Run Rabbit Run

But Peter, who was very naughty, ran straight away to Mr. McGregor’s garden and squeezed under the gate!

With all the wildlife around here competing for our harvest, I’m thinking we should have called our place “Mr. McGregor’s Garden”.  After waking up this morning, and surveying our vegetable crop, all I could think about was The Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Our star heirloom tomato variety this season, in regards to early ripening, and excellent fruit production, has been the ‘Black Pear’ variety.  Last weekend it was clear that we should be in for a number of ripe ‘Black Pear’ tomatoes by week’s end.  This morning however, the almost ripe tomatoes…were gone.  Completely disappeared.

Further inspection of the vines however revealed a far greater tragedy.  For the first time we decided to grow ‘Marvel Stripe’ this year.  This is a beefsteak type variety, and the fruits, in ideal conditions, can reach 2 lbs, albeit they are slow to ripen.  They have a marvelous yellowish-orange and red streaked flesh, and they are as beautiful as they are flavorful.  I’ve been watching one sizeable fruit slowly turning color for the past couple of weeks.  Our indecisive hot and then cold-again weather did cause a small crack to form at the top of the tomato a week ago, but overall it was ripening well, and almost ready to harvest.

When I woke up this morning I was most eager to see how the ‘Marvel Stripe’ was doing. I was mortified to see that a full 1/3 of the near perfectly ripe first ‘Marvel Stripe’ of the season, was gone!  Then checking to see how the other fruits on the same vine were faring, I saw a sizable unripe tomato sitting in the bottom of the pot. At first I thought it was just growing there, and went to position the fruit over the edge of the pot so the fruit didn’t get damp, only to discover that it had been separated from the plant completely.  Not only that, but the perpetrator responsible for devouring my prized tomato had probably sampled this tomato first, as there was a small hole at the top where it had been nibbled, and subsequently rejected, in favor of the ripe tomato.

What I had neglected to consider, whilst waiting for my tomato harvest to mature, was the fact that we’ve had a rather brazen bunny living underneath the deck since spring.  Just below where the tomato plants are growing, where no doubt said bunny can keep a very close watch on the impending harvest.  I’ve bumped into this rabbit on a number of occasions when out in the yard. I’m sure much like Peter, he looks well fed (now I know why), and although he’s missing a little blue jacket and shoes, he is obviously familiar with what happens to thieving bunnies caught in vegetable gardens!  He is always swift to exit stage right, zipping up the hill, whenever we have a close encounter in the garden.  I feel a bit like Mr. McGregor…the farmer in the garden who is feared by all bunnies that dare sneak under the garden gate.

When I read Peter Rabbit as a child I remember absolutely loathing Mr. McGregor, as I’m sure was Beatrix Potter’s intent, and really did not understand at that time why he couldn’t bring himself to share the radishes and carrots with Peter, surely he had enough growing in his garden that he wouldn’t miss just a few.  However, 35 years later, I think I now have much more empathy for McGregor’s plight.  Don’t worry, I have no intention of baking a rabbit pie, just more determination to get the vegetable garden fully fenced!