Amongst humans “square foot gardening” is a big hit. It involves packing a lot of veggie plants into a small space. It is great for folks who don’t have a big yard or community garden plot. We chipmunks aren’t really big fans of all that “rabbit food” you humans grow – lettuce, kale, brussel sprouts. We prefer something a bit heartier like sunflower seeds. I know many of my fellow critters live in urban neighborhoods without much space to grow a sunflower garden. I wanted to introduce you to square foot gardening chipmunk style. All you need is a bundle of firewood and a pack of seeds.
Clear a patch of ground by removing the weeds. Spread out a thin layer of compost if you’ve got it.
Arrange your logs in a square. I got some assistance from Bushy with moving the logs.
Load up your cheek pouches with seeds and wiggle your way between the logs.
Then plant your seeds between the logs.
Why use the logs? It prevents the birds from eating your seeds.
They can’t reach down between the logs.
Look my first sprout!
You will need to tend your garden. The plants will need regular watering and the occasional weeding.
I like to mulch my plants with sunflower seed shells to reduce the amount of weeding needed.
I planted my square foot sunflower woodpile garden back in June. From those tiny sprouts, the sunflowers are now eight feet tall with huge flowers!
My amazing success unfortunately attracted the attention of the notorious Goldfinch gang who started eating the sunflowers before they even finished ripening. I grab my cell phone and started playing the call of the Sharp Shinned Hawk, which likes to prey on small birds. The Goldfinch gang scattered to the four winds in seconds and never came back.
No comments:
Post a Comment