It took three years, but it finally happened. The deer and rabbits have found my garden.
I went up to do some weeding on Friday afternoon and found every single one of my pea vines had been neatly chewed off about 6-7" above the ground. The height makes me suspect deer are the culprits. I also had some chewed up leaves on my broccoli and cauliflower plants that appeared to be the work of rabbits. I bought fencing earlier this spring, but never put it up because I haven't needed it in previous years. Guess what I'll be doing this week?
The weather this past week was great for the garden, lots of sun with just enough scattered rain to keep me from having to water. We are pretty much dried out from the deluge earlier this month.
Other than the pea vines, the garden looks pretty good. I am trying to keep my tomato plants under control this year through intensive pruning and training. They look pretty good so far, I'll have too get some pictures posted soon.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Too much rain!
If I had to choose one word to describe the past 7 days it would be "soggy."
The danged driveway washed out again on me (twice) again last weekend, but I guess that's better than having your whole house wash away, as happened over by the Dells.
The garden looks to have survived, the only problem is that it has really beat down the soil. Part of the reason to have raised beds is that you never walk among the plants and the soil stays light and fluffy. Well, throw that idea out the window because the soggy ground has compressed itself down pretty well. I'm thinking it's going to be a challenge to pull carrots and parsnips out of this dirt later in the year.
This afternoon calls for another 2-3 inches of rain that we don't need, I hope it doesn't do too much more damage to the driveway.
I have to admit that it's really weird not having any critters on the farm this year. I find myself checking craigslist to see if anyone is giving away chickens, and then wonder why I do it because I know I won't call or go get them. I've got the disease so badly I have even thought about getting ducks!
The danged driveway washed out again on me (twice) again last weekend, but I guess that's better than having your whole house wash away, as happened over by the Dells.
The garden looks to have survived, the only problem is that it has really beat down the soil. Part of the reason to have raised beds is that you never walk among the plants and the soil stays light and fluffy. Well, throw that idea out the window because the soggy ground has compressed itself down pretty well. I'm thinking it's going to be a challenge to pull carrots and parsnips out of this dirt later in the year.
This afternoon calls for another 2-3 inches of rain that we don't need, I hope it doesn't do too much more damage to the driveway.
I have to admit that it's really weird not having any critters on the farm this year. I find myself checking craigslist to see if anyone is giving away chickens, and then wonder why I do it because I know I won't call or go get them. I've got the disease so badly I have even thought about getting ducks!
Monday, June 02, 2008
The Volunteer Army
I spent a long morning weeding the garden on Saturday and could not believe the number of "volunteers" we had popping up. I told Nikki that in a few years we may not have to plant any seeds in the garden, that it will just self-populate with the remnants of gardens past.
Volunteers, for those unfamiliar, are plants that just appear in the garden because of earlier vegetables that went to seed or that were forgotten underground in previous seasons.Varieties that have shown themselves so far include onions, tomatoes, squash, radishes, beets, and potatoes. For the most part I have just let them grow, the only exception being the tomato seedlings as there were dozens of them.
It's starting to look like we might actally get a couple pints of strawberries this year, after many failed attempts. The plants are vigorous and spreading and have a lot of still-green berries on them. I put up some short wire fencing to try and keep the rabbits out, but the birds still have free access. Someone will get strawberries, anyway, I'm hoping it's me.
I managed to build a field stone border around Nikki's "Cottage Garden" yesterday without destroying my back, so that was good news. It looks nice with the flowers and rocks, much better than the weed patch it was a couple of weeks ago
Not much else going on, we are definitely managing to stay busy even without any farm animals. Nikki got started yesterday on getting the pool ready for summer, maybe we'll be able to use it by July if it ever gets warm around here. Cheers!
Volunteers, for those unfamiliar, are plants that just appear in the garden because of earlier vegetables that went to seed or that were forgotten underground in previous seasons.Varieties that have shown themselves so far include onions, tomatoes, squash, radishes, beets, and potatoes. For the most part I have just let them grow, the only exception being the tomato seedlings as there were dozens of them.
It's starting to look like we might actally get a couple pints of strawberries this year, after many failed attempts. The plants are vigorous and spreading and have a lot of still-green berries on them. I put up some short wire fencing to try and keep the rabbits out, but the birds still have free access. Someone will get strawberries, anyway, I'm hoping it's me.
I managed to build a field stone border around Nikki's "Cottage Garden" yesterday without destroying my back, so that was good news. It looks nice with the flowers and rocks, much better than the weed patch it was a couple of weeks ago
Not much else going on, we are definitely managing to stay busy even without any farm animals. Nikki got started yesterday on getting the pool ready for summer, maybe we'll be able to use it by July if it ever gets warm around here. Cheers!
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