The highs and lows of my garden - it has been a roller coaster today

So I went out this morning to harvest my Red Pontiac potatoes. Pretty good success - although I haven't weighed them, I am guessing 7lbs with a mix of good size and little ones. Pretty happy with that bounty. I also harvested the last on my beets. The theory behind this is I have almost 20 lb of potatoes and thought I would bake a bunch to make into gnocchi at the same time I roast some of my 40+ bulbs of garlic that I harvested a couple of weeks ago, cook the beets, and some carrots for spatzel all in the same oven at the same time (conserving energy - you my laugh - my husband does all the time lol).

Feeling pretty good, I move around to my side garden where I proceed to rip out the last of my lettuce in that bed, because I knew yesterday I had some fabulous cut a come again lettuces in my other side bed that were ready to harvest and the ones I ripped out were getting a little bitter. I also took the last of my collards out of the same bed. While I was working in that garden I noticed several of my sweet 100 tomatoes were on the ground, but didn't think too much of it since I was installing a new transfer hose around the side of the bed from my rain barrel to the front of the house and I thought I was careless and knocked them off myself. No matter. I thought... I moved over to my other side bed to water and gasp - those jolly deer had got in and eaten the tops of all my swiss chard, tomatoes, ate my best looking lettuce heads, and my less favorite variety the ripped the freakin leaves off and spat them out!!! Grrrrrrr

I went inside to sulk with a cup of tea. I was so frustrated because I had been minimally fenced in that area all season, and just yesterday I enhanced the fencing - while not what I wanted, I figured it had to be better than what I had but the little booger snuck in and out the entrance I created for - ME! I didn't think they would figure it out - teach me for under-estimating their intelligence! So mad at myself!!!

After sulking I went back out to re-evaluate and scared a black snake which in turn scared me (it was about a yard long). I am not usually scared of snakes, but I am scared of anything that moved until I know what it is lol - it probably looked pretty funny.

I moved back to my other beds where my eyes feasted on all the bees in my cucumber flowers, the hummingbirds enjoying my radish flowers, and the host of little bugs on my parsley flowers. I don't remember why I have parsley flowers - I read somewhere it attracts some beneficial insect but I don't remember what. I am going to all the little bugs being good guys in my garden!

Yesterday I learned how to post photos on here - yay - and now my garden has its ugly summer face on it, I which I took photos in all its glory in the spring. I just keep reminding myself that my ugly summer garden will provide me with more tomatoes that I will know what to do with, sweet potatoes (which actually look really nice), cucumbers and squash out the wazoo, hopefully a few tomatillos, and a few melons and maybe a winter squash or two. Oh - and I forgot my delectable fresh home grown okra which is just starting to take off for me - and I have twice the plants I had last year so hopefully I will have extra to freeze!!!

I also have to remind myself that the deer only trashed on of my 10 garden beds last night (and nibbled on a second) - last year when they got into my main garden bed they completely trashed 4-5 beds at about this same time, and I still had tomatoes, squash, okra and even a melon last year. Even with adversity, my garden still seems to produce SOMETHING - enough to make my devastation last only and hour or two before that same garden will cheer me up and fuel me and my family. Who know my garden could bring me so many highs and lows all before lunch!

Thanks for letting me vent

I feel for you. I don't have my beds fenced and this year the deer and the rabbits have nibble on almost everything. My pea are still only a couple of inches tall because the rabbits keep getting the tender shoots.

Today, I was steamed. The first couple of strawberries were just about ripe yesterday and I went to pick them this afternoon because we are heading out on vacation. Sure enough, the rabbits had sampled each of the ripe ones. But only a bite or two out of each.

They have destroyed the wax beans too. I finally had to rip some out because there was no saving them.

Methinks it is time for coney stew.

HouseofWool wrote:Methinks it is time for coney stew.

Hubby knows I am steamed when I yell "SLIPPERS!" Unfortunately, I seem to only have one bunny doing the damage, and it would take a pair to make respectable slippers. I am NOT inviting one of his friends to the garden just for matching footwear!

GG

Goosegirl wrote:

HouseofWool wrote:Methinks it is time for coney stew.

Hubby knows I am steamed when I yell "SLIPPERS!" Unfortunately, I seem to only have one bunny doing the damage, and it would take a pair to make respectable slippers. I am NOT inviting one of his friends to the garden just for matching footwear!

GG

Houseofwool - I keep threatening the deer with me going and getting a shotgun but the ignor my threats. A couple of weeks ago hubby bought me a new cookbook with several venison recipies - I threatened them earlier in the week with the recipies and they answered me by getting into the garden. They don't take me seriously! lol

Goosegirl - but you kknow one bunny could make two little slippers - think kid size?

kiwirose wrote:

Goosegirl wrote:

HouseofWool wrote:Methinks it is time for coney stew.

Hubby knows I am steamed when I yell "SLIPPERS!" Unfortunately, I seem to only have one bunny doing the damage, and it would take a pair to make respectable slippers. I am NOT inviting one of his friends to the garden just for matching footwear!

GG

Houseofwool - I keep threatening the deer with me going and getting a shotgun but the ignor my threats. A couple of weeks ago hubby bought me a new cookbook with several venison recipies - I threatened them earlier in the week with the recipies and they answered me by getting into the garden. They don't take me seriously! lol

Goosegirl - but you kknow one bunny could make two little slippers - think kid size?

To quote Elmer Fudd: "I'm going to kill the WAAAAAAAABIT" (Picture the viking-horned helmet, spear, and hear the strains of The Barber of Seville)

GG

Kiwirose, my goats have been acting up lately, especially the male. I looked him dead in the eye and informed him he may very well knock me on my butt, but I could still put him on my table by dinner time (he's a pygmy goat so not too big), I know he does not understand my words, but he got my tone. Then the little ones were running through the garden, playing, I was yelling at them and their mother gave me an ugly holller, I told her if she would keep her babies out of my garden I would not have to yell at them. It's pretty funny around here when you sit back and think about it.

Tie deodorant soaps, I use Irish Spring, in mesh bags and hang them around your garden beds. It works. Trust me.

I had deer nearly ruin my new dwarf fruit trees the 1st year and tried this. No problem since and the trees are coming back into their own. For my garden I just hang the soap in mesh bags on the trellises and tomato stakes and poles stuck in the ground near the blueberries.

This Almaden Duke dwarf cherry was lopped off the top and branches eaten on all sides 2 years ago. Its coming back just fine now and none have been touched since the soaps have been tied on a short fence near them. This year I have baby cherries growing.

Deer hate the smell of deodorant soaps.

I have an 8 pack of irish spring that my dear hubby got for me in the spring - I mean - everything about the deer getting into that part of my garden is 100% my fault - I knew what I had to do, and just kept on putting it off till another day. But - at least it was only 2 of my beds this year, not the main part of my garden.

I am glad to hear about your fruit trees though - we would like fruit trees but the deer concern us - and I need to research more about organic fruit in this area. Seems like most fruit trees around here need a lot of spraying for this and that and every other thing. But I haven't read much about organic production and how realistic it is in our area.

I am grateful to the sfg methods because it has made it so easy to establish our high production, health-filled fun time for me - but it has also allowed me to try growing all manner of things I have never tried before - this year it was garlic, onions, regular and sweet potatoes among other things - next year it might just be fruit trees