After a month wandering around France, visiting gardens, markets, wineries and eating far too much excellent food, I arrived home expecting to find the vegetable garden quietly waiting for me.
The rabbits had other ideas.
It appears that during our absence the local rabbit population decided that Rough Cut Garden was operating as a free buffet.
The damage was impressive. Most of the leafy vegetables had been eaten almost to ground level. Whole rows had simply disappeared. A month’s growth had vanished in a few weeks.
Oddly enough, the rabbits proved to be quite selective diners. They largely ignored the garlic and broad beans, showed only limited interest in the celery, and left the Asian greens mostly alone. Everything else was apparently considered a delicacy.
The beetroot may survive. Time will tell.
Fortunately, it’s the middle of winter, so this is more annoying than catastrophic. The garden can be replanted, and most of the infrastructure is intact. The irrigation is still working, the mulch is still in place, and the soil is in good condition.
The bigger lesson is that the rabbits have now officially declared war.
Before any replanting happens, every bed will need some form of netting or exclusion fence. There is little point putting fresh seedlings into the ground only to provide another rabbit banquet.
At the moment I’m still taking things fairly quietly. The ribs and shoulder I injured in France are improving, but not quickly enough for a weekend of heavy garden construction. The repairs can wait another week or two.
The vegetables are patient.
The rabbits, unfortunately, are not.
And if the netting doesn’t work, I may need to start looking up rabbit stew recipes.
Rough Cut Kitchen 
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