Goats invasion | Gardenjournal

Tuesday of this just-passed last week was one of those days I woke up to meet the day filled with anger — the kind of anger that makes one unable to do anything. On that day, I met my little garden invaded by goats, and they crazily chopped off every bit of the bitterleaf plants, the yam plants, and also a fast-growing pawpaw tree (papaya). It’s the second time this has happened, and it was actually the goat invasion that made me put a kind of blockage at the entrance into the block. But these goats finally had their way and did crazy damage in the space.

The photo above shows the way I blocked the two entrances. Of course, I did that with a net, and I was very sure that nothing would be able to pass through or climb it except for birds (fowls) that can fly. But ever since I did that, no animal has ever thought of passing through with force or climbing through.

Now, the photo above shows how the goats pulled down one entrance to have their way into the garden to eat the plants. At some point, I believed it was a human that pulled down the blockage for them, but hey, goats can do worse. Once they’re desperate to pass through anything, they can do everything possible with their stubbornness to do so.

The photos above show how the plants were looking before they invaded and chopped off everything. I’ve been enjoying the bitterleaf plants — I’ve been cutting them to prepare my food, and it’s been lovely.

The photos above also show how they’re looking after being chopped off by the goats. No-mercy eating!

I have a yam that had been growing beautifully, and I had been planning to stake it with a stick. The yam was among the plants eaten, plus the papaya tree there.

Within this week, I’ll create another space to block the entrance again, maybe with stronger fencing.

For these plants to regain and bounce back — which, of course, they will — they’ll need about two weeks and a touch of rain. But unfortunately, rainfall is dwindling again, so I’ll need to water them once in a while.

Thanks for reading.

Photos used are mine