When my two dogs were alive, I used to have a very good garden each year. I tried to grow different things each year. I grew mint for tea, peas, garlic, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, onions, radishes, spinach, and even cauliflower and broccoli. The dogs would keep the rabbits and squirrels out of the backyard and even the birds would fly away when the dogs were on patrol. I would plant some flowers in the garden for the bees and butterflies and the birds would fly in and eat some worms out of the soil once in awhile.
But since my dogs have been gone, my gardens just haven't been the same. I have had squirrels in there and rabbits and even mice this year. I would find my line of carrot tops bit off. I did have a fence around the garden, but the animals still got in. I would find little teeth marks in my tomatoes if the crop was good. The weeds seemed to keep taking over no matter how much I tried to get them out. I even tried growing corn a couple of years ago, but the squirrel got the good ones and left the ones that had some sort of black fungus on them (the organic seeds were not immune to fungus). The birds even ate my strawberries as soon as they were ripe.
All I can say is I understand how tough it must have been for settlers to try and live off the land. My gardens have not been producing very much for me and without the dogs to chase the animals away, the garden is just a food source for rabbits and squirrels. I also tried to grow some potatoes, but I didn't put them in soon enough and by the end of the season, they were still green so I did not want to eat them.
I think I'm going to just grow only a few things next year and put some of the tomatoes in pots and on the deck so the animals won't get to them. I can't get new dogs at this time, but as I've been told by old farmers, every one on the farm, including the animals, had a job to do.
by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)
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