Dealing With Rodents in the Garden + Lessons in Small Scale Popcorning

[@timhammond4522]

Voles are the bane of northern gardens. No root crop is safe. The best solution I've found is growing in raised beds with hardware cloth bottoms.

[@classicrocklover5615]

I recently read this advice: older mice and rats are wise. They will let the young ones test and trigger a trap, then they will move in for the bait. SO - put a baited trap out, but do not set it. Allow the rodent to eat the bait out of an unset trap several times before finally setting it. The theory is to get the pest so used to just eating the bait without fear of it being set. Good luck!

[@ursamajor1936]

Ah, yes. It's now the season of reflection here in zone 4. Making assessments and starting the plans for 2025. In gardening, there's never a dull moment and always the anticipation of bigger and better.

[@kushscentedbeard]

Zone 6b here. About 3 weeks ago I didn't even want to clean my beds out but now I can't stop thinking about next season lol

[@MargiPrideaux-md7zn]

Farmer Jesse ... you are fantastic. I love the growers' daily format, and I have adopted your example and now take you into the garden every afternoon. So glad you've started this. It's brilliant. 🧡

[@ginkgodog2]

Rats ate my sweet potatoes. War has begun

[@ginkgodog2]

@ Yes I actually saw one when harvesting and trapped one

[@alana8088]

@@ginkgodog2the only way I could

[@bethhubbs9937]

Rats are jerks

[@valsalas666]

12:12 “great cooks though” 😂😂😂

[@songhavenfarm1747]

Agree with you on the dakota black popcorn. Favorite so far is Early Pink Popcorn from Azure Standard.

[@jdsw970]

I love this show, you rock Jessie !

[@devinsullivan7233]

My biggest pest problem right now is quail. I seeded 2- 30”x 50’ beds 4 weeks ago. One with carrots and the other one with spinach and arugula. I had great germination since I timed it just right with the weather. Quail came in and ate every single seedling. I seeded again a week later, and yep they came through and ate every single seedling again.

[@justinciallella4724]

I put my seedling tables up on 55 gallon plastic barrels. You can add water for thermal mass and rodents can't climb them.

[@joestatuto5287]

Thanks for the great podcast

[@baracu]

Voles!! I would love an intellectual approach to voles!! Some region have programs to reintroduce them, we have them occasionally in very healthy soil ….like my gardens …and the challenge to grow anything with a tap root is like wow…voles and moles …not the same but both interesting

[@jamesstandley4584]

Voles have been my nemesis for 2 years now!

[@SereneWingedHorse-kq2pn]

@@jamesstandley4584same

[@baracu]

@ do you do anything about it ? I work with plant cages …it’s all that works for me

[@KP-jv1hy]

I just got seeds for this next spring for my first popcorn corn. I got my seeds from baker creek heirlooms

[@anissaferringer4965]

Only ever had rats when we had livestock and were storing significant amounts of feed. They came and got into everything--not just the out holdings but cars and house.

[@kapstersmusic]

One trick I found for germinating trays of squash or cucumbers is to completely wrap the tray all the way around with a scrap of floating row cover so that the wrap overlaps underneath the tray. Then nothing gets at your germinating squash or cucumber seeds. No one has ever figured out how to chew through the netting, yet. I also don't use open food compost piles, which is a luxury because I am a home gardener with an above ground rotating compost bin. I also try to turn any yard waste piles frequently, and spread the mulch as soon as it is useful.

[@alexandralaske9415]

I am very happy that the book is now also available in German and I ordered it straight away

[@Dust2LivingSoil]

9:41 oh yes I had the mice battle last winter, thankfully we won thanks to our cat Felix. But yes I planted cover crop 10 times just feeding the mice 😂 We made a compromise with our cat and continue to try to eat plants so we started growing cat grass and catnip and putting trays on the floor and around the areas that he would consume plants and now he will pick the cat grass

[@hoosierpioneer]

It may be voles. Look very much like mice but even more destructive.

[@aarhayes]

I’m having some marginal success “parching” the really pretty heirloom corn I get, keeps the color and usually as snacky as popcorn but there are certain varieties that are sort of too crunchy for this. Need to experiment more

[@faithgriffin7974]

Did anyone notice the "hello my name is" nametag?

[@Oktopia]

I had a gigantic rat come into my garden munching on my buried Bokashi. My neighbor put out traps and the entire family of four got caught. Now I dig my Bokashi blended with horse manure to make it less palatable. So far so good :D

[@jasekath8122]

Have you ever tried growing the corn and maybe try transplanting it with the paperpot transplanter? Always wondered if it would work. Looking to get a paperpot sometime this winter to try out for 2025

[@dwightyoder4883]

Mini Blue popcorn is a beautiful crop here in Zone 9a/b. My goddaughter picked it out of a a catalogue. Now when she has a friend over they sit and shell it, then give it to me to pop for them. I am looking for it in larger volume than the small, expensive packet I got from an heirloom seed company.

[@martinacusack9867]

Option to outsmart rat. Try a hanging seed table. Just make sure it is perfectly level or you'll have another mess to deal with.

