Monday, August 1, 2011

Case of the Purloined Veggies (Before & After Garden)

I thought it would be fun to show you some current garden shots today, so you can see what's happened since we started our vegetable garden. Things came in quite nicely this year, despite the raging heat. They look a bit wilted in this photo, but after tonight's watering, they'll be nice and perky tomorrow....























Such a difference from the Before shots, right?























My very first harvest consisted of some large zucchini (enough for at least 12 loaves of zucchini bread when shredded!) and some green peppers. The tomatoes and just starting to ripen, and my peppers are doing well too.



Although it may appear to the untrained eye that our garden is yielding a real bumper crop, the truth is that the zucchini plants have faded quickly, and I couldn't figure out what was happening to my pepper plants. At first, I figured we might have a worm in the plants, or maybe a rabbit was hopping around our garden at night.

Ever a fan of the original Nancy Drew books (when she looked fashionable and drove a blue convertible), I decided to investigate. My search for the truth was interrupted when "Bess" and "George" and I took a beach trip with my mom, but we came home to this:


The face of an angel, yes? Wrong...


Apparently, 10 pound Emma decided to forgo her diet of dog food and rabbits and has become a vegetarian. T said he caught her eating a tomato, and she pulled all of my yellow peppers off the pepper plant. Those are her special favorites--an appetizer, if you will.

This explains the half gnawed up zucchinis I kept finding. That darn dog cheated me out of more zucchini bread. Her punishment is now supervised trips to the backyard, where she stares longingly at the garden while sneaking looks at me to see if I am watching.

My one saving grace is that her mouth is too small to crack through my melons, which are the most stunningly delicious fruit. And I'm not even bragging. I'm just being honest about it. I love how the vines trail up the ugly old fence.



I'm considering hiring a security firm who specializes in vegetable protection. You can never be too safe with a Pomeranian around.

Join me tomorrow for Myth #5 in my Blogging Myths series!

Linking to the Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick.

17 comments:

  1. Ah! Crazy little dog! (But adorable. I love poms). :) It's actually a good thing that it was your dog, because she'll be easier to police than some sneaky squirrel. I'm envious of all that fresh produce you guys are harvesting! :)

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  2. The dog did it!! You are such a veggie stealing slouth (detective)! lol. Wish I could grow melons. It just doesn't get hot enough here for long, even though this summer it has been really warm. I'm not complaining. I love the heat. Have a great week!

    Jessica

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  3. I am extremely jealous. Our garden looks like someone set it on fire. We had some tomatoes for a few weeks and then everything basically burned to a crisp, even with watering. Very sad.

    My dog won't touch produce, very impressive that yours is trying to get to it! At least you solved the mystery!

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  4. I'd say your garden looks great! And compared to ours, you've got a bumper crop for sure! I can't believe you've got melons like that. We've had a couple of tomatoes and that's it. There are more coming though.

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  5. Your garden looks great and your puppy is very naughty. I had the same problem with half-eaten tomatoes. I think it's birds or raccoons. I haven't caught anything red-handed (pawed?) though.

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  6. Oh my, you are a good sleuth! I have never heard of a dog raiding a vegetable garden, you must have an advanced species !!! So glad you caught the perp in time, and by the way, your melons looks amazing! I bet they taste the same.
    xo
    Kate

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  7. I'm jealous! My peppers didn't do squat! That zuchini looks fantastic and I'm totally jealous of your cantaloupe.

    We had to build a small ugly fence around ours to keep out our dog. She might not have eaten anything, but she would've trampled everything for sure!

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  8. Oh, the naughty little pom-pom!! That's so funny. . . yet it's not funny, either.

    But still. The way you wrote it up. . . it's funny.

    Okay, so I get to be Nancy Drew, because I have titian hair. And you're brunette, so you can be George. Know anyone who can be Bess?

    I don't think I'd be that good at driving a convertible, though, so maybe you'd better be Nancy.

    Oh, how I loved those books! Nice to know it wasn't just me. :)

    By the way, what's left of your garden looks wonderful!

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  9. Funny, my dog loves vegetables too!

    I'm jealous of your garden. Mine has yielded absolutely nothing this year. It's getting mowed down this weekend because if it hasn't even budded yet it's not going to. I'll try again next year or the year after in a sunnier spot.

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  10. Dang, that is a huge zucchini! I didn't even know dogs liked vegetables, but your post potentially explains some weird things that have happened over the years . . . Glad your melons are being spared.

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  11. I've never know a dog to go after veggies!

    Get 3 ft. tall chicken wire and a couple green stakes for the corners and cage it. We use it to keep the rabbits out. Should work for the dog unless he's a good jumper. Plus at 3 ft. you can still step over it to get into the garden. Then at least he can go out without supervision.

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  12. Your garden looks awesome Amanda! Ours faded fast this year because it was so hot and we went a few weeks without rain! Too funny that your little cutie was the thing eating your garden...I never did figure out what kept getting our tomatoes!

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  13. Your garden is doing great! My green peppers are doing awesome, but my zucchini didn't make it. I was looking forward to making a zucchini cake that my mom once made too!! They got some sort of fungus that killed them off right after the blossoms started to turn to fruit! Maybe next year :)

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  14. bahahahaha! oh my gosh this is too funny! That face on your dog is priceless! and I am shocked at the size of your melons (ok that sounded weird) LOL But it all looks amazing- makes me want a salad.

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  15. I had no idea that a Pomeranian would eat veggies. At least you have a cute thief!

    I've been getting bunches of tomatoes and peppers that we are really enjoying.

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  16. So funny! We had a dog growing up that would eat the cucumbers out of our garden. We would just find the little stumps on the plants.

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  17. What a lovely garden, and what a naughty doggy! :)

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