Guardin' the Garden

My brother gave me a few seeds to plant in my backyard garden this year. They were obtained from a neighbor who each year grows jumbo pumpkins—we're talking hundreds of pounds. Of my three seeds, just one sprouted for me and the pumpkin is sprawling next to my house. No blossoms have appeared yet. I also planted my usual peppers and tomatoes.

Now my garden enters a dangerous period of summer. We've had plenty of rain and warm weather. That's not the problem. But visiting from St. Louis for a few weeks are my son, his wife and their four children, all of whom are under five years of age. They're staying with us.

Here's a photo of me reading to them.   I can only entertain them with stories for so long though. Then they wander off to find something else to do. When they're left on their own, it can spell trouble for my garden.

When my wife Wendy caught my granddaughter Gwen with a leaf pulled from one of my planted vegetables, she asked Gwen what grandpa (me) thought about her doing that.

“He don't know,” was her response.

She's the oldest at four and a half. Then there's Davis who at three can be trouble as well. When he was misbehaving once, I threatened to call Santa Claus (on a play phone).

“Do it, pa, do it,” Gwen urged me on. When I declined, she called Santa herself on the play phone. Then she gave her little brother the verdict for his misbehaving. “Santa Claus is coming. He's going to take you to the North Pole and throw you into the dungeon.”

Wow, maybe a little harsh. But fair, I guess.

The one I have to watch for the most is Charlie who is one and a half. He's already plucked the biggest tomato, still green, I had in my garden. Then later I found the whole tomato plant pulled over and lying on the ground. He also plucked at least one blossom from a prized pepper plant. And I saw him eyeing the biggest prize of my humble garden, the jumbo pumpkin.

He's the type of baby that you can't turn away from for a second. I did that once while we were eating dinner and Charlie, sitting next to me at the table, swiped my steak knife stabbed a piece of his chicken and fed himself pirate-style. There was no harm done before I grabbed the knife but it reminded me that you have to watch him like a steely-eyed hawk.

So I bought some deer/rabbit fencing and strung it out around my garden. I saw later that it was keeping out the bunnies.

But, according to my son Scott, Charlie pulled it down when he went outside. Scott put it back up again but it looks like my garden may remain vulnerable for some time, at least until Charlie goes home.