GARDEN
Box Turtle Garden
When we moved to our new house in Downtown Albuquerque, I needed to find a way to keep our dogs and pet box turtle separate. Our old adobe house, near the plaza in Old Town, had been blessed with two courtyards. The dogs got one and the turtle lived in the other. But with the move, our creatures would need to share a backyard.
The box turtle garden was born. It also proved to be a good way to hide the air conditioner.
The first summer season I planted greens and herbs, imagining the turtle happily munching on fresh garden plants. It would be a plant utopia. However, he showed little interest--preferring to catch bugs. Soon he was a one-turtle pest control system. He rid the kitchen of ants by eating the ant line. He tirelessly hunted insects from my plants.
The kitchen compost pile, next to his water dish, proved more of a hit. While he didn't seem to notice the fruit and vegetable scraps, he digs for worms, thereby turning the pile for me.
The turtle has fresh water while he's out of hibernation in the summer. Like the garden itself, he requires no care in the winter. The first year I filled a larger planter with loose soil and put it down into the ground. I'm not sure if he could dig down deep enough to for his hibernation in our hard clay soil without it. He found and used it without problem.
I know winter is about over when I see the turtle start to emerge from the ground.
I now plant herbs and flowers in the turtle garden, knowing I don't have to worry about bugs. If you look closely in the picture, you will see the brown turtle behind the water dish, on the compost pile. (He resembles the rocks.) He's about to eat a raspberry I picked for him from the surrounding bush. He also enjoys the occasional strawberry, but still doesn't touch the herbs and fresh lettuce.
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