Organization, or lack there of, deer, rabbits, groundhogs, slugs (up to 3", disgusting and voracious eaters) and clay ground that looks like the back yard "pond" in above photo after merest rain sprinkle. I've done the amending and mounding thing but that seems to have made gardens prime target for moles, voles and chipmunks. While side dressing perennials with compost yesterday found more than a few holes directed right at roots when I was moving foliage to get compost under there. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to fit in potting up perennials that don't have a home yet, plant all the bulbs after trying to amend the always soaked/compacted clay (tulips I planted yesterday have puddle over them this AM), what to do with perennials that look like they have lace foliage from slugs/bugs/insects and still try to get the hang of winter sowing so I have enough to replace what the miserable creatures ate and destroyed. I'm tied up in an anxiety knot my second year since I know it all doesn't work out well and it's so disappointing after all that work to get it going. Did I have germinating mix too wet, did I feed them soon enough, who needs light and who wants dark...on and on and on. Gotta take the time to make a chart and get organized. After marathon sowing (without record keeping except Sharpie notes on containers)I got lost in what all different things needed and how they wanted to be planted. I don't have the experience or personality to just hunk'o'seedlings them and let em survive or perish! My fenced butterfly garden has been decimated by groundhogs that climb 4' fence, rabbits that find the smallest opening to slither under and deer that are getting in there although they aren't supposed to jump fences without a lot of open space beyond fence. The only thing they haven't eaten in there is milkweed but that was moldy and losing most foliage long before the last of my Monarchs were released in late August. I also know there will be a plethora of self seeded monarda just waiting to spread mold coming up all over in there...LOL. Had to put Tithonia in huge container 3' high (was for onboard boat storage) with another 3' of chicken wire rigged on top of container. Groundhogs still got up there and repeatedly ate them to nubs, went away for a while and then pulled down 4' stems until they looked like they'd been struck and split by lightening. To add insult to injury not a single butterfly used them but the bees loved them. I should be asking myself why I've already purchased most seeds and have a few more to get for next year but it's impossible to fathom. This is supposed to be fun but I guess seeing at least some flowers that attracted lots of bees and butterflies who don't care about the rest of the plant looking like hell or know what's not there that was planted makes up for all the disappointment. Just to put in my 2 cents, I'd have wanted to explode if workers and/or neighbors were so inconsiderate to trample plants after all the work it took to get them in there! I'd just seethe but my head would hurt from keeping it in...LOL. You at least expect "humans" to have more sense than all the critters that plague your plants/gardens. I've spent a small fortune on bagged garden soil, potting soil, compost and amendments as well as critter repellant sprays. Started winter spraying regime yesterday on roses, azalea, boxwood, hollies and yews. Compared to people who have snakes in their gardens I think I'll consider myself relatively lucky on the critter front no matter how much of a continual fight it is. I could go on whining forever but it only makes me feel guilty for all the troubles I DON'T have that others battle daily on a more serious level. It won't stop me from whining or gardening but people "alive in the flesh" around here just walk away when I start talking about seeds, flowers, plants, containters or any gardening topic. Wait until I come home with bales of germinating mix when it comes in Friday at Agway 30 miles away that ordered it for me...LOL. Sorry for whining when "challenges" was topic! I need an attitude adjustment like they tell kids.

Relocation is not recommended because the critter does one of the following: returns "home" or dies. The latter occurs because of competition from local wildlife ; killed as an outsider/intruder; or dies of starvation because it doesn't know the territory. You might try a search with something like "badger control in garden" -- but no quotes. Here's one result: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2805851/Forget-moles-meet-new-threat-lawn-Indian-summer-led-surge-badgers-digging-gardens-search-favourite-food-juicy-worms-stop-ruining-lawn.html

Dalton theBengal - the class is free, because of a grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality - the MDEQ. So, in theory it is just for Michiganders. However, let's make a deal. If you help "newbies" out with general gardening questions, you can join too. How is that? Trade expertise for expertise? Be helpful on this forum when people ask rain gardening questions that you know the answers to. Like what is the best way to remove sod? Or, do I have to add compost? (yes). Sound like a deal?

