First spinach and salad crop of the year - but RIP carrots :(

[Storm]

At the end of last year I put my dilapidated cold frame over two small rows of salad and spinach and in spite of the dreadful cold winter they have made it through and back at the end of January I took the first crop of the year

I wrapped the cold frame in bubble wrap and that seems to have worked.

The carrots weren't so lucky. I covered them with chicken wire but rabbits got in and have taken the tops off more or less every single one

[Patchninja]

Congrats on your spinach!

[Florence Fennel]

Well done with the spinach, plant more carrots!

[Storm]

I planted rows and rows of carrots cos we eat so many. I covered them with mesh and had an almost totally carrotfly-free crop... it's heartbreaking.

We're at war with the council over this rabbit issue. They replaced a chain link fence after one of their contractors felled the wrong tree and it toppled on to the old one. The bottom of the new fence is not buried below ground level - in fact for about 10 metres so the fence doesn't even touch the ground and the gap is so large that I can slide under it!!

They're refusing to make the fence good saying that the bunnies would just burrow under... they never did in all the years the old fence was there... bah!!!

[Florence Fennel]

That must be so frustrating Storm, it was very flippant of me to suggest you just plant more. Could you create a rabbit proof enclosure, such as a wire mesh cage that it buried quite deep into the ground? Or what about growing in barrells or bins? I hope you find a solution.

[Storm]

Don't worry Flo - not flippancy was detected!!

I put chicken wire around the carrots and also an anti bird cage over the top but still they squeeze in

Another plot holder did the same and found several dead rabbits in the anti bird mesh cos they'd got in and couldn't get out and froze to death they have started on the fruit bushes now ** sobs **

[Florence Fennel]

Have you got a gun? Seriously, couldn't you shoot the bloomin things for the pot? Serve them right.

[Storm]

One or two people have offered to come shoot them but firearms are prohibited on site. You can appreciate why as it's in a residential area and next to school playing fields.

I suspect we will end up fixing the fence ourselves

[Florence Fennel]

Know anyone with ferrets?

[Hilary B]

One or two people have offered to come shoot them but firearms are prohibited on site. You can appreciate why as it's in a residential area and next to school playing fields.

I suspect we will end up fixing the fence ourselves

Air rifles.
If there are any enthusiasts near you, it's a much safer way of tackling rabbits in an allotment anyway, shotgun pellets tend to damage the crops. You would want your airgunners to come at night, because that is when bunny-burglars are most active.....

[Storm]

air rifles could work. i am not sure if they are prohibited on the site or not. it's not mentioned in the licence directly.

In the long term the fence being replaced is the only real answer i think... it's there 24/7 and, when put in properly, should stand 1.8 m tall with the base buried 10 cm below ground... enough to deter bunnies and vandals alike.

[Florence Fennel]

Is 10 cm deep enough to deter bunnies then storm? It doesn't seem very deep to me, but I'm no expert. Hope you get it sorted soon.

[Storm]

it usually is. there is plenty of food around the allotments and so the bunnies don't really have any incentive to dig in - until winter comes and of course by then the ground is frozen and it's too late. the huge gap in the fence is just an open door to them - the plots have become part of their territory... a habit... which it wasn't before when they would have had to burrow in order to get at summer food that was more easily available in the nearby fields...

We didn't have a rabbit problem until the fence issue arose.