Not So Marigolds - Another Faux Real Story

 After yesterday's story, I received some feedback that I thought would be worth sharing here.

First - there was a question about how Maurice took the story I told in yesterday's blog.  My direct reply was that Maurice was getting pretty sleepy.  Perhaps this was a bedtime story for him?  Though, if it were, I would have selected something a little less frightening from the tree perspective.  Our Weeping Willow's response was just a long, drawn out, "hmmmmmmmm."   

I was worried that, perhaps, he was upset with me, so I went out today.  Upon seeing me, he asked for another story.  And, it just so happens, a comment in yesterdays' blog ALSO asked for another story.

So, here you go!

Our desire to grow our gardens without chemicals has become stronger over the years, but we held this conviction even with our first garden in Burke, Wisconsin.  Tammy and I probably had a tendency to think this way already, but Tammy likes to point to the moment when we read the label for a popular pest control dust that was commonly used by gardeners.  It said something about NOT eating anything treated with the product for 48 hours (or something like that) and we both asked the question, "What sort of magic happens between hour 48 and 49?"

The answer?  Nothing special... the product would not just simply disappear because it was following label directions.  

Anyway, I tell you that little tidbit so I can tell you THIS story!

-------

Our landlords were kind and had a section of ground tilled up for our garden. We already knew that there were many rabbits in our area and we had nightmarish visions of our entire garden being mowed over by the 'evil' little critters. We didn't really have the money for fencing and we weren't anxious to spray a repellent or kill the bunnies. So, what to do?

Thus begins our first foray into companion planting. We had heard from somewhere (or someone) that marigolds were a good companion plant for vegetable crops. Why? We didn't know. But, when we also heard that rabbits did NOT like marigolds and would tend to avoid them, we formulated a plan.

It was a simple plan that would be the master stroke. It would solve all of our rodent problems! Let's go buy enough marigolds to circle our garden. Surely it would provide us with a natural fence that would keep the critters out, be a friend to our vegetables, AND look pretty as well!

 

In went the garden. Around it went the marigolds.  As we stood back to look at our handiwork, we came to realize that the were not all that big - now that you saw them in the ground. They were only 2 inches tall - most with a single marigold flower.  We had spread them out evenly on the border and watered them in well. 

 

In one day, we had planted our first garden, complete with a natural fence.  Even if that fence looked a little... well... inadequate.

 

But, hey!  Rabbits do NOT like marigolds!  We were sure we had put enough of them around the garden to do the job.  So we went inside, feeling quite pleased with ourselves.

Our first morning foray into the garden revealed our first gardening tragedy. The tiny peppers were fine. The little tomato plants were fine. The broccoli plants? Well, we lost a couple. The marigolds?

Every last marigold plant had been nipped just above ground level. And, the rest of the plants (with now wilted flowers) were neatly lying next to the stem. It was true. Rabbits do not like marigolds.

And they had just seen to their removal.