We finally caught him. For several days, he had been teasing us, eating the first well-formed ears, nibbling at others as he ambled down the rows — early indications of ravages still to come. We didn’t know what to expect — a racoon, perhaps, or maybe a skunk? Finally, our nemesis let himself be tempted by the sardines we placed in the trap…Much to our dismay, we discovered it was a skunk. Getting rid of a skunk is a losing battle for both sides, sprayer and sprayee. Our first thought after having captured him was where to release him…a midnight drop on our least favourite neighbour’s front lawn? (Just kidding…) A longer drive and a woods’ edge beckoned: better to have him go eat some stranger’s crops. Our skunk problem effectively dealt with, next on our list are the birds. This problem is definitively more of a challenge, as the remedy necessitates regular patrols (as frequently as every half hour) up and down the corn rows. Skunks and birds notwithstanding, we’re expecting a generous corn crop in a few weeks.
Meanwhile and more generally, the season continues to surprise us. Our tomatoes are stubbornly refusing to redden, despite a few isolated cases of expiation. We know they’ll eventually ripen, perhaps even by Thursday — and there will be no respite from that time onwards. The eggplants are also ripening slowly, as are the peppers. Patience is a virtue, or so they say. A final word on our lettuce, hitherto conspicuous by its absence: too much rain caused considerable damage to the bottom leaves, resulting in significant losses. We apologize, but the next wave, to be harvested in coming weeks, is looking good — we’ll all be eating lettuce again soon.
