It seems I have been slacking on the blogging a bit, many apologies. I have not, however, been slacking in the yard or working on our goal of a permacultured urban homestead. As my previous post states, I have been making an effort to do at least one thing every day having to do with nature. This past week has been filled with planting bulbs, a little yard cleanup, gathering seeds for storage, trying recipes for seed bombs and getting the winter greens started. We also now have 3 pollinated cucurbits (two butternut and a pumpkin) growing quite nicely, protected from the voracious squirrels.
Quite the bane of my existence lately, those squirrels. I have to say I have been really struggling with my feelings about the squirrels. They ate almost all of the squash blossoms this year, dug up countless seeds and seedlings, peed on me, chewed right through the stems of a few plants but did not take the bounty and, just yesterday, stole my gardening gloves and ripped of half of one finger and part of another. There is a mated pair who live in one of the trees that hang over our yard. We actually have no trees in our yard, sad to say, but thankfully the neighbors have quite a few. The squirrels seem to have taken a liking to our yard more than any of our neighbors though, I suspect it's because we are actually growing edible plants. There are very few gardens in our part of the neighborhood, and the few neighbors I've talked to with gardens have all told me about the squirrels raiding their's as well.
Some days I am quite angry with them for eating the plants. We have worked so hard to bring life into this yard and seeing them destroy it can be rather heart wrenching. I can also see how the squirrels see our yard as a buffet, easy pickings to get those much needed calories. I have been putting out seeds, fruit that should be composted and water for them, yet they stil raid the flowers. A few of the moms I know have said they trapped the squirrels in their yard and drove them out to the mountains. They also talk about pellet guns, and though there are days I have fleeting thoughts about their demise I could never go through with any course of action that would harm them. The squirrels have made their home, which just happens to be right outside our yard and no matter how crazy they drive me, it is their home. Personally I think the whole trap and release thing is silly, not to mention a waste of energy. Trapping the squirrels that are here now will do nothing about the squirrels in the future. The best course of action is to find a way to live in harmony with the wildlife.
The ridiculous lack of diversity in the ecosystem around here is much more of a problem than the squirrels, and really that is a major factor in creating the squirrel pest problem. When all the yards are lawn, sumac and ornamentals there are very few food crops the wild animals can enjoy, which drives them to consume all the food crops they do find. If every house in our neighborhood had at least one animal friendly food crop, I think the squirrels would cease to be "pests", instead they would become more like gardeners, ensuring that the crops stay healthy and don't over do themselves with production. Garden pests are only a problem if there is a lack of diversity, the stronger the eco-system the less impact any one creature will make. Now all I have to do is convince my neighbors to start gardening, that shouldn't be to hard, right?
Oh and one more thing, some woodpeckers have built a nest hole in the tree that is almost in our front yard. It's so neat to see them hopping around the yard in the morning, feasting on the plethora of ants around here. I can't wait to see if they have little babies in the spring. Yay!
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