predation frustration
So the problem with having a garden is, all sorts of things can go wrong with it and that can get kind of frustrating. The problem now is that some other creatures--other than myself, that is--have acquired a taste for certain of my plants: to wit, a woodchuck or woodchucks for the leaves of the cucumbers and squashes, and some terrible beetles for the entirety of my marigolds. Interestingly, the buggies seem to prefer the 'sweet cream' marigolds, a tall, pale variety, considerably more than the traditional orange models. I don't know why that might be. In any case I have procured some organic insecticide which I hope will take care of the wee critters; I confess, though, that I'm not hugely confident.
I am confident, on the other hand, about the measures I've taken to stop the woodchucks. They sell, we find, fox urine in bottles, and you can splatter a little of it on the ground to scare away rodents all and sundry. I have to say, anything that can manage to eat within fifteen feet of the little urine-soaked cotton balls I put out, is a stronger man than I. Fox urine in it's purest form posesses a strong and dangerous odor. I advise you to learn from my mistakes, and not, out of curiosity, take a big sniff upon opening the bottle. The smell lingers in my nostrils even now; or maybe that's the cotton balls outside I can smell. I'm telling you, that stuff is strong.