Disaster! Our giant pumpkin seeds haven’t germinated. We’ll have to go back to the Farmers’ market and buy more seeds so we can try again. My father’s seeds have, of course, sprouted and are growing busily. I’ve no idea what went wrong, but all we have are little punnets of dirt.
And even worse, since our little dog died we’ve been over run with cats. Scotty used to enjoy chasing them and they knew not to enter our section. No longer. One particular cat called Austin has taken to doing his business in Mr. Munro’s vegetable garden. Understandably this makes Mr. Munro very cranky. The steps to deter Austin have gradually grown more determined. It’s Austin v Mr. Munro and what Austin lacks in size, he makes up in intelligence.
Hubby’s latest strategy is to cover his garden with netting, and he’s also set up a sprinkler system. I have strict instructions that the moment I see Austin near the garden I’m to creep to the tap and turn it on full force. Luckily Austin wears a bell and my hearing is good. We had our first run in yesterday. I heard Austin’s bell and headed straight for the tap. Unfortunately he wasn’t in the garden so he didn’t get wet with the sprinkler, but I did give him a fright.
Yes–it’s the Munros v Austin. And so far, we’re losing.
Does anyone have any tips to deter an adventurous cat?
Well, I have no advice on any cat theories, but I do have a funny pumpkin seed story that I thought of while reading this.
Every Halloween, my husband carves 4 pumpkins for the kids. He cuts the top off and then the kids get to pull out all of the “guts.” My hubby likes to eat the seeds, so we save them off to the side so I can clean and then bake them. Once the kids were done cleaning the pumpkins, off to the bathroom they go to wash up to get all of the stuff off and then back to the table to finish the carving. I did not supervise the washing or going into the bathroom, they can manage, right?
So, fast forward about a week or so, and I go into said bathroom, and start to clean it up when I notice in the sink what would appear to be something green stuck in there. I try to pull out the stopper with no success, because whatever is in the sink has taken hold. I holler for my mister fix it man, who comes in and gets the stopper out…along with the pumpkin seeds that have sprouted!! And of course no one did it. We have a ghost, or imaginary friends, that do a lot of things in this house, but never one of the kids! So yes, last year I had pumpkins that were trying to grow in the bathroom sink.
I think that this year I will watch those little stinkers of mine and make sure that they don’t steal any seeds and plant them somewhere that it might take me a little longer to find them!!
Amy M
ROFLMAO! Man I needed that. Thanks girl.
I’d love to try and grow pumpkins. But not in the bathroom sink! LOL What a great story. :mrgreen:
Hmm. Thwarting a cat.
You’re asking the wrong woman. Although I’ve got two cats, mine are Devon Rex. There is no thwarting a Devon. Ever.
Amy M – well! That’s obviously where we’re going wrong. We need to plant our seeds in the bathroom sink!
Susan – Austin must be related to your cats then. I watched him watching me from the next door neighbors roof. I swear he was smirking. :eek:
Amy M, that’s just too funny. At least the kiddies didn’t plant the seeds up their nose like mine did one year. lol
Hmmm, getting rid of a pesky cat. If it has a bell on, does it belong to someone? I would let the owner know and complain about the cat coming in your yard to do it’s business.
Love the story! But I have no advice about cats, hon. Sorry!
Someone told me if you sprinkle red pepper around your plants they won’t bother them. They get the red pepper on their paws and when they lick them it’s hot and they don’t like it. You might try it, I don’t think it will hurt anything.
I agree with Linda Henderson about the red pepper or cayenne pepper (I guess they are the same).
Years ago, my grandmother kept finding twists (those paper covered wire “thingies” you find in the produce section to tie up your bags) on the kitchen floor. (She kept them in an open container on the kitchen table.
One day she caught the cat on the table, smacking one of the twists out of the container, throwing it in the air and landing on the floor! She started sprinkling the pepper on the table and the cat stayed off…
:grin:
Shelley,
Here’s an idea…you need to write a children’s book about Austin :grin: I’m dead serious…It’ll be hilarious as you describe all the way your hubby will try and dissuade the cats from attacking the garden.
Happy Reading!!!
Anna Shah Hoque
[email protected]
I have never heard of anything growing in a sink, that is so coooool. Its got to be about being downunder (right word?).
I have four cats. I love them all. three of them try to get out side all the time. the baby, Sammie, likes that. If they are gone she has me to herself.
Good Luck to Mr. Munro. Humans rarely win over cats. I know.
Mary – yes, that’s on our list of things to do. The trouble is that most people let their pets roam free. Now if we had coyotes or owls or something that might change…
Helen – it’s a problem, that’s for sure!
Linda – thanks for this tip. Hubby is going to buy some packets of chilli powder tomorrow.
Tracey – I must pass this tip on to my sister as well. Her cats keep jumping up on the counter top. Thank you.
Anna – That’s actually a good idea. There’s a weekly radio show for kids over here called That’s The Story. Maybe I’ll write an Austin story for that.
Jo Ann – we’re going to try the chilli powder. That might work when combined with the surprise sprinkler system. Austin just needs a little retraining.