In the blink of an eye...
It looks like we've had our last cold snap, so I was moving some of my seedlings out to the cold frame for hardening off. I planned to transplant some of my early tomatoes into larger pots, and I set them on the potting table as I carried the others out back to the cold frame. As we came back from the back yard, we being the Puppies O'Thunder and me, we startled a large black and white Tom that insists on courting my 16 year old, spayed-for-fifteen-years, cat. He dashed under the car, then scrambled across the potting table and over the fence. I could only watch in horror as he kicked the tray with my early tomatoes in it off the table, and it landed upside down on the ground. Almost all the seedlings are broken just above the soil line. Out of twenty four early tomatoes, I know have six, and one of those might not make it. I buried the damaged part of the stem, but it was droopy this morning. Two and a half months of tending and scheming and delighting in even tiny increments of growth, and it's almost all gone in the blink of an eye. Oh, it's not really the cat's fault, he's just doing what cats do; but if I could find the owner that allows an unneutered cat to roam free, I'd throttle them. Penelope -- "Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart." "ElissaAnn" |
In the blink of an eye...
On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 09:41:16 -0500, Penelope Periwinkle
wrote: It looks like we've had our last cold snap, so I was moving some of my seedlings out to the cold frame for hardening off. I planned to transplant some of my early tomatoes into larger pots, and I set them on the potting table as I carried the others out back to the cold frame. As we came back from the back yard, we being the Puppies O'Thunder and me, we startled a large black and white Tom that insists on courting my 16 year old, spayed-for-fifteen-years, cat. He dashed under the car, then scrambled across the potting table and over the fence. I could only watch in horror as he kicked the tray with my early tomatoes in it off the table, and it landed upside down on the ground. Almost all the seedlings are broken just above the soil line. Out of twenty four early tomatoes, I know have six, and one of those might not make it. I buried the damaged part of the stem, but it was droopy this morning. Two and a half months of tending and scheming and delighting in even tiny increments of growth, and it's almost all gone in the blink of an eye. Oh, it's not really the cat's fault, he's just doing what cats do; but if I could find the owner that allows an unneutered cat to roam free, I'd throttle them. How sad and frustrating. I, too, had a cat problem a couple of weeks ago but not anywhere near as serious as yours. Despite advice to the contrary (too late) I planted peas. I'm using the tomato cages for them to climb on. Shortly after I'd planted there was this little orange cat out there digging in the good dirt to do the other thing that cats do. I scatted it away, poked the seeds that had been heaped to the top back down in the dirt. Next day there was the danged cat again happily digging away again. Poke, poke again with the now germinated peas. I finally got some chicken wire to cover the pea plot. It was pretty funny watching the cat the first time s/he came around to use the facilities after I'd put the wire down. Very puzzled cat. Sue Penelope |
In the blink of an eye...
In article ,
Sue wrote: On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 09:41:16 -0500, Penelope Periwinkle wrote: It looks like we've had our last cold snap, so I was moving some of my seedlings out to the cold frame for hardening off. I planned to transplant some of my early tomatoes into larger pots, and I set them on the potting table as I carried the others out back to the cold frame. As we came back from the back yard, we being the Puppies O'Thunder and me, we startled a large black and white Tom that insists on courting my 16 year old, spayed-for-fifteen-years, cat. He dashed under the car, then scrambled across the potting table and over the fence. I could only watch in horror as he kicked the tray with my early tomatoes in it off the table, and it landed upside down on the ground. Almost all the seedlings are broken just above the soil line. Out of twenty four early tomatoes, I know have six, and one of those might not make it. I buried the damaged part of the stem, but it was droopy this morning. Two and a half months of tending and scheming and delighting in even tiny increments of growth, and it's almost all gone in the blink of an eye. Oh, it's not really the cat's fault, he's just doing what cats do; but if I could find the owner that allows an unneutered cat to roam free, I'd throttle them. How sad and frustrating. I, too, had a cat problem a couple of weeks ago but not anywhere near as serious as yours. Despite advice to the contrary (too late) I planted peas. I'm using the tomato cages for them to climb on. Shortly after I'd planted there was this little orange cat out there digging in the good dirt to do the other thing that cats do. I scatted it away, poked the seeds that had been heaped to the top back down in the dirt. Next day there was the danged cat again happily digging away again. Poke, poke again with the now germinated peas. I finally got some chicken wire to cover the pea plot. It was pretty funny watching the cat the first time s/he came around to use the facilities after I'd put the wire down. Very puzzled cat. Sue Good solution. ;-) Works against squirrels too. -- Peace, Om. "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson |
In the blink of an eye...
On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 12:22:50 -0600, OmManiPadmeOmelet
wrote: In article , Sue wrote: On Wed, 29 Mar 2006 09:41:16 -0500, Penelope Periwinkle wrote: It looks like we've had our last cold snap, so I was moving some of my seedlings out to the cold frame for hardening off. I planned to transplant some of my early tomatoes into larger pots, and I set them on the potting table as I carried the others out back to the cold frame. As we came back from the back yard, we being the Puppies O'Thunder and me, we startled a large black and white Tom that insists on courting my 16 year old, spayed-for-fifteen-years, cat. He dashed under the car, then scrambled across the potting table and over the fence. I could only watch in horror as he kicked the tray with my early tomatoes in it off the table, and it landed upside down on the ground. Almost all the seedlings are broken just above the soil line. Out of twenty four early tomatoes, I know have six, and one of those might not make it. I buried the damaged part of the stem, but it was droopy this morning. Two and a half months of tending and scheming and delighting in even tiny increments of growth, and it's almost all gone in the blink of an eye. Oh, it's not really the cat's fault, he's just doing what cats do; but if I could find the owner that allows an unneutered cat to roam free, I'd throttle them. How sad and frustrating. I, too, had a cat problem a couple of weeks ago but not anywhere near as serious as yours. Despite advice to the contrary (too late) I planted peas. I'm using the tomato cages for them to climb on. Shortly after I'd planted there was this little orange cat out there digging in the good dirt to do the other thing that cats do. I scatted it away, poked the seeds that had been heaped to the top back down in the dirt. Next day there was the danged cat again happily digging away again. Poke, poke again with the now germinated peas. I finally got some chicken wire to cover the pea plot. It was pretty funny watching the cat the first time s/he came around to use the facilities after I'd put the wire down. Very puzzled cat. Sue Good solution. ;-) I'm wondering if unaged cat manure is of any use. :o) Works against squirrels too. No squirrels around here. Sue |
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