Heat, caterpillars and vervet monkeys!

 

Its not only farmers who have to battle the elements and nature.  Many challenges face a Square Foot Gardener.  After spraying the cabbages and brinjals (egg plants) with Margaret Robert's magic muti, the worms disappeared and new leaves started to sprout from the centre of the cabbage plants. 

The sweet corn stalks grew taller and taller and after displaying a bushel of seedy flowers at the top, little bearded corn cobs started poking through the base of the leaves on the stalks.  The Gem squash looked all but dead and then after one heavy day of rain, new green leaves miraculously appeared and tiny tendrills started searching for something to cling to.  I erected a trellis from the other half of the wrought-iron arch (the rest of it is now holding up the cucumbers) and strung twine across it so that they have something to climb up. 

The brinjal plants all produced large lavender, bell like flowers.  All looked good in my 1.5m X 1.5m Garden of Eden.

But then ....  disaster.  Another onslaught of green worms attacked the new cabbage leaves and once again they have lacey centers. I've had to spray again.

Grasshoppers landed on the brinjal leaves chomped through huge holes, resulting in some of the leaves curling up and drooping.

But, worst of all, a troop of hungry vervet monkeys found the sweet corn and stripped all but four of the almost ready to harvest corn cobs. 

Some they ate, some they partially ate and the rest were discarded on the front lawn and in our courtyard. 

I don't really know what to do.  Should I abandon growing anything that monkeys like to eat?  Should I erect a large cage over the garden?  I saw a fence that had been erected over a SFG to keep out rabbits on another blog and this person erected an electric fence around his garden to keep out the squirrels but I don't think it will help with monkeys!  http://timssquarefootgarden.com/gardentips.htm

There might be a second crop of sweet corn on the stalks so I'll leave them in for a while but I can see that I'm going to have to do something to protect my vegetables from the onslaught of large and small invaders!  Its all out war in the Sqaure Foot Garden!