Today I had my first tomato sandwich of the season made with a tomato from my backyard garden.  My plan to keep the squirrels out of my tomatoes is a success!  Ahhh, victory is sweet and tasty.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

N.C. Governor Bev Purdue is participating in the Plant a Row for the Hungry program again this summer.  There’s a beautiful crop of corn, squash, and beans in the garden patch outside the gates of  the governor’s mansion.  All of the extra produce grown on the inside of the gates is also donated to the program.  I hope to have enough tomatoes to participate along with the governor this summer!

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Enough is enough.  I’m serious about keeping my tomatoes this year.  All these hungry squirrels that are lining up are so out of luck.

The contraption that I’ve designed to protect my tomatoes is in place.  If all goes according to plan, I should have bushels of tomatoes this year gracing my table and to share with friends and neighbors and Plant a Row for the Hungry.  I don’t think we’ll even have to contend with those nasty little holes that the birds drill in the tomatoes, either.

Check this out.  I have tomatoes ripening undisturbed.  No way the squirrels are winning this round.  But I’ll keep you posted.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Sorry, squirrels!

I’ve concocted a plan to keep the squirrels out of my tomatoes this summer. I’ve started putting my contraption together, but since I don’t have any ripe fruit yet for them to steal, I haven’t been in any hurry to complete my brilliant project.

Today, however, the squirrels are mocking my efforts.  Now the gloves are off.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Squirrel on top of the post by my tomatoes

Here’s a look at how things turned out with Governor Bev Perdue’s participation in the Plant a Row for the Hungry program.  These beauties were harvested shortly before the holidays.

The governor's cabbage patch

The governor's cabbage.

In addition to the regular kitchen garden on the grounds of the governor’s mansion here in Raleigh, Governor Bev Perdue has planted extra collard greens and cabbage as part of the Plant a Row for the Hungry national campaign.

Have you heard about this program? Plant a Row started in 1995 and  encourages gardeners to plant an extra row of vegetables in their gardens and then donate the produce to local food agencies and soup kitchens.  American gardeners have donated more than 14 million pounds of food as part of this grassroots effort.  And it was all started by one guy.  What a story!

That’s Life in Raleigh.

So today I pulled up most of my tomato plants.  Well, I pulled all of them up except for the cherry tomatoes, even though it’s still the middle of summer here and my plants still looked great.  My stress levels should drop now that I no longer have to worry about my tomato plants.

I planted an even dozen tomato plants in this year’s expanded backyard garden.  For all of my efforts, we were rewarded with a grand total of two tomatoes on our plates from the garden this summer.  Even those two tomatoes were not hole-free, thanks to the birds.

I have waged a backyard battle all summer long against the squirrels and the birds.  I tried many things.  When I put nets over the plants, the creatures went under the nets or just pecked and munched in spite of the nets.  I hung aluminum pie plates in the garden, but that didn’t frighten anything away.  I put up a plastic owl, but once again nothing was frightened away.  I tried leaving the half-eaten tomatoes hanging on the vine so that the creatures could return to those and leave the others alone.  All these efforts were in vain.

The squirrels in my yard have become quite talented at running with tomatoes in their mouths.  They can climb trees while a tomato half their weight hangs from their jaws.  Oftentimes, however, they are quite content to devour their loot at our picnic table!  They seem to love tomatoes at any stage of ripeness.  Green, red, it’s all good to the squirrels and the birds.  I can’t forget the birds!  They’re relentless in their pursuit of my tomatoes, too.  Who knew that even robins prefer tomatoes to what they usually find on the ground?

So now we’ll have to be content with cherry tomatoes–(why don’t they like the little ones?!?!)–habanero! peppers, and some eggplant.

That’s Life in Raleigh.

Squirrel carrying away one of my tomatoes.

Squirrel feasting on one of my tomatoes.