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The moles are feeding on the grubs, earthworms and other soil critters beneath your tomatoes—not the roots. The moles’ digging does sometimes damage the plants, but they usually recover if you press their roots back into good contact with moist soil.

A repellent mixture of castor oil and soap usually causes moles to leave an area. Put one-half cup each of castor oil and dishwashing liquid in a jar, and shake well. Use this as a concentrate and mix 2 to 3 tablespoons in a gallon of warm water. Use a watering can to dribble it over the area you want to protect. A castor oil-based commercial product called Mole-Med can save you some of the mixing. Until you get the animals to feed somewhere else, make time to visit your garden each morning and step on all the tunnels around your plants.

— Barbara Pleasant, Mother Earth News contributing editor.

3 Comments

  • Hoosier 10/27/2008 11:39:18 PM

    The best mole eradicator I've found is a sharp tined barn or manure pitch fork. Starting at a tunnel dead end I stabbed the tines of the fork into the soil, making sure I covered the entire width and depth of each tunnel with sufficient number of thrusts to guarantee "Diggory Diggory Delvet" didn't get passed over. After "aerating" the entire mole habitat I walked back over each tunnel, compacting the soil. I thought if I'd missed him he would restore the tunnel and I could repeat the process; no tunnels erupted and I did not have to repeat the process. Note: A sharp tined fork penetrates deeper and is extracted more easily from the soil than a wide blade garden fork. It will penetrate your shoe with no remorse, so watch what you are doing.

  • Kent Fister 8/19/2008 2:11:53 AM

    When I lived in Washington State, moles were a real problem. Some local told me the way to get rid of them. First-buy a super pack of Juicy Fruit gum. Second-take the paper off a bunch of sticks of gum. Third-with a shovel, cut straight down through the tunnel. Don't lift the dirt out, but instead make a space big enough for you to reach in, find the tunnel with your finger, and place a stick of Juicy Fruit gum. Return the tunnel to as normal as possible to the way you found it. Do that throughout your yard. Fourth - Wait! Within two weeks they will all be gone. If there are a few stragglers---- do it again. This worked every time. Good Luck

  • Diana Mishica 8/10/2008 9:34:17 AM

    The best thing I have found that works are cats. We tried everything for two years but could not make a dent in the mole population. This year we have had no moles in our yard! To keep the cats out of the veggie garden, I used crushed egg shells. The cats apparently do not like the feel of the egg shells on their feet.

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