Remember that Alfred Hitchcock movie? Pretty scary stuff. Well, I have a little issue with Magpies. Or I at least believe Magpies are the culprit. Jenny & I planted a dozen or more Calendula plants throughout the garden last week. Within a day one was missing… plucked from the soil! This weekend Tracy mentioned that almost all of the Calendula plants had been “harvested” by some unknown critter. “Magpies!” I said…. “those damned Magpies!!!” In previous years they had ripped out every seedling I had planted in my garden in Eldora, (and usually just left them there to die) so what else could it be?

So for the solution we’ll just cover everything with floating row cover to keep them from ripping up plants. The row cover is also helpful in creating a micro-climate for the seeds that are sprouting, helps keep some moisture in, and when the bugs hit, it keeps the bugs at bay.