Pesky Rabbits

As any gardener will tell you, there are always challenges with each garden...either it rains too much, or not enough, too cool or too hot, and insects. My challenge this year is to grow my garden despite all the rabbits eating everything I've planted. I've lost one tomato plant, my green beans, sunflowers, all the zinnias, and saliva to the nibbling of several well fed rabbits.

So..... off to the garden shop I go to replace what has been eaten and find something to deter the bunnies. I have bought - a spray liquid fence ($13) and a granule product ($15) that the garden shop guy said would really work, I hedged my bet with marigolds and a whole jar of cayenne pepper, which are rumored to work also. Guess What! These rabbits must love spicy food and do not care if they smell blood....Nothing has worked. Even as I type this I see two bunnies sitting outside my flowerbed munching away. I've shooed them off three times while I am writing, now I just threw one of my gardening shoes at them.

My next solution was to fence in my vegetable garden ($80), I can live without the flowers - but I was really putting a lot of stock into our vegetable garden putting fresh vegetables on our table this summer and canning some beans and tomatoes for winter. Bill and Andrew worked Sunday afternoon putting it up (don't they look great working hard...). I think they did a good job. Bill caught one rabbit inside the fenced area, and after chasing it around about 4 times, it finally showed him where it had came in under the fence. Bill piled a lot of dirt around the hole, and so far it does not look like they have dug through it.

What's next??? Does anyone have a good receipe for rabbit stew???