Damn Deer

Like everyone else I can appreciate the beauty of these creTures ... As long as they are not EATING my garden!

We went on vacation for 10days (figuring the weeds could play for a bit) but my hubby had to come back in town for a dr appt ... He came back to the vacation spot with the great news that the corn had grown to about 4 inches tall! Yeah, even though it's just 6 rows it was exciting to know the con was growing so well after so many years of poor yields.

We got home on Sunday to find that all but ONE row was snipped off at the base!

No this wasn't deer - but I'll get there in a bit .... Patience

Around the place where each ear had sat there was a perfect divot .... so we figure it was either pheasants or wild turkey (daughter saw one of this sitting on our steps while we were out of town ... we had the dog) ... deer would have (a)atenolol the tops not just leave them by the wayside and (b)they would have left clear hoof prints down the row like they did when they munched the tops off my peas and beans last year ....

Checked m pumpkin and squash ... Oh what lovely flowers I had ... They were growing so well ... Yes thTs a were ... But wait.

That Tuesday after vacation just south of us was put under a tornado warning and radar showed that the storm they were concerned about would be coming straight our way - now last time I planted out my starters in the main garden we got over 1 inch deep in hail the next week and killd them all (yes I cried) ....

So the kids and I were out in the pole barn this time trying to brain storm some storm shelter for the plants ... My oldest daughter was all for letting nature do what it will ... Youngest son as for just covering them with a tarp, straight down to smother and smuch them ...

We found ne tarp and two saw horses .... And were able to cover 5 out of 20 plants .... I chose the pumpkin to save - after all the fruit can be sold come fall and we can recover some of the seed cost.

The twister/cyclonic clouds passed just to our west shifting it's path at the last few minutes .... thank you fairies for moving that and for keeping that funnel up for us ... not even any hail bt the temps did drop and the air did thin out. (the saw horses fell over but the plants beneath were still good)

So yezterday hubby decided that instead of having just one row of corn to feed the family, he was going to use his fixed tractor (another story) to plant half the larger field keeping the other half in clover ... green manure ... and then while he was at it, he might as well do the part that was eaten up too.

Kids and I went to look at my plants - I figured I should have had some closed flowers starting to swell behind ... but I certainly wasn't expecting to find what I did ...

HOOVE PRINTS IN THE PLASIC MULCH!

They left evidence behind ...

Actually the first thing I noticed was the lack of bright color ... No biggie, I was expecting them to be starting squash/pumpkin remember? ... then I saw the prints and got on my knees to figure out way some of them looked so beaten up ... And there it was ...

Nipped off tops! Flowers laying on the mulch! Slems split from the deer putting their foot/hoof on them to pull off the tops! DANG!

Now I have no issues with animals acting like animals ... and I understand that this is just what deer do ... but there is a wildlife center over here which REFUSES to put fencing around their land to keep their critters in ... they even refuse to spray the area to control deer ticks/Lyme disease ... in fact they won't even allow the DNR to treat for mosquitoes which get so many people sick in our area ...

I buried the cracked stems in the soil - with the theory/hope they will put out roots the way tomato plants will when you pull off the stems and bury the stem to cover (try it, you will get a better plant) ... I don't know if I will be getting much in the way of squash ... since they already had buds they took the majority of the punishment ... but the pumpkin APPEARED untouched ...

Decided to use the 10yards of mosquito netting I had to surround the garden like deer fencing ... Oh how nice that would have been had I enough ... I had enough to cover just on side and two ends leaving the other side open like a deer-salad-bar ... UUUUUUGGGHHHHH

But I opened up the netting and stretched it across the top and even though the sides where open it was better than it was before ... The netting is old - well over 5 years so it was brittle and soon the fencing stakes managed to rip through but that was actually an advantage because the first plan was to run a string around the stakes to give the netting some support so now the netting is resting on the string and hanging down the sides like a tablecloth ... with a few rocks and some packed dirt I was able to get the sides to stretch towards the ground and give it a more enclosed feel.

It's not pretty but it's in code/ordinance and -this morning at least - should do the trick

I just hope the bees will be able to find their way in for pollinizing - they should there's more an enough space.

I am concerned that a deer might find itself tangled if it tries to put it's head under but my son thinks the deer will probably break through it and my hubby thinks that the first good wind will blow it away! We will see ...