Dogtown is a community group in the Dogtown neighborhood that seeks to live sustainability, to learn and share knowledge and practices for sustainability. We are an urban ecovillage situated in a city neighborhood. We work together and help each other on sustainable living and group projects. We each own/rent our own homes and we gather for meals and projects, etc. The core group is all within a few blocks; others come from the surrounding neighborhoods.

Goals

1) Bring together and build a community of neighbors interested in environmental sustainability through shared experiences such as pot-luck dinners, community service projects, parties, and educational events

2) Enhance the environmental sustainability of the neighborhood and promote these values more regionally.

3) Create projects such as: gardening in private and shared settings, permaculture, home energy audits, improved housing efficiency, cottage industry such as aquaculture, environmental or social justice activism, tool lending library, shared car, shared wifi, shared child care, shared space for environmental activist organizations.

Squirrels are a fact of life in our urban setting. And they can be a nuisance in our yards and gardens. They dig up plants, they eat our tomatoes and our fruit, and they gnaw on our stuff. So what can we do about this.

• One approach is the glass-half-full approach. When a squirrel is digging in my no-dig garden, he is doing the tilling that I have chosen not to do. So there is some mixing of soil for free.
• Anytime I plant something out, whether seeds or seedlings, I protect it from squirrels. I have several pieces of chicken-wire, ranging from 2'x2' to 2'x4'. Anytime I plant something, I lay the chicken-wire on the ground over the planting, whether seeds or seedlings. Then I use metal landscaping staples (2“ metal staples) to hold it down. It stays in place till I need it for another planting.
• Another squirrel protection device is a wire basket. I have several of these that range from 6”-12“ across. I place this over the seedling and weigh it down with a rock or hold it down with sticks or with landscaping staples. I pick them up at yard-sales or second-hand stores. They move around the yard every time I put out a new plant.
• Some area gardeners have dogs, and they generally keep the squirrel population at bay, but don't really eliminate it.
• I haven't managed to stop squirrels from eating fruit and tomatoes. I have come to accept it as a price of having fresh, local, organic produce throughout the season.

propagation