Victory is Mine!

I finally beat those pesky squirrels! It took a whole lotta patience and one heck of a Tomato Palace (as mom mother named it). But finally, I get to declare victory over those not so Disney like thieves. I will finally have my first ripe tomato in a couple days and I can say...I will enjoy it. The funny thing is, I really don't like tomatoes. Why bother? I am highly competitive and refuse to be outsmarted by Chip N' Dales distant kin! Victory is sweet!

This one is before. I added the canopy this year and it has been awesome! Protected those guys from the direct sun and yielded loads of tomatoes...for the squirrels. 

Here is the after! Tomato Palace and squirrel proof!

I have however lost the war on my pumpkins, squash and cucumbers this year. I have a plan in place to treat my soil with a tonic recipe I got from Jerry Baker's Terrific Garden Tonics. If it does the trick I will share them here with ya! I plan on planting now just to see if it will help. I will keep ya posted!

Any Jane Austen Fans?

If you love Jane Austen, like me, then you will enjoy this book I just finished. I borrowed it on my iPad from my local library and it was a good read. Definitely Not Mr. Darcy is a story about a divorced single mom, Chloe Parker, with a failing business and one last hope to save her home, business, and love life. She wins a trip to England to take part in what she thinks is a documentary set in Regency (19th century) England. What she quickly learns is that she has signed a contract to be on a reality show and compete with other women to win the heart of Mr.Wrightman. Now, I was able to very quickly guess the twist but I was still eager to see how it would unfold. I will say, I am not a fan of books or movies ending the way this one did (I want to know exactly how they rode off into the sunset) but I still very much enjoyed it. Karen Doornebos did a great job capturing my attention, engaging my love of Jane Austen, and writing a love story that I want more from. I am certainly hoping Ms. Doornebos is working on the sequel!

Squirrels and Bugs!!!

As you know, I love my garden. I also love animals but just realized this year...I love them to a point. I really enjoy teaching my kids about our natural environment and how everything has a purpose or a job if you will. However, if those darn squirrels steal one more tomato they are going to be introduced to my friend Kristal and her BB gun! We do live in Texas ya know! Well, thankfully it has not come to that. I purchased some Deer Off and have applied it liberally to my tomatoes, fencing, canopy, etc. I am ashamed to admit that I did see a squirrel in my neighbor's garden and I hosed it down with water! Oh, I am awful, I know. At least he did not get a meal from her garden nor mine! So far, so good. I have over 18 tomatoes coming in and I better have all 18 there! Battle of the tomatoes, round 2 has begun.

The other nuisance in my garden are those adorable rolly pollys! My daughter loves them (I did too when I was her age). Now, I just see hungry little pests that like to eat their way through EVERYTHING! I have been tolerating them but yesterday I caught one eating my green bean! Does he not know how many I have to grow before I can make one meal? Humph! I will continue to tolerate them but they should be warned, I am watching!

Very soon I will have my potting table built and I will post pics. I found the picture of one on Pinterest and loved it. I was able to get some cedar posts from a friend for free and my husband and I have spent all weekend stripping the posts to get them ready for lacquering. Almost there!