Great carrots BSG! I've got some pretty nice ones this year too. Hope I remember the variety, so I can get some more seed next year.

Smilingcat, bummer about your flowers I don't know if raccoons dig randomly like that though, they're usually after something (usually a beehive). Someone's been tearing the heck out of our lawn in the last week or so - I'm pretty sure it's skunks. They do that, hunting worms and grubs.

Raccoons sure can be destructive when they find something they want, though. But the good part of them being smart is that, once you've found something effective to deter them, they'll learn and quit trying. Once I had an electric fence on my garden, they stopped trying, even when I let the grass grow up too high and ground the fence out. Same thing with my bird feeder pole - I greased it for about two weeks and the 'coons don't even try to climb it any more.

I've still got some basil that survived the frost since it was so well sheltered by weeds. Maybe make another batch of pesto, maybe we have enough already - not sure.