Garden Wars

OilMan loves his garden.
And apparently fighting garden wars.
The gophers eat the roots of plants.
Entire plants have been observed disappearing
into the ground.
OilMan sets traps.
Moles don't eat plants; they girdle them with tunnels, depriving them of water.
OilMan stomps down the tunnels and fills them with water or poison bait.
He builds boxes with gopher wire bottoms.
He took all the dirt out of one old box, with a resident mole and struggling plants, and
replaced it with better dirt.
The mole is still in there. The tomatoes in there aren't very big.
OilMan admitted that he can't do it all by himself.
Irrigation is a challenge. The landscaper who had it put in doesn't know where the
lines are.
OilMan got a man to map it all for him.
The irrigation timer didn't work.
OilMan asked David to fix it.
The pipes get clogged, or broken, chewed or snapped.
There are three guys out there replacing a lot of it now.
They borrow OilMan's long extension cord to plug into their portable grill to cook
quesadillas in the shade of the oak trees. Ozzie likes that.
It takes hours to dig a hole for each plant and its gopher basket, and the plant dies in
the bad soil.
OilMan got the guys to dig holes, deliver a huge load of manure laced dirt, and haul it
down the hill in wheelbarrows. Ozzie likes that too.
OilMan still loves his garden.
I love David and the guys and their tacos and their energy.
Here's the ironic part.
The Heirloom tomatoes in today's blip are volunteers.
They came up all by themselves and, untended, grew huge, beautiful , delicious
tomatoes.