Mark and the Dog Tomato War

Scout eyes the tomatoes

"Arg! GET OUT OF THERE...  Damn dogs, quit eating my tomatoes!" Mark Squealed.

Another summer in Chicago and another garden. Seriously, if I had it my way there would be only one tomato plant in the garden and it would be for the dogs. They love tomatoes. Besides, after adding up the cost of the plants, the water, and the fertilizer, I'm not saving any money. Anyway, Chandler has taught young Scout the deliciousness of tomatoes right off the vine. He goes right up to the plant and sniffs out the ripest, most succulent little tomato and plucks it off. He then takes it to the middle of the grass and munches down on it. Scout saw that last year and copied Chandler's behavior. Now both of the dogs have become connoisseurs of the pomodoro.

"Mark, he can have that tomato. That is the dog's tomato plant. That one and the one by the back fence were planted just for them."

"No, they're mine. Who the hell ever heard of dogs eating tomatoes?"
"Sorry, I planted those for the dogs, not you."

So there is now a battle in the backyard between Mark and the dogs. What Mark doesn't know is that when he isn't out there, I let the dogs pretty much do what they want. They eat the tomatoes, they pee on the raspberry bush, they root around behind the dahlias looking for rats, and poop where ever they want to poop. It's a doggy wonderland.