This weekend, I planted my little vegetable garden. It was such a beautiful day on Sunday and prime planting time here in Northwestern PA.

A couple years ago, I decided to turn this tiny little plot in the side yard right off the driveway into a little vegetable garden instead of planting shrubs and mulching like the rest of it that is wrapped around the back. I just planted a couple of tomato plants and a few herbs the first year to see how it would go. It was so exciting watching the yellow tomato blossoms turn into little green tomatoes, then grow and turn yellow, then pink…. but then POOF! – before I could get a red one – they were gone! Never got even one red tomato that first year.

You see, I didn’t have a fence around it that year. Didn’t think we needed it. You know – we do have guard dog Mikey to chase away any deer or critter that comes close to the house (that is his job and he is very diligent about it as he flies in and out of his doggie door – unfortunately baroofing on his way out – even when I am on a conference call during the work day!) when he spies any movement from his slumber-filled days.

But nary a tomato I got that year, and I couldn’t figure out how the deer or rabbits got them all without Mikey chasing them away.

Then one day, after going into the office, I pulled in the driveway and caught the culprit…. It was MIKEY! He was sprawled out mid-garden nibbling away and feasting on a few plump red tomatoes that happened to ripen that day.

So the next year, up went a fence around my little garden – not to keep the deer and rabbits out, but to keep Mikey out!

I do, however, plant one tomato plant each year on the OUTSIDE of the fence…. just for Mikey.

He might be just a teeeeeensy bit spoiled….

But – that is what’s so great about Life in between…

Cheers and hugs,

Jodi