Pesky Little Critters

The rabbit-proof fencing is finished at last! The rabbits, however, don’t seem to have realised this. OK, so I didn’t really do it properly – electric fencing was too expensive and the consensus amongst everyone I asked (all three of them) was that chicken wire would be fine, so I went with that. Having looked up how to do it on various websites and only having 50 years of life left if lucky, I dismissed the idea of digging down a foot or so to bury the bottom of the fence. Instead I just laid the wire along the ground a bit and weighted it down with bits of wood, kindly donated by Phil the Mill. Not being 100% confident of its effectiveness (confidence percentage hovering more around the 27-30 mark), I decided to do a bit of detective work worthy of Columbo at his most sneaky – and raked the beds smooth.

And damn me if the next day there weren’t some footprints! Not many, but definitely rabbit sized. The two sacrificial cornflower plants I’d left exposed and shivering as bait, though, hadn’t been touched. Hmmm. Could one picky rabbit have been trapped inside? Or are the pesky little critters just getting through? Not sure. Will have to do some more tests.

On a more positive note, the fungus which seemed to be covering much of the compost has dried up and died. Of course, this could mean it’s just reached the end of its life, having spread its spores over the entire area while I wasn’t looking. I had a little look on the Net but couldn’t find anything that resembled it exactly (although “bird’s nest” came pretty close, as did “dog vomit fungus”). Anyway, I’ve dug up as much of it as possible and am not that concerned, as fungus is an important part of the composting process so I can’t imagine it’s that harmful.

 The fungus – nice!

I have also started to dig a narrow border around the area. The initial aim was to make a bit of a gap so the grass doesn’t invade the beds, but one totally unexpected advantage is that it looks so much better! It sort of finishes it off, making it look like it’s an area of beautifully tilled beds which are meant to be there rather than a load of cardboard and muck dumped in a field.  Anyway, it made me smile. Blimey, might have to actually put some plants in soon…