Invasion of the Caterpillars!

Just in case you think my mantra is "all bugs must die!" I submit exhibit A:

Every fall my garden becomes a larval nursery for some Swallowtail butterflies. They like dill and parsley. This year they found my carrots and parsnips.

It doesn't take long for them to do some damage.

Just working their way from one end of the bed to the other. Voracious little eaters, too!

Good news - the growing points on the carrots and parsnips are still in tact, so they will sprout new leaves within a day or so. Bad news, the caterpillars have eaten away all of their camouflage, so it won't be long until the birds discover a caterpillar buffet in this raised bed.

Kitty deterrents

My cats love my garden.

Curley in the sweet potatoes

They think it makes a great napping spot.

Mo in the peppers

They also think freshly planted raised beds make great litter boxes. They are outdoor cats, but apparently the soft soil in the raised beds is more appealing than the bedded horse stalls and loose dirt in the pasture.

As a result, it's not uncommon for me to have shallow-planting seedlings popping up outside of their prescribed rows, if they pop up at all (because they got buried).

I've tried a few deterrents over the years. First I used step-in posts and and attached netting. It worked for a few days, but soon the kitties figured out where to squeeze under the netting to get inside. By the way, this is also useless against chickens intent on devouring every little green thing poking out of the ground. But that's a story for another day. And as kitties become fond of the texture of the fluffy loamy soil it's like a thrilling and rewarding obstacle course.

First attempt, back when I first put in the raised beds. 2013?

I moved on to stronger physical barriers. Lattice works well - first I started with some scrap lattice from a trellis I took down when I moved in. Unfortunately those pieces eventually rotted and fell apart but I got a new sheet to replace it. Beds are 8x4, lattice comes in 8x4 sheets, coincidence? I think not.

The nice thing about the lattice is that you can still water without lifting it, and the sun can get through to help warm the soil. Seedlings can still pop up too, though once they start breaking through I usually take some scrap 2x4 or 2x6 wood and build up the corners to give them more space. I've used empty soup cans scrounged from my recycling bin too. A sheet of lattice this big and you will need some center supports - I usually plan my rows to have an open space in the middle for this reason.

And best of all - the holes aren't big enough for the cats to get through! However, if you prop it up too high the devious one will still try to get under there.

Built up with 2x6s and she still can only sit on top and watch.

I've also repurposed my shade cloth and hoop structures for some of my other beds. This one came in handy when I was starting carrots and parsnips. Those seeds are planted in very shallow rows and risk drying out if you don't water the soil enough. In this case the shade cloth served double duty - keep the cats out and protect the soil from evaporative moisture loss. For this water trough bed I used baling twine and a short bungee cord to secure the "skirt" on it.

In smaller spaces where I'm planting seeds between existing plants I've found this neat tool. They are called "Cat Scat Mats" and are available from Gardeners Supply. Also helpful for keeping cats out of pots and planters. I just wish they were a little bigger so they would cover more surface area in the raised beds. The nice thing about these is the spacing allows the seedlings to get a good start. Just need to take them out before the plant leaves get too big to easily pull through.

Cat Scat Mats from Gardeners Supply

As for the other new plantings, I'm not as worried. Potatoes are pretty tough at withstanding cat bathroom habits.