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I live in the suburbs and have a small backyard with a nice size vegetable garden. A few years ago when I was doing some weeding around the cucumbers, I came across two little eyes peeking at me from under a cucumber leaf. If I hadn’t seen his eyes move I don’t think I would have even noticed this little fella. I was so surprised I didn’t think a frog could live in my backyard. I don’t have any water to attract them. I told a couple people about my frog and was informed it was not a frog but a toad.  I learned the difference here  Frogs and Toads.I was so excited to learn about my toad.

For several days I went back to the same spot and it would be there. After a week or so it disappeared. I felt like my dog ran off or something…crazy. I thought how could I attract the toad to stay in my garden? I read that if you turn a broken clay pot upside down they will go in for cover like a house. So I found a cracked clay pot and turned it upside down.

The very next day that toad found the house in the rain.

From that day forward I would see the toad in different areas of my yard. Especially when it rains.

Last spring I walked out my side door and there was a small baby toad sitting on the sidewalk. Now I must have a family of toads!

When it got cold I still looked around for the toad. Where did it go? You don’t see a bunch of toads migrating south when it turns cold. So I did a search and I found out that toads burrow under the ground and hibernate. What an amazing addition these toads are to my garden. I can’t wait till spring when the toads start singing again.

Toads can be very valuable in the garden. They are a natural pesticide…they love to eat lots of insects. An adult toad can eat 10,000 insects in one summer! In the winter we put our leaves over the garden bed. Toads love to burrow under the leaves, it provides heat as it decomposes.

So now I can rest easy, the little toad family are sleeping away the cold winter days. See you in the spring. 😉