KEEP OUT!

I planted a garden this year:

I am still learnng the "how to's" for maintaing a beautiful garden.  I know the basics, water and sunlight;  it has gotten me this far. 

Now I need to figure out how to keep my garden growing!  Not just growing, but producing edible products. 

Sadly, we have ONE green pepper to look forward to this summer.  I can see little sprouts trying to make it happen, but it isn't looking so good.  In fact, two promising sprouts actually fell off the plant when I touched it.  Hmmmmmm....that's not suppose to happen. 

AND

Our garden started with peppers, corn, sunflowers, peas, lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, flowers, and a trial run of watermelon and pumpkins ( I mainly just wanted to see if I could grow some).

We have a handful of those things still growing.

Perhaps being gone for four weeks was the problem. 

Perhaps it was this guy:

We came home from Utah to find this guy nesting in our neighbors backyard. 

Between him and the squirrels, they've managed to help themselves to the corn, sunflowers, and snow peas.  I'm talking they went into the garden and dug up every. single. part. of those plants.  It's like they never existed.   

What's even more mysterious is the fact that we still have carrots and lettuce growing right in front and they didn't even touch it...don't rabbits like carrots and lettuce? 

I gave a small mischevious laugh when I noticed that they missed the little sunflower hiding between the stair wall and a garden stake.  It was about two feet tall AND was just about ready to bloom.  I was so happy for that little guy....until just a few days ago.  It was scissored right along the bottom, laying flat on its side.  Now the entire root system has been dug up.   

These little guys don't want me to enjoy a thing, do they?

 I will figure out pest control soon enough. 

Now how do I keep this little critter out of the fruit bowl:

She took one bite out of each fruit.  LOVELY! 

I don't blame her.  The peaches WERE fantastic!