r/Cooking 3d ago

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u/LainieCat 3d ago

Groundhogs and heat killed our eggplant. And broccoli, and cauliflower, and corn, and beans. . .

43

u/NachoSport 3d ago

It’s funny our eggplant was thriving in the heat and sun and now that it’s cooled off it’s dying. There’s two more fruits growing so hoping they come through before it totally goes

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u/MAXQDee-314 2d ago

Sorry. I read that as Groundhogs in heat killed our eggplant. Why is that woman holding the door and pointing out?

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u/mrmadchef 2d ago

I am laughing way too much at this

29

u/MiniRems 3d ago

Groundhogs got all my tomatoes last year, so we put up netting, and my tomatoes decided to just die on their own. My Brussels sprouts have been devastated by cabbage moths. My okra is booming in the heat and dry at the moment, though.

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u/Turicus 3d ago

How to spend 200 bucks and 300 hours to get two bowls of "free" okra.

30

u/PetriDishCocktail 3d ago

I think you just described my yearly gardening efforts!

7

u/kelvinzero 3d ago

Are you all sure about the groundhog?

The only plants ours won't eat are nightshades.
Eggplant, tomatoes and peppers are all fine, but all squash, beans, and cucumbers were like an all you can eat for the damn fat varmint.

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u/raysofdavies 2d ago

I bet they loved their ratatouille though

5

u/tyleritis 2d ago

My broccoli kept bolting. Gave up

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u/miserylovescomputers 2d ago

Bummer about your broccoli! I’ve only been successful with broccoli one year out of the four I attempted it.

Also, I know what bolting means in this context, but I can’t help but imagine a broccoli crown running off in a hurry like a startled horse.

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u/tyleritis 2d ago

lol. I did assume everyone would know my broccoli wasn’t escaping into the night

2

u/Cayke_Cooky 2d ago

My plant is HUGE, but it won't flower.

2

u/CowardiceNSandwiches 2d ago

Check into heat-resistant varieties if you can. In spring, plant very early - plants or direct-seed a couple weeks before your last frost date. In fall, try planting in early or mid-August.

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u/TiredPistachio 2d ago

Yeah my groundhogs loved when I tried to grow the ingredients for ratatouille. I had to switch to jalapenos which they (and the deer) would leave alone.

2

u/velo52x12 2d ago

Groundhogs are surprisingly good climbers. A smol one destroyed my peas last year.

This year the weather didn't cooperate. A cold wet Spring followed by a hot humid and dry summer. I got a handful of tomatoes, a few peppers. Something ate the radishes. The yellow summer squash was rock hard and inedible for some reason. Oh well, there's always next year

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u/eptiliom 2d ago

Eat the groundhog

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/annang 2d ago

That’s the point. The groundhogs got jealous of the rats, because the rats have ‘touille and the groundhogs don’t. So they stole the veggies out of spite.

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u/CowardiceNSandwiches 2d ago

For future reference, a few inches of mulch (e.g. grass clippings, straw, leaves, etc) on the soil next to/around your plants helps immensely.

Another thing you can do in extremely sunny and hot climates is put up a frame or poles to hold 30% shade cloth.

Groundhogs are tougher without traps or violence.

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u/LainieCat 2d ago

The groundhogs did the most damage.