If you already read today's earlier post and clucked knowingly, then read on.
After a walk tonight with the world's luckiest dog, I walked into the backyard with her to check on the tomatoes. From a distance, I could tell something was wrong. The gate to my vegetable garden was ajar. Somehow the bed looked different. Fluffier, maybe? As I got closer, I saw this:
Let's go in for a close-up. Yes, that's a fin.
And look, there's the Arkansas Traveler tomato plant I bought on a whim. I had already bought five tomato plants and no intention of growing six until I saw the tag that Arkansas Traveler grows well in heat. I guess I really was meant to grow just five.
I wasn't entirely sure if the world's luckiest dog was to blame. Normally she does not go into my vegetable garden. This evening however, she accompanied me in to survey 
Here she is on the other side of the fence. See how she's avoiding eye contact? She realized pretty quickly that her digging adventure wasn't the right move.It wasn't entirely her fault though. Sometimes the latch on the gate doesn't quite catch. (I've reenacted the crime scene here to show the open gate. I didn't have my camera on me initially but I thought you needed all the evidence.)I guess she couldn't resist the lure of stinky fish.
I do have verdict already though of the Arkansas Traveler tomato: does not travel well.
We live along a pond - and my dog loves nothing more than to roll in a nice smelly fish. I would have thought that once a fish carcus was buried, a dog couldn't smell it. Wrong, huh? Hope the rest of your tomatoes fare better than your "Traveler"!
ReplyDelete"does not travel well" That is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI'll keep in mind that the odor of the fish might attract wildlife, if/when I try this. I do have raccoons visit occasionally... now I need to think this through a bit...
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Nice punch line, Vertie. Yep, she looks guilty, all right.
ReplyDeleteHeehee. She looks guilty, all right. And here I resist the urge to make a "sleeps with the fishies" joke. ;)
ReplyDeleteAw, poor pup. How could she be expected to resist the allure of rotting fish heads? I think my garden helper would dig under the fence, if that were her only option.
ReplyDeleteIt does make me wonder how the fish head with the corn approach worked for the pilgrims, though - they had way more wildlife than we do in the middle of Austin now.
My husband thinks your dog might be confused over your dismay. It looks like it's thinking, "I've saved those valuable fish heads from those nasty green things that were growing over it."
ReplyDeleteThis was the last thing I thought about as I went to bed last night and the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning. I thought your fish head photos were beautiful and I loved the detail you went through in photographing your process preparing the holes and planting the tomatoes.
After all that work, I think I would have cried if it had been my tomato patch. This is truly brave reporting.
I was so jealous of your fish heads! My first thought was that my dogs would excavate the entire garden looking for stinky fish heads, then gnaw on them and roll around on them. I'm so sorry it happened in your garden. Your dog, like mine, is lucky she is so cute!
ReplyDeleteDogs love to roll in anything dead. A fish is just that- something to cover up the smell that she is a dog. Our dog would roll in a dead seagull at the beach and in cow muck in the field.
ReplyDeleteDid you cry? I would have. I did when our gate was left open and the deer came in and ate everything.
Anyway if it wasn't that the dog got there first I'm sure a raccoon could scale the fence and do the same thing. Im thinking that this is not a good idea so I'll tell my husband he can do as he has been doing and leave the fish heads for the pelicans.
You seem to understand what your dog is thinking, Vertie - is that from classes or from experience with canines? Sorry about your "Traveler".
ReplyDeleteMaybe any squirrel or raccoon that came within musket range would end up on the menu before it dug up the fish heads.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
(verification word is "coquat", some new variety of fruit tree, perhaps.)
(gasp!) That's what I did when I saw your new photos. Man, I would have been cursing up and down my driveway, and then probably sat down and had a good laugh. You're very good-natured about it. I have Arkansas Traveler as well so we'll see if it does anything for me.
ReplyDeleteLOL. That was excatly my experience when burying the contents of two cans of salmon to feed my tomatoes-dog dug it all up. Can't spinkle blood meal either, unless I dig it in when making the beds.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, with the experience of several big dogs and the occasional need to bury one of our pond fish, I could have saved you the misery. No bone meal for irises, no fish emulsion on anything low enough to be climbed in, and don't let them see you digging any holes. Gotta love 'em (a lot!)
ReplyDeleteVert,
ReplyDeleteThe little plant in question is Hooded windmill grass.
-Brian Loflin
(Your photography instructor)