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The bag of squirrel repellent pellets came and I've got a problem. They shouldn't be used around pets. I think I can solve this by:
The dirt garden part backs up to the back fence. The top of the back fence is where the squirrels first land, then jump into the dirt garden. At the front part of the dirt garden, I have a metal border in the ground to keep the dirt in the garden. After the metal border is the brick Riverwalk where rainwater drains through the exists at the other side of the brick Riverwalk. In front of the Riverwalk is where the deck starts.

I'm going to have to stick plastic fencing in the ground just before the metal border starts. It wouldn't take a very high fence to keep my Yorkie from getting in there. I then saturate the dirt garden and the top of the wall with the anti-squirrel pellets. The plants that are in the grow bags would be sitting among the pellets on the ground.

If the squirrels don't get past the dirt garden laden with pellets, they won't be on the deck. So, the next step is get plastic fencing. Only would need to be 12-14-16 inches to keep Yorkie out.

The white fencing might even add to the “ambiance” of the garden. :o)

I have a question to all who know the answer to this:
What exactly is Stevia? Did I read somewhere it's sweet and can take the place of sugar? If so, are there seeds to be bought? So, what does one do with Stevia?

My baby tomato plants are now in the large tomato planter. There are four Sunspot Sunflower plants in grow bags. These Sunflowers should be planted in spring but I planted them anyway and have more for spring.

Those containers plus the Sweet Potato grow bag are together on the deck with net over them and I put row cover over them at night to make sure the squirrels don't attack in early morning before I am up. The row cover plus the net seems to keep them out. The deck is much closer to the house than the dirt garden so they have to be more brazen to come onto the deck but they would if the plants were not protected.

The stub of the one Sweet Potato plant that is left after the squirrels ate the rest of the plant before I moved them on the deck, is growing back a leaf so maybe it will survive.

I have a method to get oil out of black oil Sunflowers. Those Sunflowers will be planted in early spring as will the Jerusalem Artichoke Sunflowers that make the edible tubers.

I ordered two packages of Tromboncino squash seed that is resistant to bugs. Johnny gets some of those. The beauty of this squash is one can eat it when it is green or leave it and the skin turns tan and becomes like a Butternut Winter Squash. That's an almost all year food.

“I have a question to all who know the answer to this:
What exactly is Stevia? Did I read somewhere it’s sweet and can take the place of sugar? If so, are there seeds to be bought? So, what does one do with Stevia?”

Marcella, it is an herb with very sweet leaves. The leaves can be used to sweeten whatever you want, as sugar, but it does not have the effects of sugar on people with diabetes or insulin resistance. It is VERY sweet, and one has to experiment a bit before finding the amount that is best. Sometimes some stevia products will leave a slightly bitter aftertaste if too much is used.

You can find quite a number of stevia products at health food stores. Walmart even has one that is not too horrible, in their supplement area.

I have been in search of stevia plants or seeds for a few years. I have had some seed packets in the past, but was unable to germinate them. I found that FedCo does sell them, but they probably will not be available until next season. Just last week, Darlin and I were in our health food store which has a natural and heirloom seed rack. THERE WAS STEVIA! That is why I’ve been asking questions about it, because I’m wondering how to grow it without wasting this particular packet!! I’ve learned that it can be tricky. I spoke with a person at FedCo who confirmed that.

I’m looking at the envelope now, which contains 15 seeds for $3.49. This is from “Botanical Interests.” The packet shows the contact info listed as follows:

Botanical Interests, Inc.
660 Compton Street
Broomfield CO 80020
www.botanicalinterests.com

I use stevia ALL the time, and of course am very interested in learning to grow my own!

LOL!...I’ve just been doing a search on BING and first articles pulled up are on its DANGERS!!!! and WARNINGS!!!! and doubts about its efficacy in the body in managing blood sugar issues. Looks like the sugar industry is beating their tom-tom.

Here’s the Wikipedia link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevia

Some of my sunflowers. We've had 3 days of rain, and they would have been fine in dry weather, but they were beginning to go a bit, so I harvested those that looked like they needed it.

Note the size difference.

These are the actual seeds from the two different size sunflowers. I'm thinking that the local volunteer russian sunflowers crossed with my sunflowers and produced the smaller dark seeds. All of those small flowers were close together. Flowers at the other end of the bed were normal size.

/johnny