A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion New Members Hi from Valley Springs, California!

I've just joined the forum, and am looking forward to sharing ideas with everyone.

We built 5 raised beds this year, and also have five fruit trees. We figured we saved almost $1,000 off our grocery bill this past year, and are hoping to surpass that amount in 2009.

I also want to get into canning in a big way.

Welcome, PatriciaJoy from southern Ca. That is an awesome amount of savings. I will be looking forward to hearing about your canning experiences as I've never done any. And this is certainly the time for conserving funds, isn't it? You have found a good and fun group to join here.

Hi Tina, thanks for the welcome. My husband and I are just retired and are looking forward to many happy productive hours in our garden.

It is about 65' x 65' and surrounded with a 6' fence to keep out the deer. We live in the foothills next to a wild river canyon. Our biggest challenge is all the wildlife who love to visit our garden - squirrels, raccoons, skunks, wild turkeys and gophers. At least the deer don't jump the fence!

This winter we will build a small cold frame and plant a Meyer Lemon tree.

What do you grow? My best friend lives in Anaheim. Are near there? ~PatJoy

I live inland from LA in the foothills above San Bernardino. My problem with growing edibles is also mostly squirrels, rabbits and gophers. We also get a few deer, raccoons and skunks but not as many as days before wildfires nearby. So I stick to mostly deer resistant flowers here. I do have a lemon tree, a naval orange and figs. My plum burned in a previous fire and my apricot and persimmon died from just the heat/smoke. I haven't planted any peaches because neighbors have as many as I could handle. I have an acre or two I can plant if I can get water to it all. We do grow our own Christmas trees and some of our own firewood here. But flowers are my thing, mostly.
Have you any dogs to keep the wild critters at bay?

No dogs. We have four cats - one spoiled feral cat lives in the garden and helps control the gophers.

We have 9 wooded acres and maintain most of it as a wildlife sanctuary. We do love having the deer around and they leave our veggies alone. Right now we have a flock of big wild turkeys. I think they got the word that we are vegetarians so are spending Thanksgiving with us. lol

I do love the wildlife here. That is one of the reasons I won't go for many edibles that I would have to fight them for.
We are also 'retired' although I do putter in landscaping for friends a little bit. My husband is a retired high school Ag teacher; he says recovering teacher. We have two kids still at home, a 17 year old senior daughter and a 14 year old down syndrome son, Teddy. I also have three adult kids of my own.
One dog to keep the critters at bay for now.

welcome patricia joy!

Hi PatJoy, sounds a bit like paradise. You have the whole cast from 'over the hedge', as well as some extras! Any rabid squirrels or naked turtles?

We don't have many wild animals around here, apart from a few wallabies and maybe some roos, but they never come to our garden. I have seen them hopping up our street, though. We have 2 cats and 2 rabbits, which really belong to our kids, but guess who looks after them? Anyway, good to hear from you. Hope you enjoy the forums!

Two cats and two rabbits? Do they get along?

The rabbits don't get along with each other, but they are good friends with the cats. The rabbits have separate hutches, and they have turns in the back yard, but if we let them both run around the back yard at once, it's war!

The newest cat, Rosy, is still mostly a kitten, and it took a while for the old grumpy cat, Kitty, to welcome her. When we first brought Rosy home, Kitty was walking around the house all puffed up like a giant furball, and her tail was like a toilet brush. She would hiss at Rosy whenever she saw her. Now, however, they are good friends. Rosy has taught Kitty how to play and have fun again! Now, if we could only teach the rabbits to get along....

Cats are so funny. We also got a young abandoned cat last year. Our old cat had major hissy fits over it. But now they play together and even sleep together.

I had no idea that cats and rabbits could be friends!

Yes, it seems that cats can be happier having another cat around, even if it takes them a while to realise it! What are your cats' names?

We didn't know about the cat- rabbit thing either; just found out by accident. Once we realised the cats weren't interested in eating the rabbits, we relaxed, and let them be together. Sometimes Kitty has just gone and sat in the hutch with Reuben (he's her favourite rabbit). I think the cats also realise that rabbits are surprisingly formidable. I saw Max, the other rabbit, run up to Rosy at full speed the other day and nearly knocked her over. Very funny to watch.

We have Miss Daisy, grey and white. She's 12 and is the Queen. She expects total obedience from the others and gets it. We got her at the shelter.

Anna is all black. She's 8 and very sweet. We got her at the shelter.

Bootsie was abandoned on our property. She's a beautiful long-haired Persian black and white tuxedo cat. We tamed her and now she lives inside our big fenced-in garden. She's too wild to come indoors. We know she was neutered at one time because the tip of her right ear is neatly sliced off - the universal veterinarian's sign that surgery was done. She is a sweetie-pie.

Molly (Good Golly Miss Molly!) is another cat we rescued. She is half Siamese. She and her mom and siblings were living in the woods and half the babies were eaten by coyotes. We captured the three survivors and found homes for them. We took Molly. She is just one years old now. She has won the hearts of all the older cats and has gotten them all to act like kittens again. Her favorite game is stalking the wild turkeys we have. She loves to make them flap their wings.

It's funny, all the different ways that cats come into your life. Kitty was abandoned at maybe 1 year old, and she adopted us. We've had her for 8 years. She is black, brown and white, with a pretty face. Someone brought Rosy to the animal shelter, and we bought her for our youngest daughter's birthday in August. She was just a shy little kitten; spent the first few days hiding from Kitty behind the dvd player, where Kitty can't fit. She is stripy grey with all white underneath, and a couple of small ginger patches, very nice colouring. Does Molly have a very long tail and long legs? Rosy does, and I wonder if she is part Siamese as well.

Molly is buff colored like Siamese, but where they have the dark diamond on their face and dark tail, Molly has light stripes instead. She is more vocal than my other cats, but not as vocal as a full Siamese.

Interesting story about how we got Miss Daisy......

We went to the shelter looking for a kitten to adopt. They had none, just several cats close to a year in age. We looked at them for a while, then decided to go home and think about it. That night I dreamed about one of the cats, and then in the morning my husband discovered he had left his planner at the shelter. Then the phone rang and it was the shelter calling about the lost planner. We decided it was meant to be that we adopt the cat I dreamed about!
So we did.

Yes, it sounds like Miss Daisy was definitely meant to be part of your family! You have to listen to those dreams.

Patriciajoy--welcome

;-)