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How to Grow Organic — and Survive Rabbits

Talking of Suzie’s Farm (see below), if you’re determined to be organic, how do you scare off everything that wants to eat your crops? Especially those pesky rabbits.

Some organic farmers use scarecrows to protect their vegetables. Some use electric fences.

Suzie’s Farm?

Falcons.

“We have Andrea Ashbaugh, who’s a falconer, come several times a week, and her falcon hunts the rabbits from on high,” says Suzie’s Farm’s Quinn Wilson.

“She gets the rabbits to eat, and the word goes out among the rabbits, and we don’t have to worry so much.”

Plus they pay Andrea in kind with veggies she’s helping save.

Yes, says Quinn it’s sometimes hard to keep the rabbits out. “Like, last year, they really loved our baby tomato plants. But we put little protective boxes around them till they became more mature and less of a delicacy.”

Besides, Quinn says, the attitude at the farm is to share. “The rabbits get some, that’s fine. They have a lot to contend with: Andrea’s falcon, coyotes, hawks, our barn owls. We get most of our crops. They’re welcome to some. There’s enough to go round.”

On Suzie's Farm

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Talking of Suzie’s Farm (see below), if you’re determined to be organic, how do you scare off everything that wants to eat your crops? Especially those pesky rabbits.

Some organic farmers use scarecrows to protect their vegetables. Some use electric fences.

Suzie’s Farm?

Falcons.

“We have Andrea Ashbaugh, who’s a falconer, come several times a week, and her falcon hunts the rabbits from on high,” says Suzie’s Farm’s Quinn Wilson.

“She gets the rabbits to eat, and the word goes out among the rabbits, and we don’t have to worry so much.”

Plus they pay Andrea in kind with veggies she’s helping save.

Yes, says Quinn it’s sometimes hard to keep the rabbits out. “Like, last year, they really loved our baby tomato plants. But we put little protective boxes around them till they became more mature and less of a delicacy.”

Besides, Quinn says, the attitude at the farm is to share. “The rabbits get some, that’s fine. They have a lot to contend with: Andrea’s falcon, coyotes, hawks, our barn owls. We get most of our crops. They’re welcome to some. There’s enough to go round.”

On Suzie's Farm

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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