Wednesday, April 21, 2010

puppy power!


After I secured the garden with the chicken wire barrier it was time to plant! I poured a giant bag of gardening soil on the first third of the garden. I didn't have enough soil or seeds to fill up the entire plot. I mixed the native soil with the bagged variety (1 part to 1 part) and smoothed it out again. I decided to place the tomatoes along the back side of the garden edge. This way they will get plenty of sun in the afternoon and won't block the others from the sunlight. The tomatoes were still going strong so I transplanted the seedlings from the paper cups into the garden soil. The rest I started again as seeds, following the directions on the seed packets. I labeled each row with a plastic marker and left a small row of empty space as a walkway. I closed up the gate and gave my thirsty little plants a big gulp of water from the hose and called it a day.

Approximately five minutes later, after I had put away my gardening tools and washed my hands I saw it. My fear had come true. My dog had found a way in to the garden and was trampling over everything! I immediately panicked and screamed! All of my hard work gone down the drain! My dog looked at me and realized she was trapped. She had snooped around and discovered a way in but had not thought about how she would get out. I ran over to the garden and let her out, and knew that I had to make some adjustments if my garden was going to remain a dog free zone.

The next day I hammered the stakes into the ground deeper, so that the chicken wire was flush with the ground and no longer resting on the top of the railroad ties. Then I got a heavy duty stapler and stapled the chicken wire to the wood so there were no gaps large enough for anything to slip under. So far so good. Catastrophe averted!

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