Woe Be The Wily Woodchuck!

Woe Be the Wily Woodchuck!


Thoreau was angry, very angry,  at woodchucks on his land. One ate 1/4 an acre of his bean crop.


"As I came home through the woods with my string of fish, trailing my pole, it being now quite dark, I caught a glimpse of a woodchuck stealing across my path, and felt a strange thrill of savage delight, and was strongly tempted to seize and devour him raw; not that I was hungry then, except for that wildness which he represented." ---Henry David Thoreau, Walden.


The woodchuck is just as much of a target in the 21st century as in the 19th, the wrath of current  gardeners comes across  Master Gardeners Helplines in  Bergen Agricultural Extension office..

This posting is a quick review of the methods most often used to curb the woodchuck’s enthusiasm for garden areas.The easiest of course, is if there are some plants that would be a natural chuckicide. There are essays on this venue to woodchuck control, none seem definitive or easy, including this one on the use of epsom salts. 

Herbs or other plants with noxious odors? My theory here is if the woodchuck got so far as to get into my garden with Rosemary, Santolina, Thyme, Wormwood, etc. in it, it would not deter it unless it was interplanted with the vegetables. Another anecdote way is that growing many marigolds will stop woodchucks. There is very limited evidence on the effectiveness, and the woodchuck can dig under them. I will go back to my aromatic herbs and line them with marigolds, which by sheer luck and superstition, has repelled woodchucks. Squirrels and rabbits, however, act as If I wrote a sign: "I have built it, you can come."


Shooting? 'There is a $99 fine for shooting the woodchuck out of season---but there is very little time that is out of season! And not in town, anyway. The woodchuck hunting season is  in the latest NJ Small Game Hunting regulations from the NJ Fish and Wildlife site. Permitted hunting by a licensed hunter with bow and arrow is from March 2 to Sept. 30, 2015, with no limit. Using a shotgun, the season is: 

Sept. 27–Dec. 6; Dec. 15, 16, 18–31, 2014; Jan. 1–Feb. 16, 2015 (It's not much different in 2016.)

Live Traps? Advice from many sources includes the observation that live-trapping chucks and letting them go causes their premature death. Their habits are inflicted on new people. It’s also illegal to release a wild animal in NJ.Look at the latest relocation regs in NJ (Fish and Wildlife)

Woodchucks do not appear to be scared by motion devices, nor much by a scarecrow. Sprays and hot sauces appear to affect them little---and the home gardener much. The amount of time for reapplication and concern about the chemicals on produce were key considerations here. 

Finally, the use of an electrified fence was seen as effective---as is a fence dug very deep under the ground. The fence needs to be bent outwards-and hung in a wobbly way so the critter cannot parade on top of the fence in front of you,taunting you with your own vegetables.

If the effort becomes too much, The New York Times featured a Thoreaurean way of dealing with the woodchuck: a recipe for Woodchuck au Vin , as well as a recipe for Peppery Woodchuck in Wine and Olives (June 05, 2008. ) It should be taken into consideration :

If that is not appealing, Food Republic offers Braised Groundhog .Or you can look at a Berkshire farmer's borrowed poetry ( Apologies to  Lewis Carrol:)

The time has come

The gardener said

To speak of unpleasant things

Of does and bucks 

And slugs and flies

And ravenous woodchucks.

Andrea Chesman then provides her recipe for Woodchuck Stew.

The gardener who created this dish notes that the herbs and vegetables in this recipe are available fresh from the garden because they have not been eaten by the dish’s main ingredient." NYT, June 2008

Take your pick-be a vegetarian by removing what the animal would eat, or try a fancy stew. If you have fencing solutions, write me---I will put them in Urban Herban.

Good for What Ails You: Herbal Teas

Good for What Ails You: Herbal Teas

Are you suffering from a cold in February, 2015? And that means runny nose, sore throat, sneezing, and coughing. You know it is 7-10 days to a normal life no matter what. You can be more comfortable: use herbal teas to sooth the symptoms. Scientists have found that hot liquids radically relieve cold symptoms better than warm or cold liquids. 

So drink one of many herbal teas to feel better:…

 

Mint Tea: Relief plus: this tastes good. It could be Spearmint (sweeter, milder), or Peppermint (bracing, enervating.) Some 50 plus chemicals are defined in Mint  that affect you. Catnip is also a  herb  of note.

Echinacea:  Tea is made from the roots---and the juice is used for prevention. The tea is called, as are all of these herbal concoctions, a tisane (pronounced (ti-SAYN), meaning  tea made of material other than black tea, usually without caffeine. Echinacea has been tested for efficacy by the NIH and found to be “moderately effective. What does that mean? It is better than “not effective.”

Try another root tea: ginger. Slice and pour hot water over it and steep. It has a hot, sharp taste, and is good with honey. You can try teas made from many culinary herbs that were once considered medicine: Rosemary, Sage, even Basil are held to have medicinal properties for colds. “Officinalis” in their botanical names means “used as medicine or in herbalism”.

If using Native American herbs is your interest, try You might also try Elderberry, Rose hips, or Goldenseal. Sample Mountain mint---and be prepared for a very strong taste, hopefully, so strong that you will forget about your cold. You will find it in the Midwest and Virginia, as well as in Anna Kurz's garden. Mountain mint is not of the Mentha family, as are Spearmint and Peppermint, but one can swear by its similar scent.

Ask me what that means another time.

Three Lemony Herbs

Lemon Verbena

Three lemony herbs come forth with March, all citrus aroma’d tender perennials. Lemon balm and Lemon grass haven’t been seen since fall; Lemon verbena has graced several benches in our greenhouse---and tables in my house.

 Lemon Balm (Mellisa officinalis) has many uses: as a cooling tea, bringing down a fever, in salads and drinks. The sweet aroma is useful in making potpourris; Victorians used lemon balm to signify “pleasant company of friends.” 

Lemongrass (Cymbopogon spp.).This herb is used in Thai cooking and thought to have health benefits. It has flavors of lemon and a bit of rose, is used in headache treatment, as 3 well as in perfume production. The grass can be suspended by string above steaming rice to with lemon; Tom Yum Soup made with the bulbs is a treat.

Lemon verbena (Aloysia citrodora) is used as flavoring in medicinal teas, pastries, candies, and fragrance in fingerbowls. Use this in a green bean dish à la Pat Fromm. 

Lemon Balm Sauce 

¾ cup sugar. 
4 Tbs. water, 
1 Tbs. fresh Lemon balm or Lemon verbena leaves,
2 Tbs. butter, 
Juice of 1 Lemon, 
Dash of Salt 

In a small pan, boil sugar and water several minutes until syrupy, Add leaves and cook for 5 minutes. Remove leaves. Add butter and salt Continue cooking over low heat until syrup is of desired thickness. (From Old Fashioned Herb Recipes, Bear Wallow Books, p.26) Fun & Learning Opportunities Comin