I've been watching the original six corn plants grow. Slowly, they started to tassel out at the top. Then the little pink hairs started to form where the corn cobs were going to grow. And lo and behold, there were corn cobs starting.
I've watched them get fatter and fatter. They were getting so close to being ready. And then the rains came.
After a couple of days of heavy rain, I noticed that a couple of stalks had fallen over after each one. Cursing the storms, I just looked longingly at the other cobs growing.
Then, in the middle of a rare 2-3 day stretch with no rain, I noticed that another stalk had gone down. Upon closer examination, I realized that some little bugger had nibbled down the stalk and swiped the corn.
There was one stalk left with two cobs growing. The little pink hairs were almost brown, but not quite. The cobs were firm, yet not quite firm enough. I was waiting with baited breath.
And today, they are both gone.
I don't know whether to laugh, cry, scream, swear or what.
I've been trying to figure out what has been eating them. At first I thought perhaps the deer that randomly showed up in the city and ate my tulips this spring had returned. But I've not heard of nor seen it around lately.
Now, I'm blaming it on the squirrels. As entertaining as they are to watch scurrying around in the tree, they are slowly but surely making my crops disappear. I've watched them playing with my tomatoes. And I noticed that the stalks have been dragged down the sidewalk a bit in the direction of the tree. It's gotta be them. And it would make sense, being corn and all.
I also have been noticing that not a single squash has grown. I had purchased a plant with numerous flowers on it, thinking it looked like a prolific producer. Every time it looks like the flower is about to turn into a vegetable, something eats it. Same thing on my other pot.
I also have a huge strawberry that was starting to ripen. When I went looking for it today, it was also gone.
I'm so sad.
And I'm holding out hope for the other corn plants, but not holding my breath. Now to figure out what to do differently for next year.......
Oh, man... Dang. I know this happened a couple years ago, but yeah squirrels always attack my corn too. One year cayenne pepper and onion powder kept them away. But, not last year with all the rain.
ReplyDeleteLast july i got creative and tied the cobbs to the stalk when they were about to ripen. The squirrels ate all the ones that were not tied, but left all the ones tied with string alone. :D haha!