Gardens and Gophers - 2010

The harvest this year has been pretty poor. I only got a few good size zucchini and some yellow squash. The eggplant has been nibbles away and the corn is dry and small. The tomatoes seemed to be stunted in growth with leaves dry and brittle. All of this is probably due to lack of rain water. However, I am still getting a lot of cherry tomatoes.

Last year there was too much rain water, this year it is too dry and hot. If you depend on Mother Nature to help water the garden, you were out of luck this year. Since I have been away from home several days each week, it has been hard for me to water the garden on a regular basis and consequently the plants have suffered.

Another reason has to do with a critter that is living under my back yard shed and near the garden. He has been feeding on the big leaf vegetables and after a few weeks my zucchinis have no leaves. He has also nibbled on the juicy stems near the base of the zucchinis which has prevented the plants from getting water.

Consequently, I have written a going away poem for my little garden friend. Hope you can appreciate the humor and frustration.


My Friend Gomez

Gomez and I get up early every morning to tend the garden. We start by weeding and trimming the edges. I pull out the dead leaves. Gomez nibbles the juicy ones, as his plump body wiggles and weaves.

I use a hoe and Gomez likes to use his paws with sharp claws. I turn up the soil to root out the tough weeds and Gomez looks for the grubs on which he feeds.

After a while I add a little fertilizer with a triple 10 blend while Gomez likes to add a natural one, dropping a little here and there achieving the same end.

I tried to coax Gomez to start his own garden far away from mine. I spread some moth balls and fox pee around Gomez’s den, so he would find some other place to dine.

Now that he has eaten all the zucchini leaves, he nibbles away at the grass. There isn’t much left of that either, since the dry summer sun has burned it up fast.

I think its time for Gomez to take a trip, so I ordered a special traveling box that is just the right size. It’s called a Have-A-Heart-Trap, I hope he will like the surprise.

I hear they serve great meals in Gomez’s future home in the woods down south. However, I think I have had enough with Gomez and like a mad dog, I am beginning to foam at the mouth.

If you haven’t guessed by now, my friend Gomez is a Gopher. One of God’s little creatures that have some great purpose in life, but only God knows what for.

Yours truly,
Farmer Mark