The Weapons of WAR!

We have all seen them.... the mounds of finely ground dirt pushed up in the middle of our lawns that makes us wish our rototiller could be competent enough to make the soil in our gardens that loose and airy. But there is a price to pay when you see this phenomenon... little creatures of the dark have colonized underground to make a gardeners life unbearable.
My newly planted tomato plants have been literally pulled underground, hostas have been eaten from the roots up, once flourishing cone flower plants have wilted and fallen over sideways. Hours of research on the Internet have only given me a penny's worth of hope...
The product in the picture (or one like it) was endorsed by a gardening guy on television, after a $1,000.00 dollar loss with his newly planted hosta beds. HOPE LOOMED!

The ingredients promising: Castor oil, garlic oil, and with a healthy dash of cinnamon ~ nicely infused on granules of fullers earth. Safe for garden application, (a big plus with those of us that use organic principals of gardening) and while it was $17.00 for this jug, it covers 7,000 square feet. Broadcast it and water for at lease 30 minutes....
The smell alone ran me out of my own garden, surely it would work on gophers!

Fast forward a week ~  the decision was made to boost the application of smelly stuff ... and ADD a device that chatters like a distress signal the gophers make... "proven to work".... Hummmm
"Proven to work"?? Not so much... Now my husband is in on this war and WAR HE HAS WAGED!

War can be pricey and I have a new appreciation for guerrilla warfare. Defined by Wikipedia as: "a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants (that would be my husband and me) use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and less-mobile traditional army" (that would be the gophers).

We have become acutely aware, we are definitely amateurs!

So this morning while the husband was surveying the garden and he spied the elusive dirt movement... with the .22 in hand he snuck to the garden gate. The dog knew what was up and hid under the bed....
But they are wily little rodents and while you can sneak quietly... you are never quite quiet enough....... The mission now is ~ WALK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIGGER GUN!!

Spring Arrives

It has been awhile... 

The new border is in progress ~ the old Columbia River stump, carved and smoothed with years of weather, sand and water has a new home with hostas, echinacea, and an old wheelbarrow filled with color.


 The snows have receded, the river is flowing at flood stage, and from the many things planted this year, a few are pushing their way through the ground. Our spring weather has been disappointing but the in spite of the cool wet June, the garden's makeover has continued and the lawn and vegetable garden have shaped up nicely. The "service gates" have been installed and the daily walk abouts  in the garden commences, with ever vigilance to weeding, gophers, watering and growth.