Gone - they are all GONE!

[Cyn]

I had a visitor or visitors to my tomato patch last night - and I have been cleaned out. I have a few tomatoes left, but I would say 30 or more tomatoes were eaten.

I wrote it up on my blog. If you want the gory details, you are welcome to read it. i am going to find a glass of wine and ponder what to do next.

www.counseling.typepad.com

Cyn

[FlipTX]

Oh I feel for you. Yesterday I lost a large percentage of the last of this season's Brandywines to critters. It's enough to break a gardener's heart!

[Cyn]

in looking at my list of plants and how many fruit were on each - it is upwards of 50 -60 tomatoes gone. I guess in my original frenzy, I figured they only took the big ones...but no, they are all gone.

Sorry about your brandywines. I had some of those yesterday...
Cyn

[Cyn]

I have three golf ball sized tomatoes left, and a handfull of pea sized ones. All the cherrys are gone - plucked rather than branches torn.

With 24 tomato plants - it is probably upwards of 100 tomatoes gone. I have a pit in my stomach.

Looks like I will be visitng farmer's markets for a while.

Cyn - formerly known as Tomato Queen

[kimpossible]

Are the actual plants OK? Can you put up a barrier of chicken wire? I discovered tracks in the garden this morning & thought it was one of my dogs. The prints were BIG, but not as big as my 65 & 75 lb. dogs - just a HUGE raccoon. I only have buds at this stage, but I already have bought the chicken wire to erect a fence over the next couple of weeks.

[Cyn]

Most of the plants have some damagea - some broken branches. Two plants were torn down to about 2 inches above the ground - which is what made me think "deer" One plant - the Jetsetter - is completely gone, roots and all.

The fruit is simply gone - not as much damage as it could be. I went out just now and sprayed McNasty on the plants just in case it/they come back. At least they'll have a little spice to go with my tomatoes.

I think chicken wire might be a good idea. I would really like a seven foot electric fence with barb wire on top - but that might be overdoing it.
Cyn

[kimpossible]

Yes! - 7 feet, Electrified, Barbed Wire, Motion Detectors...

Moat? Pitbulls?

I bought the chicken wire thinking I would need it for a rabbit that the dog has not managed to get yet... but the rabbit hangs out on the opposite side of the property under the bird feeders. He either hasn't discovered the garden yet, or the birdseed is much more appealing.

So I thought I had bought the chicken wire for no reason. But now that I have discovered those raccoon tracks, I will put it to good use.

At least your plants are relatively intact. That's something to be thankful for. But I do understand that with the heat in Texas, fruit set might be a problem.

[coronabarb]

Cyn, I am so very sorry. That is just heartbreaking.

"I would really like a seven foot electric fence with barb wire on top - but that might be overdoing it."

Overdoing it??? After it/they took all those tomatoes that were rightfully YOURS??? Definitely NOT overdoing it, LOL.

[Rena]

Very sorry.
Sounds like deer.....

[Althea]

Rabbits here don't like tomatoes, so I'm guessing deer or racoons. I don't think a barbed-wire nest would be out of line.

[Cyn]

I woke up this morning to the memory of my Rutgers plant, loaded with tomatoes - all still very young tomatoes - probably just smaller than eggs, and the Riesentraube - literally decorated like a Christmas tree with little tomatoes all over -

Oh so sad.

I don't think it was solely deer, because the sungolds and chadwick's cherry were plucked, from inside a cage. The theives did not do enough damage to be only deer. The big plants broken, maybe deer. who knows. At times I am wishing I had a video of this so i could see what happened, but then, I think it would be too difficult to watch.

The past couple of years, as I have decoded growing tomatoes in containers, I felt as if my tomato growing was just doomed - they did not do very well.

This year, I took a lot of notes from Craig's posts, and the plants and fruit were just fantastic. So now I know what to do. The new hurdle will be the beasts that want my tomatoes.

Cyn

[Goddessemer6]

Oh that is so tradjic!!! I'd have been in tears for sure, and I'd definately get a night vision camcorder and set it up so I knew exactly what it was that caused the damage and then I'd begin a campaign to eradicate it... Take no prisoners!!!

Okay maybe not, I'm too soft hearted for that, but I'd definately try and put someing they hated around my maters to make them avoid them....

[DonnaMarieNJ]

I can't imagine. I get hysterical over losing just a few plants......

I'd offer to help, but you wouldn't want my plants. Too pathetic

So sorry!

[jwr6404]

"Take no prisoners"

Rose

"The beauty of being human is the abilitity of choosing compassion over cruelty"

This was so funny to me

[Goddessemer6]

LOL jwr6404 Nice editing there, you forgot the part where I said "Okay maybe not, I'm too soft hearted for that, but I'd definately try and put something they hated around my maters to make them avoid them...."

I can't even kill hornworms, let alone touch them... I usually pick a leave and wrap it around the worm to pick them off the plants and then toss them in to the grass...how pathetic is that? I think I might need KCMO's daughter to help me out with the worms...