THE OFFICIAL GARDENING AND PRESERVING CHALLENGE

[FarmerJamie]

I have some chicken wire over the remaining corn shoots. Still am trying to trap that stupid rat, and discovered deer tracks in my back garden (haven't had deer back there in years). Cleaned the weeks around 5 beans plants tonight, so I can say I weeded in the garden a bit tonight.

 

[Wannabefree]

I have some chicken wire over the remaining corn shoots. Still am trying to trap that stupid rat, and discovered deer tracks in my back garden (haven't had deer back there in years). Cleaned the weeks around 5 beans plants tonight, so I can say I weeded in the garden a bit tonight.

Deer will eat the tops of corn too. So will cows..believe it or not I had stray cows come eat all of the tops of my corn one year :/

 

[FarmerJamie]

I have some chicken wire over the remaining corn shoots. Still am trying to trap that stupid rat, and discovered deer tracks in my back garden (haven't had deer back there in years). Cleaned the weeks around 5 beans plants tonight, so I can say I weeded in the garden a bit tonight.

Deer will eat the tops of corn too. So will cows..believe it or not I had stray cows come eat all of the tops of my corn one year :/

To get to the corn, they have to come pretty close to the house. Between our dogs and the neighbors, I'm not sure they will come up that far, but who knows.

More pepper plants had blooms on them tonight....

 

[Wannabefree]

I have some chicken wire over the remaining corn shoots. Still am trying to trap that stupid rat, and discovered deer tracks in my back garden (haven't had deer back there in years). Cleaned the weeks around 5 beans plants tonight, so I can say I weeded in the garden a bit tonight.

Deer will eat the tops of corn too. So will cows..believe it or not I had stray cows come eat all of the tops of my corn one year :/

To get to the corn, they have to come pretty close to the house. Between our dogs and the neighbors, I'm not sure they will come up that far, but who knows.

More pepper plants had blooms on them tonight....

Between our dogs, the neighbors dogs, and the strays...there are about 7-10 dogs around this yard at any given time...nevermind the idiot mutt that keeps getting in my trash EVERY night..that is ON THE PORCH NOW to TRY to keep him OUT of it..*breath* and we still have deer come up within 10 feet of the back deck. Just sayin'

GOOD on the peppers!

 

[FarmerJamie]

The way the land topology sits, they would really have to come uphill into the prevailing wind towards the house. I'll just keep thinking positive thoughts. As strange as this Spring has been, I'll probably find a deer in my garage one morning eating the chicken feed.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Dace and FF, thanks for the compliments. It's only 3 acres, I wish we could have gotten more, but we're comfortable here. Right now it's about the right size to keep me busy at a level I can handle.

Beef we get from my sister's (real) farm, paying for hay is something I don't want to deal with right now - although I've been looking at it more and more.....

 

[Farmfresh]

It's only 3 acres, I wish we could have gotten more, but we're comfortable here.

Since I have a 39 X 120 lot in the middle of a big stinking city it looks like heaven to me! No close neighbors that I could see.

 

[Farmfresh]

nevermind the idiot mutt that keeps getting in my trash EVERY night..that is ON THE PORCH NOW to TRY to keep him OUT of it.

Try putting a nice stinky bit on top and adding about 3 cheap wooden rat traps to the trash can. That aught to learn him!

 

[Wannabefree]

nevermind the idiot mutt that keeps getting in my trash EVERY night..that is ON THE PORCH NOW to TRY to keep him OUT of it.

Try putting a nice stinky bit on top and adding about 3 cheap wooden rat traps to the trash can. That aught to learn him!

Yeah, I'm gonna have to do something. I thought about getting a metal trash can and hooking it up to an old battery The rat traps may work though. I'm going to try it. Weimarainers are evil evil persistent dogs.

 

[moolie]

I live in a typical suburban neighborhood on the edge of the city and we regularly have deer munching our postage-stamp neighborhood lawns at dusk/sunset, they're not afraid to come right up next to the houses. They will also jump fences that they can see through, but not wooden ones so we are able to keep them out of our back garden. Corn is a sweet tasty draw to deer (and of course cows, but it sounds like you're ok there!)

Neighbors of ours have a chicken-wire enclosure around their raspberry bushes that are between their house and the next house to keep the critters from eating them, and another friend also uses chicken wire to keep the deer out of her gardens. I have photos in my journal of my own chicken wire arrangement to keep my cats and the neighborhood cats/skunks/squirrels out of my garden that may help some of your lower-growing plants get a head start but it's not tall enough for corn.

I'll see if I can get a photo of the neighbor's raspberry arrangement so you can see what it looks like--absolutely pouring out at the moment but I'll wander over there if we get a break in the weather later on today.

eta: no advice about the rat (we don't have them here) or dogs (they can't get into our back garden and have to be on a lead around here anyway so stray ones are not that common).