Cat Proofing

My cats, Laika and Midge, are very devoted plant killers. Together they've destroyed a ficus tree, an aloe plant, a very long ivy plant, and countless vases of flowers. Thankfully, they've never gotten sick in the process of all this destruction. This is likely because they don't usually eat the plants, they just rip them apart and trail them all over the apartment.

All of this has been very distressing to me, but I've figured out a few tactics that allow me to have a few plants that peacefully coexist with my furry friends. Long, trailing plants are out of the question unless they’re hanging from the ceiling. My one hanging ivy plant gets a haircut whenever it grows long enough for a cat to reach it. Also, I've amassed a collection of succulents, tucked quietly onto bookshelf corners and high surfaces, which don't seem to attract the attention of Laika and Midge quite so much.

As I start my seedlings each year, I have to take some precautions. Luckily, if the cats can't see the seedlings, everything seems to work out fine. Our seedlings have started sprouting at this point, and the cat-proofing is in full force.

As you can see, all I’ve done is tape some paper around a shelf and the seedlings can do their thing without any attention from the kitties.

I’ve also set up lights because we just don’t get enough natural light to keep the plants from getting very leggy. These are old desk lamps I’ve pulled out from our basement storage space, with special plant light bulbs in them.

For simplicity’s sake, I decided to keep everything on one shelf again this year, even though it’s a little crowded. Everything’s coming along really well in there. The outdoor situation is another matter though. Perhaps due to our bizarre “spring” weather, including snow and sleet, our radishes, nasturtiums, and greens have yet to show themselves.

Springing Up

Although it's still quite cold outside, today feels a bit more like spring for a couple of reasons. It's opening day at Fenway Park, and our seedlings are coming up.

Snow in April?

The good news is that my chives from last year are coming back quite nicely. The bad news is that there's a layer of snow on them. There's also a layer of snow covering the seeds we planted outdoors on Sunday and the bulbs I planted in the fall which still haven't come up. This really doesn't feel like spring.

A Beginning

The order from Seed Savers came in on Saturday. So, today we got almost all of the seeds in soil. I think we might be a little behind schedule for tomatoes and maybe a few other things, but hopefully it'll all work out. We decided against using yogurt cups to plant the seedlings in mainly because it just isn't worth it to buy yogurt at the store (instead of making it at home) just to get the containers. We bought a few of the little black plastic containers you see above, which really keeps things more organized anyway.

Inside this year we have two cat-proofable windowsills (instead of just one) set aside for seedlings. I haven't worked out the final cat-proofing plans, but will need to get that done before the delicious green seedlings show themselves. In prior years, a wall of construction paper around the shelf with the seeds on it has done the trick. We won't have to deal with that with our greens, peas, nasturtiums and radishes which we direct seeded outside.


Laika and Midge, my plant-eating friends, had an exciting time watching birds fly by the balcony today. You can almost tell how tense and excited they were from this picture.