How AOL Helps Protect my Tomatoes

My wife is always complaining because she says I never throw things away. Well, you never know when something might come in handy. So, I have a lot of "stuff" in piles down in the cellar. I really can't explain why I saved those old disks that AOL used to give away back in the old days when they were a paid subscription access provider. They are not good for anything, but I always thought that they might come in handy for something besides landfill.

A while ago, I read an internet article about keeping squirrels away from the tomatoes. I was relieved to know that I am not the only one who has these wiley rodents coming by my tomato patch for a snack. This never was a problem in my New England garden until about three years ago, when the neighbor across the street had three giant oaks cut down. He had become tired of the constant clatter of acorns falling on his roof and cars in the driveway. Since then I have had to share my crop with marauding squirrels. Last year I barely harvested enough ripe tomatoes to make my famous Irish Salsa. (Check back later to see the link to the recipe).

The article suggested two ways to keep the squirrels out of the tomato patch: One was hanging shiny CD's on wire or string so they would turn in the breeze. The theory is that squirrels get jumpy when they see flashing lights and movement and will tend to stay away. The second suggestion was to spread coffee grounds around the plants. Again, I guess squirrels are not supposed to like coffee. I make sure some coffee grounds get on the clusters of tomatoes just in case the glittering CD's don't work.

So far after (about six weeks) I can report that I have not seen any squirrels or evidence of squirrel damage to the twelve vines in my tomato patch. So, those old AOL disks did finally come in handy!

See, you never know....