Gardening dogs
The dogs have been out harvesting. There was a bumper crop of blackberries this year. I didn’t plant the blackberries. My neighbor planted them about 15 years ago. They grow along a 75 foot stretch of wall on the north side of my property. I also didn’t plant the apples that hang over the wall or the pomegranets in the back corner. They are all from my neighbor’s yard.
Now in some areas these would be issues of contention. To have someone intrude into your property with invasive planting might be a problem. I see it as fruit gifts. I am not required to water, fertilize, or do anything with an entire side wall of my property. My neighbor has taken it on for me.
I do go out in the fall and tie up the plants after the berries have been harvested. I do pick up the spent fruit. I used to come up with ideas for how to use all the fruit that always seemed to ripen within a few days. That was before the dogs.
The dogs are eating machines. They stand up on the side wall and gingerly pick the berries off the vines. They jump up into the trees and either eat the dried pomegranets or come down with fresh ones. they often wait until later in the summer when they start to split open then eat the seeds out on the deck.
The dogs now seem to have company. There are roof rats and possoms and raccoons which feed off the fruits. They are also raiding my garden which the dogs can’t get into. If the dogs are quick they might catch some of the critters early in the morning or late at dusk when they are forraging. My garden is 25 x 25 feet cut into a traditional cross and is fenced off so I can have an undisturbed crop of onions, garlic and potatoes. Otherwise the dogs would eat them. There are all the traditional summer vegetables of squash, beans, chard and the less traditional bok choy and the tomatoes. There are lots of herbs. More than 75% of the garden is devoted to herbs. There are flowers as well, scattered throughout and some grapes growing for the first time up trellises connecting the squares.
The dogs get to run around the outside and chase things into and catch things running out of the garden. I can tell by what’s knocked over the size of animals coming inside. Some things are about 30 pounds. Which means racoons. Most are small and eating everything, which means rats. The housing is near a ravine which goes up to the mountains. We get wildlife. There’s more than enough in the garden for two people. Plenty for the few rats, racoons and anything the dogs can pull through the fence.
I know the neighbor called an exterminator for the roof rats. I can see that if they get into the house, but not when they are outside running around. There are tons of them in the ravine four doors down. She’ll keep the exterminator company busy most of the year. I’ll just let the dogs have them if they want them and do something if they are in the house. I’ll just plant more stuff or use more screening if I want more stuff kept alone.
