The Never-Ending Battle

These last couple of weeks we have felt like we were having a never-ending battle with the critters who want to live in our garden. They love the moist ground and the sprinklers (that come on twice a day), the tender young plants (that they have eaten), and the seeds (that they have also dug up and eaten).

We started the battle by getting rid of the gophers. They were so distructive to the roots of the plants and to the plants themselves. Then the ground squirrels moved in. We trapped and relocated them only to have the pocket mice move in next. We trapped them and gave them a new home way out back; they, of course, returned (we know this because Don put a stripe of red paint on their tails when he let them go the first time). So, we trapped them AGAIN and found them a new home much farther away from our house. Hopefully they won't come back this time. Then the birds took over the garden, bathing in the water and eating the seeds. And now the temperature is getting hotter and hotter (we are supposed to reach 100 degrees F. this week) and the plants need to be protected from the sun. AAHHH!!!

After dealing with all of these problems, our garden looks like a fortress! There is shade cloth over the top (so the sun doesn't scorch everything), and bird netting all around the sides to keep out the birds and the crawling critters. We even had to net the side where the fence is because the squirrels were coming in through the chain link fence.

I had to plant seeds again and get them growing since most of the garden has been munched by the critters. The new seedlings are more than ready to plant, but we didn't want to put them out in the garden untill we could protect them. Tomorrow we will be planting again. We will also begin growing more seedlings. All that is left in the garden right now are a few tomatoes plants, some green beans, some corn, and some squash.

These are some of the seedlings on the back porch that will be planted tomorrow.


This is a view of the side yard with the garden as seen from the west/southwest.

Below is a view from the north end of the garden. That's an orange tree growing in front. There is also a grapefruit tree, a walnut tree, and a grape vine growing in this area. In the front of the house we have planted two peach trees, two apricot trees, and one more walnut tree.

I hope we are here long enough to harvest fruit from our trees. If not, then the people who come after us will have fresh fruit to enjoy.