath and pinned it down with garden cloth staples.

This can be set up in a variety of ways, as a row cover or a cover for a taller plant.

The other cover claims to be an “accelerator,” meaning, that things planted early can be protected underneath. Rain also comes right through this. It has zippers at the ends to make it stand upright and folds neatly flat when not in use. I got this and the Cloche from Gardener’s Supply. I planted beets under this one.

This reminds me of camping gear.

The third one is a nifty hoop and fleece cover contraption, eight feet long. I hope that I can use it in the fall and winter as well. It has a nice drawstring to make the cloth tight. I was pleased with how easy it was to set up since the fleece is attached to the hoops already. This is sheltering spinach and a row of carrots. Let’s see what happens!

Here they are, accelerator on the left and hoops and fleece on the right.

I also harvested some of my lettuces from the cold frame. They were infested with either aphids of white fly, but they were drowned in the washing. I left the cold frame open as it has been so warm, and planted a row of arugula and a row of kale, neither of which are tasty to the rabbit. Who knows if I will be victorious! If not, at least I’ve got some good row cover for the fall.

No greens to purchase this week. If you look closely, you’ll see one of the varmints at the bottom of the top lettuce leaf…