Let’s just say we do NOT live in a gardener’s paradise.  We are on granite, desert mountaintop.  Our soil is rocky and dry.  We live close to wild life – rabbits, deer, coyotes and javelina use our side yard as a race way and eat everything in sight.  And then there are small rodents and the birds!

Most gardener’s here either have securely fenced yards or have built raised beds (a big planter and filled it with soil).  Some have both.  They work great but are more or less permanent and expensive to build. David and I moved here last year. At the time we were not sure that we would be staying here permanently, so we leased a house for a year.  Turns out we love it here, but now we need some time to find the place we want to buy. The point of all that is that we are renting and do not want to go to the time and expense of building a big fence or even raised beds. (more…)