Tomato Surprise - A Confluence of Events In the Garden

If you think the Latin Kings are bad, you should see the gang of muskrats that live in the creek at the back of my yard.

I used to have a magnificent bed of Black Eyed Susans� that bordered the concrete patio, 3 feet wide and 24 feet long. Keywords: used to. As soon as the tender green shoots made their appearance this spring, the muskrat herd lumbered across the yard and chewed them down to the roots. Then they did it again, obliterating the plants forever.

I used to (a) be upset about it and/or (b) think this might be a good time to put in the roses I've been wanting or (c) even to go all Martha on myself and plant blueberry or raspberry plants. And then Little Yoo-hoo showed up, limiting the chances for any peaceful plant raising in that particular spot, at least for this year. He does seem to enjoy thrashing through the tall weeds.

No harm there - imagine if I had gone through with my plan to put in the roses there and he repeatedly thrashed through them. I would have been dissatisfied.

Despite my master garden plan to do the required hard work to set up care-free plant arrangements tend themselves, the weeds, they overcome me. On the sunny side of the house, I put in a few carefully chosen shrubs, mulched them heavily and left them to flourish on their own. Things were ok until this year, when massive amounts of tall weeds took hold there.

I'm very busy! Too busy to be pulling weeds every day! So by the time I got around to it, the weeds were as high as the bush and were concealing several volunteer tomato plants. I don't know how they got there. Could have been squirrels or birds - maybe the muskrats brought them over to apologize for razing the flowers. But there they are, almost ready to be harvested.

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So, these two events have got me thinking that I need to return to vegetable gardening next year. The former flower bed is in a nice sunny spot and I'd have the satisfaction of seeing the vegetables develop right under my nose. Now that the dog is in residence, I expect a sharp decline in muskrat activity as soon as he stops chasing butterflies and rolling over for belly rubs every 5 minutes.

Comments

[dogette]

I read the first two paragraphs and then immediately clicked on the picture to see the muskrat.

"Hey! That's not a MUSKRAT," I thought to myself, cleverly. "It's lifting its leg!" I added, to myself, observantly.

[Teresa]

I completely lack any ambition for gardening. I used to think I'd like it... but I don't. Luckily the gardens (yes multiple - the peeps we bought the house from LOVED to garden) are full of perennials. Sadly the created so much garden, I have to pay someone to come mulch it. Heh.

I hope the tomatoes turn out to be wonderful.

[Keith]

I don't think your little pookums would have thrashed through the roses for long. Them things hurt.