Let's Talk about Gardens

At the mention of deer, I think @jimhd should be called into this discussion group.

As Colleen inferred, my plantings are designed with Bambi in mind. I've had to deal a few times with our neighbor's cows and horses wandering into our yard. Fences are in place, but stock seem to be smart enough to get over or through or around gates and fencing. But the deer are always a nuisance. They damage fruit trees, nibble on the evergreens, pull up succulents (and drop them because they figure out that they don't taste good), and munch on the mums just as the flowers begin to open. I have a high fence around the vegetable/perennial garden. It's a 5' field fence with 2 rows of barbed wire above. I've put in 10' t stakes - I have to use a step ladder to reach up with the post driver. Not one of my favorite chores.

I have fencing around the orchard that I hope to improve on this summer. Fencing cages around individual trees, a climbing rose (a favorite of deer), around bushes and so on. It doesn't enhance the beauty of the place, but it's a necessary evil. I found that they don't like rosa rugosa, iris,daffodils, peonies, Oregon grape, juniper and leave blue fescue alone. Until I moved into deer habitat I always had roses.

Anyone who thinks that deer are cute, as I used to, doesn't have them bedding down in their yard.

I got a Gurney's nursery catalog today, and I guess that if I want very many things I might have to order through online nurseries. I'd normally get my vegetable and annual starts from a greenhouse down the road, and I might give them a call to see what their plans are. I always plant vegetables on Memorial Day weekend, hopefully after the last frost.

Happy gardening, everyone. It will be even more therapeutic than usual for me this year, in the throes of the pandemic.

Jim

I grumble every year that gardening in our concrete hard clay soil is daunting. Each year I spend as much on soil amendments as plants. I salute you for having risen to the challenge of protecting your harvests from 4-legged critters that I don't have to contend with. I'll keep adding to my compost piles and be grateful to also learn plans of our local nurseries. Cannot bear to think of not adding some new additions to my existing beds.

We have a couple of deer that wander thru the neighborhood. This year they have have changed their route because of recent construction activity. As a result my tulips are blooming!
I really like the idea going to a local grower for my plants. We have one that sets up a stand in a local parking lot. It has never been crowded early in the mornings. Mothers' Day is the time for planting flowers here. I don't know about veggies, though. I will get a couple of tomato plants this year.

-Cute story: Couple years ago my tomato plants were really sad looking, and I had only a few tomatoes. I had one pretty tomato that I kept close watch on so my granddaughter could pick it when she came. And she did! When she got home, her mommy asked her what she liked doing at grandma/grandpa's. Her answer, "Me and grandma picked a tomato."

Enjoy your day in the garden!

Hello everyone - I would like to encourage everyone to PLEASE figure out how to support their local growers this year (not the big box stores.) They are small businesses in dire danger of not making it. I was on a conference call last night with Master Gardeners and nursery/garden center people. In addition to already having their plants started, with no idea if they will be able to open their pop-up stands and farmers' market stalls, a lot of small growers raise plants for community groups to sell as fund raisers. In MN and south TX, all of those sales are cancelled, and the growers are stuck with the costs and product. A number of centers in the Twin Cities have already set up, or are exploring, ways to sell on the phone or online, with curbside pickup. Please check with your local businesses for products, even if you pay a few bucks more, otherwise they will not be here for you next year.
Let me tell you a story - as Master Gardeners, we work on dozens of school, park and community projects every year. Not once in 18 years has a big box store donated product to us, except stuff that was too sickly or damaged to sell and would otherwise be thrown away. Our local garden centers, on the other hand, work hand-in-hand with us to plan and execute gardens in the community and landscape Habitat for Humanity homes, libraries, housing coops... Last year alone, 5 local growers in our county donated over $3000 worth of plants to our program/partners and to the local food bank gardens. Another small grower provides us plants, on consignment for our fund-raiser plant sale and accepts unsold plants back without penalty. Yet another, who doesn't have a retail location, raises plants almost exclusively for fund-raisers by non-profits. He told us his product is all planted - seeds/starts, pots, soil, fertilizer all bought, labor done, and 3 weeks of heat lights paid for, and 80% of the orders are cancelled. Unless he can get paid for his sunk costs by some of the organizations, he will have to close his doors. One of our large growers donates thousands of dollars worth of plants to Habitat for Humanity every year, which are then planted by homeowners with the assistance of the local Master Gardeners.
Happy gardening everyone - I hope you can find what you need to raise your vegetables or make your yards beautiful.
Sue

Can't get garden seeds? There has been a run on online seed companies on the internet, so some have quit taking orders and others show delayed shipping - but all is not lost!
Look in your shed or garage! If you have partial packets of seeds a year or two old, they will probably grow just fine. If you look on line, you can find ways to test germination - it only takes a few days to see if seeds are viable. Here is one link: https://www.southernexposure.com/how-to-test-germination/
Another tip - at this time of year, there is often a rack of seeds in the grocery store - maybe not the exact variety you would like, but we're all having to adapt.
And it is one of the places we still need to go to - so it's not an extra outing.
One final idea - ask your gardening neighbors or friends if they have extra seeds or plant starts to share - these can be left on your front step to practice social isolation...
Happy gardening!
Sue

@sueinmn Our little town started a trading hub online. No cash, just barter. Trading seeds and starts back and forth, or trade for eggs, yard work, homemade soaps and lotions, etc. I don't know what will grow here, and don't have the knowledge to keep it growing ;)) My neighbor started some sunflowers for me in their greenhouse.

@jimhd Yeah...deer. We have 5 who regularly make our front yard their bedding place each night. Pretty to look at, drives the cat crazy, but what a mess! We also have squirrels and fox to contend with for munchers. No big deal as to the cougar and bear, they don't bother the plants!

Ginger

Ginger... I was just thinking yesterday that barter is going to be a trend, I would love to trade a loaf of bread right now with two cans of beans!!
Just read that a 104 years old Spanish flu survivor and WW2 veteran from Oregon is the oldest person to recover from covid 19. He is a resident in a veteran's home and others in the home were also infected. He celebrated his 104th birthday with appropriate social distancing. What great news to start my day.
It's nit as warm as yesterday but I'd better get moving.

@sueinmn

The greenhouse I mentioned is the only one I know of in our town, and I do pay more than a retail store but their plants are way better than what I find in the medium box store in town. The feed stores sell seed potatoes and onion sets every year. Living near a small town has its limitations.

Jim

In my previous home, we'd come home late at night, and the group of deer that was bedded down in the front yard looked at us, but stayed put as we walked past them into the house.

One year the town herd became more than a nuisance so the council asked a local hunter to thin out the herd, targeting first any injured ones and ones that were weak from an illness. The deer were threatening kids at school, and it's not good for wildlife to get dependent on the things they grazed on in town, and to become too used to people. The herd seemed always to swell in numbers the first day of hunting season.

The same was true with coyotes and cougars. They attacked some horses which subsequently had to be put down, and scaring the kids at school. But the cougars did help thin the deer population.

Jim