My raised vegetable bed was being used by the local cat population as a giant litter tray so I took action yesterday. I was going to make it a 'square foot gardening bed' anyway, (thanks to Sarina's good suggestion) so I knocked a few nail in and added string, this left me with 18 separate 1 foot squares ready for different veg collections. As there is nothing yet in them I filled every square with anything that I could find to just put the cats off - small plant pots, rocks and stones - you get the idea.
and guess what? This morning, no digging and no cat poo.as I add some veg seedlings to it I will remove the stones or pots accordingly and by then, hopefully the cats will have given up on it and moved to a different place, hopefully, not in my garden.
This weekend I tried sourdough loaf number 2. I thought it was going badly, as rising seemed to barely happen even though all in all it had about 24 hours! However, as it turned out, it seems to have worked far better than the last one. Although it lost it's lovely round shape by not coming out of the bowl cleanly.
Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so I will be road testing it for taste and texture in the form of a good bacon sandwich in a little while, when it has cooled a bit.
Nom nom
Good idea for the raised beds. If you can get some free large twigs/small branches to lay across that will help. Or if you want it to look nice, look in a £1 shop for plastic trellis. A few of them stretched out will do the job.
ReplyDeleteYour raised bed looks great. I like the rim of pebbles around it, too. Looks very professionally put together. I`m glad you found the squarefoot idea of use.
ReplyDeleteThat bread does look so delicious! Hope it was everything you expected from it.
When I have had issues with cats in the past I have stretched pea netting over the raised bed attached to the timber frame. Then I planted through the netting, the plants grow through the netting no problems but the cats cant walk on it at all.
ReplyDeleteI cover my raised beds with old net curtains, they are 50p in the charity shop and if you pick through you can snaffle all the big ones. They also give a bit of protection from frost and heavy rain. I have peeled them back, planted and then recovered, cheaper then fleece and longer lasting.
ReplyDeletebread looks lovely.
ReplyDeletecats are the bane of my life. apparently 2 litre bottles from pop filled with water placed in the squares will stop it. I don't have enough bottles myself but it is worth a try
I sympathise with the cat problem. I've had the same problem myself in my garden, which isn't great when you have children. Finally after many years of sufferance, we now have a puppy who is doing a great job. Not the reason why we got her I might add, but a useful byproduct is less cat poo and cats in general passing through.
ReplyDeleteNom nom indeed. You are so impressive, I am still reeling from your Victoria sponge
ReplyDeleteYour bread photo gets me hungry !! Glad to see your new oven works so well !!
ReplyDeletexoxo
Great loaf!
ReplyDeleteLove from Mum
xx
I can sympathise regarding the cats using your raised beds as litter trays. I have had to put chicken wire all over mine.My own cat has a litter tray indoors so its not her creating the problem, the neighbours around here appear to have several cats and they love my beds!
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, your bread looks wonderful. I am a bread addict and its one thing I could not give up!
beautiful loaf and I hope the cats poop some where else, nothing worse!I like cats but its not nice having them soil the soil.
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ReplyDeletebroccoli and stilton cheese soup