[@bethhubbs9937]

Cool idea. I might try that.

[@79PoisonBreaker]

As far as popcorn goes, I do really like Glass Gem. It may have to do with crazy colors or how tall it gets, or that it loves to tiller. My personal best is 7 ears from 1 transplant( my season is too short to start from seed), the main stalk had 3 and tillers made 4 more. doesn't pop the biggest but I enjoyed the flavor.

[@carlinagrey8592]

ok..... Jesse first off you nailed my name! yet it was so gracefully slaughtered for suspense first nicely done sir this is Car.....lena! Carlina and you better write that novel "Fuller Gardens" LOved loVed lovED the story or maybe I'm terrified nah I'm ready! dun dun dun!!Collaboration Activated!!! Ag Nerds to the Rescue! please keep up all your hard work you inspire more than you know

[@notillgrowers]

🙌

[@emkn1479]

Appreciate your musings

[@kelleyfarm]

Lost 15 salanova flats to mice hate those thing

[@s-c..]

Those elephants hearing ghosts 😬. What kind of effect would that have on them? Do they tell the others? Do they spend days searching for them? What a mind funk!

[@notillgrowers]

Right? Honestly, my first thought was, "Wow what a brutal study!"

[@WesternMONo-TillGardening]

Your nametag. 😆We got two barn cats and they rapidly took care of a large population of voles, but they also go after the birds I'm trying to attract to the garden to eat bugs. Luckily I've never had to deal with rodents in the greenhouse.

[@robertmcauslan6191]

My go to rat trap is the ratonator. It’s a repeater trap that has caught up to 20 at a time for me. You do have to figure out what to do with those rats once trapped but we’ve got hawks around us so we just leave the bodies out for them. It’s really helped us keep the population down to where we only need to set it if we notice them. Otherwise we don’t even see them for most of the year. It can catch squirrels but since it is a live trap they can be released.

[@brokenmeats5928]

I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!

[@devinsullivan7233]

A field mouse is the same thing a a vole. Make sure to keep everything clean if you have a problem with voles. You need bare ground. No mulch. And plenty of space between rows. Voles do not like to travel across open ground because there biggest predators are hawks and owls. Voles will chew and girdle your plant stalks. They will also make holes in the ground that are distinctively different from a gopher. They do not make mounds and don’t cover there holes like a gopher, just open holes with a trail or runway. Traps, poison and smoke bombs( road flares) work well. But the main thing is to keep as much open bare ground as possible. Don’t ever use hay or straw to mulch if you are in a place with a lot of voles.

[@roflpill]

Voles and field mice are not the same thing.

[@devinsullivan7233]

@roflpill You are correct that voles and field mice are not exactly the same thing. But for all intentsive purposes they are. Also people refer to many different species of rodents as “field mice” including voles. “Field mice” is not an actual species, but a broad term. Voles are a MUCH bigger problem because they reproduce so fast. Both voles and field mice don’t like traveling across open ground. About 15 years ago I mulched my entire tomato garden shortly after planting. One week later I had to remove all the mulch because the voles were killing multiple plants every night. Voles can be one the worst pests imaginable.

[@kathyrichmond5835]

Anyone use the bicarbonate mixed in flour method? Apparently rats can't let off

[@wendycullingworth3879]

No idea if that is a thing but it's hilarious non the less.😂

[@gregholl5011]

That animal is a troll! Paint your barn door black. They will run into the door thinking it is open. Then the troll will move to Elbow Lake MN! 😅

[@lambsquartersfarm]

Have you tried Tap Dancer from High Mowing? It's OP... I'll be trying that out this year.

[@MiriamPendleton]

If it's a really big mouse, it could be a vole. Do you find little tunnels? Carrots chewed off from the bottom al la Chip n Dale? That's a vole. Cats are your friend.

[@chrisfleming701]

Don’t forget about gophers. Up here in Montana we have pocket gophers as well as mice and voles. They look like huge mice but act like voles, eating plants from the roots up.

[@timvetters916]

I had a wood rat devastating a potato crop. I set a rat trap. It stole the bait and replaced it with a chewed up potato without setting off the trap. This tarted a war in which I did not win. However, in the end a red-tailed hawk caught the wood rat.

[@nicholasnarcowich9163]

I work 7 days a week, & keep growing what will grow... in the small space I have :-) Mobile home park...

[@nancyseery2213]

I just have a mid-sized home garden, but what would you say is the most important thing to do in the fall to have your garden ready for spring??????? Thanks for all of the info you provide! Never mind, I found your answer.....

[@ursamajor1936]

I put down rock fertilizers and mulch with ground up leaves, branches and brambles.

