Hi, Kid's!  Duke, Here!

 

I thought I would show you my garden.  I have a big yard to roam in and I enjoy not only playing ball in my yard but relaxing in it with my humans. 

 

Last night, my mom and I sat outside for a while and listened to all the night sounds.  If you really listened, you could hear the leaves in the trees rustle in the breeze, the crickets making their noises, the cars passing on the highway and the trains in the distance. 

 

 

 

I like to take in all the different smells of the garden.  We have herbs that really smell - basil, oregano, lemon balm, mint, bay leaf.  And then the flowers all have their own scents too.  It keeps all of our noses pretty busy smelling all the stuff. 

 

At night you can see all the lightning bugs flying around. Gardens really are a wonderful thing. There is such a difference in the taste of vegetables out of your own garden compared to ones you buy in the grocery store.  My humans do not use any chemicals in the garden.  They call this organic gardening.

 

Years ago all gardening was organic but sometime in the 1940's humans began to farm and garden with chemicals.  Chemicals are good for killing all the bugs that destroy the vegetables in the gardens but some humans learned that over the years those same chemicals hurt animals and humans too.  And not all bugs are bad for the garden!!! 

 

In fact, my humans actual bought bugs for their garden.  Ladybugs and lacewings are bugs that eat a lot of the bugs that destroy the plants so you want a lot of them in your garden. 

 

Also toads are really good for the garden because they eat the bugs that you don't want hanging around.  We have some toad houses in our garden to encourage toads to stay. 

 

And one of the best things to have in your garden are earthworms.  Earthworms are really amazing creatures.  They can eat your garbage and produce the best organic fertilizer in the world!!  And they keep the soil broken up which allows water and air to nurture the soil.  They are some of the hardest working garden helpers and they do it all for free!!! 

 

But if you have dogs and cats you need to be careful because some plants are actually poisonous to dogs and cats!!  For instance, the leaves of those wonderful tomato plants everybody grows can make us very sick!!! 

 

Well I hope you enjoyed learning about my garden.  Even if you don't have a big yard, you can even grow a garden in pots.  Cats and dogs love the smells of plants!!!  Just be careful and grow plants that will not harm your pets.  Try some herbs - we love their smells and you can cut them and use them in cooking, too!!!

 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth ...And called the dry land Earth ..... Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind"..Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind"; and it was so...And God saw THAT IT WAS GOOD... Genesis, Chapter 1, New King James Bible.