VIDALIA &8212; Powell Vestal, 83, of Vidalia, has been retired for about 20 years, and still has no trouble finding work to keep him busy.

&8220;I&8217;ve loved being retired. I always have so much to do,&8221; he said.

His hobbies include woodworking, traveling in his camper and gardening.

Vestal has been planting seeds in his current garden for about 30 years, but he first gained experience when he was a young boy in Arkansas, helping his dad on the farm.

His bountiful garden includes butterbeans, mustard greens, pears, crab apples, pecans, tomatoes and onions. He and his wife of 63 years, Ernestine, enjoy the fresh produce, and think it tastes better than store-bought food.

Vestal&8217;s most recent crop to plant is beets. Friday afternoon, he simply drew his finger in a line of dirt, dropped the seeds in a row and then covered them up.

&8220;Gardening is easy,&8221; he said. &8220;There&8217;s not much to it.&8221;

But the hard part,

he admitted, is battling unwanted visitors.

&8220;I try to accumulate a nice garden, but the squirrels keep eating everything up,&8221; he said, with a slight frown. &8220;They usually want to get my pecans, but this year they started on the pears.&8221;

Vestal has tried many tricks in an effort to rid his garden of the rodents.

&8220;I hung a bag of mothballs out there. A friend said they&8217;d keep the squirrels away, but it didn&8217;t work. They still ate every one of my pears,&8221; he said.

He also bought a squirrel trap.

&8220;The directions said to put a piece of bread with peanut butter in the trap, because squirrels like peanut butter. But all I got were ants.&8221;

Though the squirrels destroy his garden, Vestal won&8217;t let them destroy his zeal for life.

&8220;I&8217;m doing good for 80. The Lord&8217;s blessed me, I know that,&8221; he said.