Design

It was a lovely day today, and as I returned home from work, I made the rounds, checking on everything (that I've got behind on). I've been enjoying radicchio becoming red and colorful. I sowed seeds (of heading radicchio) sometime in mid-summer, and transplanted some of the seedlings to the main vegetable garden in early fall. They're coloring up beautifully, and I've just been thinking about what I should 'do' with them. High-heat roasting. Grilling? Probably not, since it involves charcoal lighting in our grill. But much to my amazement (I guess I shouldn't be surprised based on the radicchio-loving herbivorous tendencies that I've previously observed) , there were leaves gone from one of the clumps that I've been observing. Bah, humbug. I was looking forward to enjoying their winter color for some time, until (much) colder weather (in the future) had mellowed bitterness in the leaves.

Squirrels are (pesky) herbivores for North American gardeners at times. They dig (often in our flower pots), but also all over the garden; they scamper along fences, visit porches, and (in the bad old days, prior to the expensive gutter system, ran around in our attic). I've been bemused by their radicchio-eating habits (at least by females), and there are current signs of interest, based on evidence, but I was amazed by this porch-visiting Eastern Gray Squirrel. We've had plenty of munching evidence in the past, but this was flagrant. S/he was snagging leaves of a Boston fern on the porch, and sitting on the railing, as s/he enjoying eating it. A Boston fern? Who knew?

I'm quite familiar with squirrels having unusual interests in radicchio . Peculiar, given how bitter it is in hot weather. But late this afternoon, I spotted this fellow (or gal) yumming up radicchio leaves around the old pepper plant cage. And, there was evidence that the red-stemmed chicory was next; the cut leaf remnants were clear. The picture is blurry, but the evidence obvious. Uh, I thought squirrels focused on acorns and hickory nuts in fall, with an occasional mushroom or two. Clearly not.

I'd noticed the tromboncino squash leaves disappearing, but because the vines were so robust and sprawling (and we could hardly eat all the squash, anyway), I assumed that deer had jumped the fence beneath the powerline corridor. But, my gardening companion reports that it's actually a rather large woodchuck (aargh!) that scuttled back into a burrow beneath the brush pile. Hmm, it's back to Chuckster bait, woodchuck lure, and a large Havahart trap after I get home.

We saw evidence of deer last summer for the first time (AKA the summer of the woodchuck), but this summer, there's been munching on the Rudbeckias in the meadow, a phlox here and there, and the disappearance of these leaves is telling. When I checked the squash yesterday morning, this is what I saw. They must be especially hungry to eat squash leaves, since they're so rough and hairy. Maybe their juiciness makes up for it?