okay...so i'm a little down about it...

i set myself the rather melancholy but necessary task of removing the critter shredded and eaten maize ears from the plants as the focus of a maintenance trip after work today...given the half-eaten condition of some of the ears flies and the inevitable maggot bloom needed to be avoided...some of the ears are picked clean and some are not...the seventeen ears ( up by four since tuesday ) are arranged in a sort of damage gradient in the top photo...the most picked over on the left ( second photo ) to the partially consumed ( third and fourth photos )...i turned the compost pile and laid them to rest at the bottom ( we need to add another alternate wet/dry layer soon ) which will hopefully deter critters from digging them up...the race is on between critter consumption and mature maize...i am not sanguine about winning this particular race...the fall crops beating out he first frost may be a much better bet...more on the good news in the garden below ( one fine thing about the garden is its balance...i try to emulate that...don't always succeed ).