Caught Another!

We caught another rat with the trap we put out last week. This one is not quite as big. It joined Templeton about a half-mile away down near a creek.

It hasn't rained in over a week now and the boxes are getting pretty dry. We might be able to start planting this weekend! My Russian dossier paperwork is wrapping up so I think I'll have some good time for planting.

Pests and other Wildlife

Redwood roots and treetops are only part of the challenge here. Something has been gnawing the leaves off my citrus trees. I haven't found any parts of the leaves anywhere, and I'm certain it's not deer getting in. And the bunnies I've seen hopping by can't climb a tree, albeit a dwarf tree.


Some droppings in the pressure pump shed tipped me off. Perhaps a rat? So we set out a live trap and LOOK what we caught:


Templeton found a new home near a very nice local creek. I set the trap out again today to see if he has any brothers or sisters. Apparently this large fence around the garden has created a nice safe haven for smaller animals inside. My cat is too old and lazy to catch these critters. I'd like to get some new cats if they wouldn't pee all over the house or get eaten by coyotes. We'll try the trap for now.


It was warm enough today for the lizards and snakes to come out. (These would probably disappear too if we had cats.)

This is one of our garter snakes. They enjoy our lawn more than the garden. I haven't been able to identify this particular type of garter on the websites. Any guesses?

Started Digging Today

I was able to turn 5 of the 8 boxes today. The weather has been sunny and warm the past two days and the boxes are drying out. The kids and I found many earthworms in each box, too. That's good news! I amended each box with 3 cubic feet of organic chicken manure. Maybe we'll plant the lettuces and root vegetables this weekend on the top row. It gets the most sun this time of year.

View from the water tank.

This box construction is what I've found to work in this region full of redwood trees. Each box is built of rough-hewn redwood boards, with dimensions of 4' by 8' and 1' high. I put redwood plank bottoms on each box as well, with 1/2 inch between the boards for drainage. I lined each box with drainage cloth before filling with dirt so the dirt wouldn't fall through the cracks.

I built these boxes with bottoms and have them up off the ground to prevent the invasion of redwood roots. In the past, if a box has been on the ground, or even touching the ground on one side, the redwood roots are attracted to the water and grow right into the box, forming a dense network that is impossible to shovel through. So, the trees around the garden grow taller each year, slowly shutting out the sun, and the roots are always ready to invade from beneath.

I have very good luck with these boxes. My tomato fruits are not particularly large, however I attribute that to our maximum of 5 hours of sun per day. Also, since I don't replace the soil each year with new soil I have to watch out for soil-borne diseases (e.g. Verticulum and Fusillium Wilt). I have found that certain heirloom tomatoes are susceptible to these more than others, particularly Green Grape, Red, Green and Black Zebra varieties. I'll avoid those this year. Early Girl is my one reliable producer.

The Fortress

I've had a vegetable garden here on our three acres since 1992. Two years ago, in 2004, I finally got serious about it had the fortress you see here built to keep out the deer. A new garden, including an 8-foot high fence surrounding 8 new 4' by 8' foot boxes on three levels.


Here are a couple of photos of my garden growing in 2004. It was an experimental year because I had to figure out where the sun was (and wasn't), trim additional trees, and install the watering.



2005 was a more successful year. We had a warm spring and I discovered the wonders of organic chicken manure. I gave C and K their own box to plant (split right down the center).

C planted carrots, spinach, snap peas and Mammoth Sunflowers. He enjoyed eating his vegetables, and so did we! K planted carrots, beets, snapdragons, zinnias, sweet peas and red sunflowers. Her carrots were yummy and her flowers were beautiful.



Everything finally planted here. That's vermiculite you see covering the seeds in the boxes. But what is that thing on top of Kevin's head?

View from the water tank. Look at those splendid tomato vines! Those heirloom tomato plants came from Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond.

This year, the only thing I have done in the garden is spread the chicken manure. We have had so much rain this past month that the boxes are too wet to turn. I don't think I will be able to plant until May unless the weather dries out soon.

More later on the construction of the boxes and the challenges of gardening with limited sun.