Cat Doo Doo and Condiments

Ugh! The adopted cat has ruined my spot for edible annual herbs and vegetables this year with her feces. I am uber paranoid about this and for excellent reasons. Germs! Nasty dangerous germs! I once read an article about a child that died from the migration of ascarids into her brain tissue. The worms were picked up via eggs in a local sand box. Guess what cats like to poop in: Loose comfy sand or soil. This cat we care for has copiously defiled my small carefully built area while I have been recovering (or trying to) from the latest episode of spine torture. Geh! Sadly, I lack the ability now to make a new area, and this one is suffering from additional defilements on a daily basis. Allegedly, edible stuff may be O.K. if I wash it well and cook it thoroughly, but I just can't overcome the brain worm fear! I had a luscious growth of random early self seeded cilantro that I had to just not fool with-oh the salsa that wasn't! Never mind the dandelion greens, henbit and dead nettle I had to forgo as well. So, this year I am attempting to haphazardly grow some not much tended wild flowers in the space once reserved for herbs and tomatoes. Starting seeds in perpetually cat scratched dirt might just prove impossible, but I'm trying it with the aid of a seed blanket, hoping that the cat finds the blanket distasteful to her paws. My basils will have to live in pots this year! So too might a few casual tomatoes and possibly a choice hot pepper variety. Just in case the seeding in soil fails, I have started some seeds in home made newspaper pots. Some may balk at the potential toxins to be found in newspaper, but I figure with all the Round Up runoff and pesticides blowing in the breeze here that a bit of ink won't really tip the scales much more than they aleady are. We also have a night visiting coon that partakes of the cat's victuals and most likely adds to the doo doo too. Pots, pots for all edibles! I lack the strength to build encompassing wire mesh fences for the land and it is frustrating.