Juli Lawrence – Rakish Gardening

July 2nd, 2009

Boy, we just had a huge gullywasher. Yesterday we had hail, although it was small. The weather guy said they got some the size of golf balls on the north side of the island, but missed me.

Hubby put this nifty little pocket video camera in my Easter basket, and I’ve been taking videos but haven’t yet had the time to edit and upload. I’m anxious to post video of this crazy straw bale garden.

Unfortunately, we also have a new groundhog. I’m sure he’ll be every bit as cute as Holtsville Hal, which is a problem for me. Tony’s uncle has humane traps, and came and set one, but it’s been three days and still no Hal. Last year we also had a groundhog that dug under the front deck. One day came home to this crazy pile of dirt, and I thought the cable company had been digging for cables. But then I thought, under the front deck??? No, was a groundhog. So Uncle Renzo came over and set a trap and that groundhog was caught in ten minutes! But it wasn’t garden season, and I guess he was hungry.

That groundhog was sent to witness protection in the country. He was just adorable, even though he had rat teeth. Here’s last year’s groundhog:

Now we have a new groundhog, and he ate his way through my neighbor’s garden. I caught my neighbor at the end of our drive with a bow and arrow, getting ready to shoot. So I discussed with the neighbor and our deal was this: if he sees the groundhog in his garden again, he’ll shoot, but if Uncle R can catch him in a trap, that’s fine.

Today, however, my perspective has changed. The groundhog ate my corno di toro peppers. And a baby eggplant! You mess with my peppers and eggplants, and I get mad.

But I still don’t want Holtsville Hal shot with a bow and arrow. I’d prefer the relocation program.

Tomorrow I will apply the compost tea I made. It really stinks.

• Groundhog day on Long Island

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