This year I tried some new things.  First I tilled more area, so that my garden was a little more than twice the size of previous years.  Then I planted alfalfa in order to infuse the soil with nitrogen.  At the same time I planted some corn and threw in some free flower seeds that I had received.

I also planted some giant sunflowers, and I was very pleased that two of the plants survived the marauding of the rabbits.  One plant grew to about eight feet, and I was so pleased with it.  But the second one stopped its growing only after it had reached a height of twelve feet!  I am certainly going to save some of the seeds from that plant to use in next year's garden.

Everything grew fine, but the rabbits kept eating everything down to the ground each night.  Tawny knows that she is not to bother the wild rabbits in the area.  So I had to put up a fence to restrict the critters' access. That worked well, and things went ahead and grew.

The funniest part was that I had miniature corn plants, since they had been bothered during their initial growth period.  I had one stalk that was only about four feet tall, but it ended up having five beautiful ears of corn on it!

The only problem that I have had with this new section of garden besides the rabbits is the cattle that the cowboy runs on this place.  Tawny usually keeps them well away from our home, but the fresh alfalfa was more than they could resist.  They broke through the fences a few times and pretty much destroyed everything.  I am still trying to teach Tawny to be a bit more aggressive at keeping away the cattle.

The original area of the garden continues to do very well.  The soil in that area is so rich now that things grow very well.  I can even take a twig from one of my cottonwood trees and simply stick it in the ground, and it will root and grow.   This year I have strawberries, carrots, radishes, cantaloupes, asparagus, honeydew melon, and one tomato plant (a rogue from last year's crop).