Broccoli vs. rabbits (plus tornado story!)

Sorry everyone.  I meant to publish this post last night.  But I got a surprise phone call from my dad that went something like this:


Dad: "Hi honey!  How are you doing?"


Me: "Oh, I'm fine. Just cutting up some rhubarb.  What's up?"


Dad: "Well, a tornado just went through our neighborhood?"


Say what?!!!


Yep.  A small F1 tornado barreled through the south side of La Crosse, Wis., where my dad lives.  There were roofs blown off of houses just a block away from his home.  Thankfully, he is safe, and his house suffered only minor damage -- a broken storm door window, a couple downed electric poles in his back yard, and an uprooted tree that barely missed hitting his house.  So glad that he was safe, especially with the news of the tragic tornado down in Joplin, Mo.  Scary stuff.  He said he didn't even have time to head for the basement.  He never heard the tornado sirens.

Needless to say, I was a little shook up from my dad's tale.  So I didn't get around to writing this post about my battle with our neighborhood rabbits.  But here it is:

Last month, I planted broccoli, cauliflower and kohlrabi.  Within a week, the plants were nibbled to the ground.  So I bought a few more broccoli and cauliflower plants and made sure to protect them with make-shift bucket "cages."  (My husband sawed buckets in half.) The plants are growing great now.

But then last week, I noticed that the sugar snap peas, which were starting to climb up the trellis, had disappeared.  The rabbits were back.  I'm pretty disappointed, because it's too late in the season to replant the seeds.

Lovely sugar snap peas, before the rabbit found them.

So apparently, I need to remember to install some type of rabbit-proof fence next year, even though I don't like the look of chicken wire around my little garden.

I just don't understand why the rabbits eat my little seedlings when there is so much green everywhere right now -- green grass, green leaves, green weeds.  It's like they are tormenting me for fun.  Or, maybe, I'm being a bit paranoid.  So now it's me vs. the rabbits. Let's hope I win.  Please cheer for me :)