So, I'm reading backwards and trying to catch up. Nancy, Sophie's Choice is a fine early tomato and I've noticed in some drought years that it is amazingly drought tolerant as well. I've grown it in maybe 8 or 10 years, as it has been available via seed retailers since around the mid 1990s. If you like old-fashioned tomato flavor that leans more towards being a bit tangy or acidic, you'll like this one. If you prefer sweeter fruit, this might not be a variety you'd like. Most years, the fruit on mine tend to stay on the smallish side, but that's not really uncommon with early varieties. It is great for containers as the plant itself is very compact. It does not always produce as well late in the season as some other early varieties do, so if I had limited space and had to choose between it and Early Girl, I'd choose EG over SC every time because you get more fruit per plant from the EG and season-long production. Chris and his girlfriend are blissfully happy, so I think she's the one, and I'm going to be patient and not push them because I just want for both of them to be happy----and if it is true love (and I believe it is, and I believe they both believe that too), then it is just a matter of time. We had a fun, casual and very relaxed Christmas lunch and we kept it simple---salad, lasagna, garlic bread, green beans and a simple desert (cupcakes and cookies). Chris took home leftovers for them to have at the house and also for him to take to work tomorrow (which is unusual, because the firefighters usually cook their lunch and dinner at the station, but maybe he doesn't really like what is on tomorrow's menu). The girls wore beautiful dark blue velveteen Christmas dresses but the rest of us were in jeans or sweats.....a three year old in a pretty dress wolfing down lasagna like a starving wolf was quite a sight to see...and she only had lasagna on her forehead, cheeks, chin, nose and mouth by the time she was done. I do think she managed to eat some of her lunch, but her face was wearing quite a lot of it too. She loves lasagna and ate very enthusiastically. I agree that you cannot go wrong with mac and cheese. I don't know anyone who doesn't like it. When we were planning our Christmas meal, I told Chris I could provide alternate food for the girls if they don't like lasagna, and he assured me that they both loved it (and both ate it just fine), so this was the simplest meal with no one requiring anything special or different. Tim and I ate more wheat in one meal than we normally eat in a week, but it was worth it. This lasagna is his mom's recipe, and what surprises me the most is that we've had this same recipe card, in her handwriting, for almost 40 years....well, I think about 37 years and Tim thinks 40. Either way, it is a miracle we haven't lost the recipe card in all this time. The card is getting pretty creased and worn, so we're going to scan it into the computer while it is still legible. Oh, and Tim must be the chef when his mom's lasagna is being made (and who am I to argue?) so the hardest thing I did today was make a salad and cook green beans--easy peasy. Kim, I hope all your journeys this season are safe ones and that you arrive home rested and ready to move on to the next stage of your professional gardening life. A little down time is always a good thing to refresh one's spirit. Rebecca, Your food sounds yummy and I hope the kind wasn't on the attack too much. It sounds like y'all had a really relaxing pleasant time together and I think that is how the holidays ought to be. Do y'all remember the Norman Rockwell image of the perfect family gathered around the table for Thanksgiving with the nice tablecloth and perfect place settings of the good dishes and the good silver and such? Of course there is the huge turkey on the platter and Grandpa is getting ready to carve it. I think it is entitled "Freedom From Want". Well, we had holidays like that in the 1980s and well into the 1990s, but things are so much more relaxed now, and I like this sort of celebration better. The food tastes just as good without all the fuss, and who needs china, silver and crystal? If we get any more relaxed and casual with our family, we'll be sitting cross-legged on the floor eating pizza. And, that would be okay because what matters is just being together. Jennifer, I am jealous of your snow. No matter how little you got, it was more than we got. They keep throwing some sort of wintery precipitation into our forecast---sometimes for 2 or 3 days per week, but as those days approach, it falls out of our forecast and we get nothing. I love snow, but I'm okay if it doesn't fall too because when we get snow down here, it more often is only sleet or freezing rain or a wintery mix and the roads get treacherous and it takes Tim and Chris three or four hours to get to or from work. We rarely get something that looks like actual white snow flakes. Sometimes we just get graupel. For chickens who need to roam more, there's always chicken tractors available, and some of them are fairly small and compact. You can buy them or make your own, and some of them are lightweight enough that one person can easily move them around the yard. Or, if you want to put the chickens in new areas that you can periodically change up (but this will not include overhead protection from predatory birds) there's portable, electrified poultry netting that runs off fence energizers. Some of it, at least, comes already attached to poles you can stick easily into the ground, so you can move it around periodically. For anybody not familiar with electrified poultry netting, you can see examples of some of those products here: Electrified Poultry Netting at Premier 1 Supplies Don't worry. The day will roll around again when there will be little ones in your home (at least visiting for Christmas) and you'll find yourself putting out cookies and milk for Santa and food for the raindeer once again. Our almost 9-year-old future granddaughter reported breathlessly and with great joy to us today that Santa ate 2 of the 3 cookies she left out for him and took one bite from the third. He drank all the milk. She was impressed and decided he must have been really full from eating cookies from all over the world and he loved their cookies so started in on the third one but just couldn't finish it. I think that pleased her more than the fact he ate the other two cookies. It made me smile to listen to her tale as our son and her mom looked on, as I remember when our son was the young child thrilled that Santa ate the cookies. At least we all understand why Santa Claus is a little bit rotund....after a solid month of eating too many treats between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I know our family is going to try hard now to return to more healthy eating, and much less junk. It was such a lovely, if cold, day today and I sort of hate to see Christmas end. It probably is a good thing it comes but once a year. So, now we start looking ahead to the good bowl games that really matter. I hope the Oklahoma teams do well in their bowl games this year. For me, the bowl games are the bridge that carry us from Christmas into the new year. Dawn