Now that I think about it, there are a lot of pot patches in California. Like the three sisters, I always thought of pot as a tomato plant companion. But growing pot in cornbread mafia country is not a good idea.

Once you are really in the country, nothing is deer, rodent, bird, bug, or snake resistant. If they don't get your trees, fruits, vegetables and flowers, they'll get the roots and bulbs below ground. Just like the wildlife you have to fit in. Unfortunately, humans can’t stake out their territory alone. It takes a while, but dogs and cats will help convince the other wildlife to respect your territory.

JD, if there are deer around your place, there are bucks, and you don't want to mess with one of those. Bucks will stand their ground. They'll dance and prance and snort and if you do not back off, they'll stomp their hoofs, lower their heads and charge. You don't want to be on the other side of a charging buck with a rack of antlers on his head.

In California, we had one buck who thought our apple tree belonged to him and there was no convincing him otherwise. He won fair and square, so we named him Buck and stayed away from his apple tree.

I have placed wire trellises on my garden boxes. I bet that bunny can’t jump in there now.

I dread the work, but I'm gonna have to get a dog and do the training a cage free dog requires.