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

I completely agree on corn of all types.. Also in an organic system it's an excellent C4 type plant that can really put a LOT of carbon in the soil! On the death subject, , See also "Graham Hancock". cheers! 🌱

[@davinasquirrel7672]

Ah yes, one of my biggest issues, rats and mice. Something "just about" harvest ready, come out the next day, all eaten. On the water bucket traps, and I will say I am more a fan of the humane methods, I think it okay (at least for mice). I watched a mouse go into a bucket trap, it kind of panicked for less than a minute then drowned, not sure what those clever rats would do. However, the rats are just out of control (farmland) so I need to deal with them. I will not poison rats or mice (that actually is a slow and horrible death) but also because I have chickens who will eat mice, and probably pick at a rat carcass. I also do have a cat, and although rather pretty, is a useless mouser. Her moving into the house did deter mice from settling into the house, but that's it. She does at least do a passive half-job on the mouse front. The chickens are way better at mousing. They neck them down as "moysters". Speaking of the useless mousing cat, I had to 'break it up' between the cat and baby mouse after nearly three hours. The baby mouse didn't know what to do, the cat really didn't know what to do, it became embarrassing all around. Sometimes the baby mouse was under the cat, sometimes the cat was wondering what to actually do (she knew she was supposed to do something, but not sure what that was). I had to break it up, the situation was doing nobody any good, including me. Fingers crossed for my cantaloupe this year - the rats got it all the year before last. And yes, a day or two before harvest.

[@susanrowland8915]

When’s the novel coming out!!

[@davinasquirrel7672]

Playing the calls of dead elephants seems a tad cruel as an experiment. Most higher level animals do understand death, and mourn their close ones. I have seen it with cats and dogs. I think it important for housemates (or flockmates) to see the deceased and not continue wondering 'why they disappeared'. So I do a 'lying in state' thing for the companions or flockmates. It's not anthropomorphising to understand that animals grieve, and the extent of that grief are intelligence levels (and their bonds). So yeah, a flock of several hundred birds, if not a pair-bonded set, will likely move on quickly. But have cat/dog/bird who are companions, they will grieve, and it is important to understand that they do. And it does not matter if it is cross-species.

[@kelleyfarm]

Rats and mice sticky trap with peanut butter in middle and a cat

[@PedroOrtiz-b1h]

A dog came to ny farm on its own , we fed it and he stayed , he would hunt the mice from the field , probably hunted 20 , then one day a female dog shows up, and just like that next day he wa gone 😂 😂

[@richardroadcap7957]

Due to voles, we grow carrots, potatoes and leeks in containers

[@reapersridge7992]

It is hunting season tho. 🦌🏹💯

[@shermdog6969]

Im trying to grow A popcorn. Literally ive tried for 2 years and have yet to have any get to maturity. My 20x10 area guess isn't big enough. Lots of sun, fertilizer and water and they tastle at 2ft tall both years.

[@ursamajor1936]

I'd advise rabbit manure, mulch and watering.

[@ronaldthoms2147]

I was in my garden an noticed something eating sweet corn So one day was out there an mouse went right up corn to sweet corn ear 😅😮😢😢

[@gregholl5011]

Oleic acid. Like margarine? 🤔

[@tfisher67]

I have a large garden but no problems with rats or mice in the garden. The mice are living in my chicken coop/run and eating their food. Anybody have any suggestions on how to get rid of them without hurting my chickens or my dogs?

[@ajb.822]

Since you enjoy growing corn so much, and the whole ecosystem, you may get a kick outta my pic here ( the circle there that goes w my "name"). I think if u touch it, you can get the larger view - maybe it takes u to my "channel" and from there u can, so, whatever anyone wants to take the time to do.. . Anyway, it's a frog tucked up in a leaf on corn I grew a couple summers ago. Happened to look down as I was passing by, and rare time I also had my phone on me out there ( I have no signal there). So awesome :). Thanking God for it still... .

[@pjn7136]

You finally broke me, I became a Patreon supporter today. Hopefully I will get a shoutout tomorrow? 😂

[@notillgrowers]

Will you ever! Thank you 🙌

[@dorcasrodriguez2901]

❤❤❤

[@thomasdevoogt1655]

Anyone with particular success controlling chipmunks? They have taken over my garden, and I haven’t been able to harvest much of anything the past couple seasons.

[@charliefoxtrot6017]

Trying five varieties of corn this season so was interested in your corn shucker. Found several DIT designs online but thought this one might also interest you and others as easier on the wrist and quick: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m2HTq4h5iM95gKssi=-yKxpzbnNU7p0_qM. Also, I sow corn in tree tube pots for added depth, place the pots in a foam box (or a plastic window box or plastic crate) with 4-5cm sand in base and some drainage holes above sand level. I then fold a piece of metal aviary netting over the top and tie it down …. Had to sow corn three times one year until I discovered the native bush rats, antechinus, were stealing the seed.

[@Freeland-Farm]

Thanks. That's worth making. Gives me some ideas for processing sweet corn, too.

[@KevinGale]

After hearing you talk about death...are you ok?😅

[@mhkoo1]

Shawn Woods invented the best trap for mice: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6C4f4yMhJuKf7s and yes, they are not killed in the trap.

[@healthyfitmom]

Oh this is awesome!!

[@stevefromthegarden1135]

The Japanese hullless was good and a heirloom. Pops very white and holds up really well to butter. The popped corn is smaller than the Robust 998. The cobs are smaller than Robust but it produces more of them. My plants were getting up 7+ ft tall.