It was warm a couple of days ago, and my tomatoes have outgrown their shelf, despite two raises, so I moved them and many of my established seedlings to the porch to make room for more new guys. That meant I forgot to go to the basement for a couple of days, and when I stopped in Friday morning, before heading to work early for a long working weekend + Passover weekend, I found this (see above). Somebody has been eating my celeriac.
I feel silly. I noticed some nibbles on the chard when I moved it upstairs, and what appeared to be some holes dug along side a couple of plants. I don't know what I thought. I thought I didn't want to deal with it. I thought it might be the box elder bugs that were suddenly appearing in my basement, even though that didn't really make any sense.
What it was was apparently something that doesn't like chard that much, but really likes celeriac (celery root, good substitute for potato in a soup, also good chopped small in a salad). Of all the plants I started way too early this year, celeriac actually needed it. I grew it last year from seed for the first time. I've never seen it offered anywhere as a started plant. I started it early, as recommended. It grew thin and leggy, but once separated and re-potted it fleshed out a little. Eventually transplanted outside it grew into a lovely neat (unplanned of course) border plant for my bean bed. But I hadn't started it early enough and by the end of the summer each "knob" (one per plant) was only a couple of inches across. In an attempt to let it grow ever larger, I waited too long and lost most of it to a hard freeze.
So this year I started extra early, but someone likes celeriac even more than me. I'm mystified.
It's not Samson (see http://www.sammysleeping.blogspot.com/) because there are also a couple of brand new tomato seedlings on the top shelf whose first leaves have been delicately gnawed off without tipping over the filament-like stem, not to mention the tray and everything else, with only an inch of room between the seedling and the lights, and that's not Samson-knock-everything-off-the-bedside-table-with-one-swipe-to-get-a-snuggle's style. It's not mice because there's no mice poop in sight, and I have mice elsewhere in my house, so I know whereof I speak when I say, they don't just decide to not poop for a while because they are eating something they like.
It's a mystery critter and I'm upset. Seriously upset. Surprised at myself upset - I'm sad. I've moved everything that can stand to be out from the lights up to the porch (a closed, windowed porch - it's still relatively cold here) and the rest I've surrounded with mouse traps, even though it's not a mouse. I feel distracted, invaded, perplexed.
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