Should I be worried??

I have a bunch of 'holes' in my garden. I'm hoping they're from worms, but I'm not sure. I've noticed a bunch of small, (roughly pencil sized) holes in my garden. In all the boxes.. not just one. (I have 4, 4'x6'x8" boxes) The holes are random, no trails or anything, it looks like someone took a pencil and poked about a dozen holes all over each box. I was having problems with bugs and my plants all seemed to be a bit stunted, but after sprinkling
some Diatomaceous earth on everything it seems to have cleared up the bug problem and the plants are all now flurishing. I swear my pumpkin leaves are doubling in size every couple days. So, even though I have these holes, there's no visible damage to any plants... yet. I looked online and some people say it could be voles. I'm not sure if we have voles here. Well, we probably do, but I've just never had any exposure to them. What do you all think? Is there anything I should do to? Should I have an expedition at night with flashlights with my boys and see if we can see anything? (oh, the holes seem to be happening at night)

Sorry for the rambling.. I appreciate the help!!

Liz

A photo would be helpful for me to see what it is going on. Are you still getting new holes in the foliage?

Lilybit,

I had a vole problem... past tense! I don't seem to any more. But my "holes" were not pencil size. They were quater size holes. Voles are long and skinny. And it is very possible to have a vole problem and never have seen a vole.

Only reason I know exactly what they look like is b/c I put out D-Con bait blocks (bought at Walmart) and that seemed to take care of them in only a few days. One died above ground about 5 feet from my gardens. Got an up-close and personal look at a vole (something I never really wanted).

They didn't really do any damage to my plants directly, but they were making these burrows or tunnles all over the beds. Some were too close to the root ball for my comfort. So I'm glad to be rid of them.

They only came into my newest 3 beds b/c we used newspaper to line these. My other boxes have weed barrier. I've heard they can get through weed barrier but my voles must have just been lazy and played where it was easiest to get around. I have 6 SFG boxes and put all bait blocks down (I think there may have been 6 or 8 in a box) scattered all around the gardens. No more voles, from what I can tell.

Good luck! Let me know if you have any further questions.

Well.. to update... It's birds!! Over the weekend I was sitting out on the back deck enjoying a cup of coffee in the morning and I just happened to notice a few birds taking a stroll through my garden and digging in the dirt (likely going after my fat and juicy worms!). I 'flew' down to the garden and chased them off and sure enough my garden was again covered with the mysterious holes. (and how previously I missed the 'tossed' dirt all over the leaves I'm not sure..lol)

So maybe my next question should be.. how do I keep the birds out of my garden? They aren't hurting anything yet, but other than tomatoes and peppers, there isn't any fruit for the birds to be eating. They're likely to be problematic later.. right?

I keep birds out of my garden with pieces of cardboard covered in aluminum foil hung on yarn/twine off my trellis's. They get knocked around in the wind and work as a "scarecrow". I've also heard of people using disc's (as in cd-roms) because they're shiny and reflect light. They also make noise with the breeze.

Early in the season I used bird netting to keep them off my strawberries.

Those things seem to work for me!

My guess is they are probably after the insects in the garden, and perhaps worms. What kind of birds were they?
Last week when I was in Vermont, I drove past a melon field and they had placed a scarecrow on a pole in the field, it was actually a dead crow.

I have had a lot of birds in my garden very recently. I think they are after the freshly turned soil (I just harvested a number of squares) and for the misting system / water, all to cool off. I have noticed a few divots that look a little like wallows. Am hoping they are just trying to cool off. I do have a few newly planted squares but I will not begrudge them the chance to feel a little more comfortable in this heat.