the garden deuce.

this is a new place for amy and i. there are 2 other residences in the building. we are used to living in close proximity with other people and as a bass player, it requires some consideration so my lifestyle doesnt make someone elses home a living hell.

our neighbors are dog owners. i like dogs. we have cats. i'de rather keep fish.

our neighbors arent as considerate as we are, as has been shown to us, by them, on several inconsiderate instances. usually just laziness, sloppiness and middle of the night, drunken nonsence.

amy and i are very happy that this place has a backyard and we're happy that we planted a garden back there this year; one third flowers, one third vegtables and one third herbs (not that herbs ... oregano and basil). we are both good gardeners.

its been raining here since we planted the garden so i havent been able to go down and look for several days. even tho it was pouring, i snuck out yesterday to take a look.

our neighbors pitbull peanut dropped a steamey pile right in the middle of our vegtables!

now ... i know the nonsence that cycles thru my head about how to respond to this ... scoop it up for a hood ornament on her car, scoop it up for a flaming bag on her doorstep, or perhaps no poo at all and just wait for her to come home from working a double and turn on the bass rig - jazz pickup single coil bass - hit the a string - and go to work for the day. i know that these actions arent adult in nature and probably arent appropriate behavior ... but i just keep living there and need to practice restraint.

so i present it to you fine folks. what would you do? what do you think the appropriate way to deal with this situation is? what would you really want to do to deal with it? how can i express to this girl the level of disrespect that i feel in regards to the infraction in my garden without having the possibility of incarceration?

and what ever happened to natural selection?

If it were me, I'd pick it up and talk to them some time or maybe not say anything at all. If the same thing or a similar thing happens again, then I'd have a word with them.

I agree with CB. It could have been an honest mistake. Either through carelessness, or possibly just the dog getting out and taking a crap in your garden. I have 3 dogs who sometimes try to run out the front door, and, honestly, if they did, and then ran and made a deuce in my next door neighbors yard, I probably wouldn't notice.

If it happens again, confront them about it. And no pranks, that would only aggravate the situation. Plus, any prank involving dog crap is going to be stupid and immature (and that is coming from a 17 year old guy, and not even a very mature one at that).

I agree with what has already been said, and I also think that there are three ways of looking at this.

1. If the dog is normally allowed to run loose, that needs to stop, because as far as I know, that's against the law. If the dog is permitted to run around willy-nilly to crap in another person's yard, then that person is responsible for correcting this behavior.

2. If the dog was walked by the owners and knowingly allowed to drop a doggie package on your garden, this again is against the law.

3. If the dog somehow got out by mistake which does happen, then the owner should at least be more aware of how their pet gets around so that it does not happen again.

In any of these cases, you would be well within your rights to at least ask your neighbors about the situation, and see how they respond. I'm not suggesting that you do such a thing, only that I believe you have the right to.

You said that you guys live in close proximity to others, but it sounds as though you have access to your own area of soil to plant your garden. Would it be at all feasible to put up a small fence?

I don't know exactly what your relationship is with these folks...if I have been pushed again and again, I probably wouldn't be so tolerant, you know?

perhaps i didnt express the level of f-u this is from these dog owners.

first of all ... the garden had a few dumpers in it before we cleaned out the weeds, tilled it in and planted stuff. there was a dumper on the portch on the side of the house that i dont sit on anymore.

second ... this is our neighbors and their dog insofar as, its the same building and we share the same backyard. in essence ... its their garden too; they just dont garden, or take out the trash, or clean up the yard. in fact ... the garden is directly in back of their backdoor ... you cant even see it from our second floor apartment.

you guys are right ... i shuddent do anything immature or drastic although i entertain myself with the thoughts throuout the day.

i'm just really mad. this is the most lazy, irresponsible, disrespectful and disgusting thing i've seen from someone in our society lately. this chik downstairs shuddent own a dog if she cant take care of and be responsible for it ... she cant even control it or dicipline it (how long till it bites someone?). it barks round the clock and is destroying the property. this girl cant even manage her own life ... she cant even put the plastic in the plastic recycle bin and the paper in that one.

natural selection wont deal with her for me.

i cant eliminate her.

what do i do next ... tell the landlord? i'm not a tattletale and i'm not getting into that stuff.

call the cops? animal control?

i just ultimately think its a shame for the dog. if she cant dicipline the dog and she just lets it out the backdoor to do its business ... wherever ... i can just imagine what other careless treatment shes giving this animal.

i think ultimately ... i'm just gonna get over it, but its only gonna last a minute. another reoccourance will have me knocking on her door and telling her to clean up after her dog.

... and plus ... i didnt post this to bring everyone down with how much a bunch-o-aholes people in our society can be. i posted this to amuse you guys with the nonsence that runs thru my head insofar as how to deal.

was wondering if anyone else has these "bright ideas" as i like to call them.

it IS kinda funny, but not at the same time.

"it barks round the clock and is destroying the property. this girl cant even manage her own life"

if your landlord is a "normal" one, you complain to him, with your reasons above, maybe a bunch of pictures of the damage and he takes care of the situation.

Takes you out of the loop and is the easiest thing since the landlord will be the bad-guy. If he determines your garden is an important part of the nice landscape that will make his property "look good", then heck ya I would tell that girl she has a few choices:

keep the dog under control, get rid of the dog, be charged for damages done to the property --or be evicted.

we had a similar situation in a apt bldg I lived in but with cats, and cat-piss smell everywhere from a tenant who let the cats piss and sh** everywhere as the moron left the cat box on the porch, in fact he was cited by the health dept after myself and 2 other tenants complained .

did it work?

in our case, yes. the tenant was given a notice by the landlord to clean it all up or be evicted...15 days later the tenant cleaned up his cat's messes, took the litter box OFF the backporch and moved it inside his apt, and no more smell or doo-doo anywhere we had to walk.

in your case will the landlord warning be enough? who knows unless you act on it.

like i said ... i'll just accept it and get over it.

i got home from work today and it wasnt raining so .........

i pulled some weeds from the garden.

i picked the trash up out of the back yard.

i took the plastic out of the paper recycle bin and put it in the plastic.

i got a shovel and scooped up the ducer and threw it in the trash.

Maybe...indoor hydroponics?

I used to grow herbs (the LEGAL kind, like sage, oregano, thyme, etc.) on our kitchen window sill in a house me and a few friends rented together back in the 90's. As long as I was careful to not subject the plants to too much hot sun, it worked fine. Just a suggestion.

I'm not a fan of indoor plants, but that's a good idea. Personally, I like the idea of a garden, but I hate yard work. Yeecgh.

perhaps when we get a bigger place, some around the season gardening in a windowsill greenhouse will be at the top of my project list. currently, there is no "cat free zone" in the small apartment ... they like to try to eat anything thats growing, tasty or not. (we dont have a cat vomiting emoticon) if we get enuff space to have a off limit to cats room, i'de also like to do a fishtank again.

untill then, we do the best with what we have. the garden is growing and everything looks good ... thats the best i can ask for.

I know exactly what you mean about kitty vomit. And green kitty vomit, especially. I don't know why cats are so attracted to eating plants...