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80 some hot pepper plants gone!

 

After spending the hottest days here planting over 80 different hot pepper plants a few weeks ago, I went out to hoe the tomatoes and my heart sank.   To be honest, I wanted to throw up.  Gardeners would understand.

Something got thru, or over the fence, and chewed the tops off of all the hot pepper plants.   Just chewed off the top and left it lay.

I could sit and wonder all day (in anger, despair and frustration), but we don't know if it was a very small baby rabbit (never had this happen with the fence), or a squirrel or even rats (according to our google search inquiry).  Our fence on that garden is meant to keep rabbits and squirrels out.  However, our property butts up to woods that surround a tributary to a river, so it could be anything coming out of that area as well.  It's not deer.  We even have solar alarms around it, but not every single section is covered with an alarm.

We now have two rolls of bendable  (very small holes) fence to wrap the metal fence.  However, I'll be honest and say I'm ready to throw in the towel on growing a garden next year at all.  I'm so frustrated and angry it's exhausting.

The roots are still there, and yes there is a possibility they'll recover, but the rodent chewed the tops off from the bottom. 

My "weed" garden has a much shorter fence with bigger holes and nothing has eaten any of the herbs or plants in that.  


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Anne in the kitchen said…
Oh what a bad break! I gave up on green beans and okra because of our resident groundhog
June 23, 2026 at 12:34 AM
Pioneer Woman at Heart said…
Far Side of Fifty, yep. Rotten varmits.
June 23, 2026 at 6:50 AM
Pioneer Woman at Heart said…
Anne in the kitchen, sorry to hear that. We had loads of them last year, but this year it's rabbits and raccoons. Who knows what else during the night too.
June 23, 2026 at 6:51 AM
Faith said…
Natures pruners can be a nuisance, maybe your hot peppers will rejuvenate. I can imagine that I would be feeling about the same. Rosebud our deer friend, loves to take the tops off the sunflowers. They still grow but no flowers, not the same as your situation but it does take wind out of the sails.
June 23, 2026 at 9:31 AM
🌺 Debby/From My Shasta Home said…
Oh no! How disappointing. One year, we had voles tear through our garden. The next spring, we put wire in the ground, and while they didn’t get to the plants, they sure tried to chew through it.
June 23, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Pioneer Woman at Heart said…
Faith, we had a lot of plans for those peppers too. Many different recipes and pickling jalapenos. So frustrating. All those preserved meals gone.
June 24, 2026 at 6:37 AM
Pioneer Woman at Heart said…
Debb/From My Shasta home, it's so frustrating, after going thru the expense of a fence a few years ago. Now we have to wrap the fencing with more fencing with smaller holes.
June 24, 2026 at 6:38 AM
Wildflower Adventures said…
Something, a rabbit, ate all our pumpkin, squash & potato plants, I know your anguish.
June 28, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Pioneer Woman at Heart said…
Wildflower Adventures, so sorry to hear that. It is very frustrating and sad for sure.
June 29, 2026 at 7:26 AM
HIBISCUS HOUSE said…
I'm so sorry. That does make your heart sink. Critters can destroy a whole crop so quickly.
Here, I've quit planting cabbage in the ground even things eat them up! It's always a gamble anymore.
July 17, 2026 at 6:32 AM
Pioneer Woman at Heart said…
Hibiscus House, for 17 years we did not have a fence around any of the gardens, due to having dogs here. However, the ground hogs always ate our cabbage. Now we have it fenced, but baby rabbits go thru one of the fences that has holes that were supposed to keep "rabbits" out. We'll have to wrap the fence now.
July 17, 2026 at 6:41 AM
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