The Lower Garden & Orchard

In the far right corner of the upper yard is a gate.

A gate to this:

This will be the Lower Garden & Orchard. Notice anything amiss?
I’ll tell ya – there are no stairs.

WHAT?

This is a roughly 40ft. wide x 30ft. deep second yard on the other side of a roughly 7ft. retaining wall. Our neighbors told us that it actually used to be a river, but after WWII most of the neighborhood moved to new Los Angeles suburbs and the river eventually was filled with trash and was re-routed.

After donning some work boots and leaping down, I made several discoveries. 1. It is full of trash, 2. I was standing in about 2 – 2 1/2 feet of overgrowth, and 3. this:

Yes. That is gasoline. Here’s a close look:

It was under the dry brush, and full of gasoline. Just weeks after I found this we were watching these California wildfires from our front porch. Wow.

I did not see that coming.

Now, what to do about all of this overgrowth? First of all, we don’t have stairs yet. Second, what do we do with it all? Armand joked that we should get some goats.

Wait a minute. We should get some goats.

I am trying to find a local botany expert to identify the plants that we have down there. Then I can find a goat expert, find out if they eat our plants, and learn how to care for them. Imagine – a couple of goats, just eatin’ and pooing, eatin’ and pooing all day long. Plants gone, land fertile for planting.

photo: www.diamondtlivestock.com

The African Pygmy Goat or Nigerian Dwarf seem like a good fit thus far. That’s if they eat our plants. They are also known to be loving, playful, and affectionate.

The Nigerian Dwarf – between 17-20 inches tall as an adult and weighs approximately 75 pounds. Requires 1/3 the amount of space and feed that a full-size milk goat requires.

African Pygmy Goats – These are the goats you see at most petting zoos. They are small (20-25 inches tall) and weigh around 50-60 pounds as adults.

I hope our plants are good goat food, or at least a yummy and irresistible supplementary snack!