- 42 tomato plants of various strains including Stupice, Beefsteak, Yellow Brandywine, Brandywine, and Roma.
- 18 Cabbages
- 24 pole beans
- 48 pickling cucumbers
- Rows of carrots, lettuce, chard, radishes, peas
- 10 dozen Walla Walla Sweet onions
- 5 dozen each white and red onions
- 3 dozen asparagus plants
- 3 rhubarb plants (huge)
- Several dozen strawberry plants
- Peppers including a habanero, half a dozen jalapenos and about that many serranos and anaheims
- At least 7 squash plants plus 3 (really weak and sad and potentially dead) zucchini plants
- A whole herb bed including 2 kinds of lavender, 2 kinds of rosemary, purple sage, pineapple sage, feverfew, chard, bee balm, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon catnip, 2 kinds of thyme, cilantro (EW!), horseradish, 16 basil plants, and 4 kinds of oregano
- Other things including an eggplant, 4 cauliflowers, 3 soy beans, 18 potato plants, some trees and berry bushes yet to be planted.
Why so much if I don't eat many vegetables? I get a kick out of giving food away, out of processing it down into jams and jellies and sauces and eating it that way, and out of drying it for future use in soups and whatnot. It's healthier and better tasting than the limp stuff that comes from the grocery store, and I actually tend to eat more of it when it's freshly grown than I do when I lug it home from WinCo.
So today, I was out watering the part of the garden that gets missed by the early morning wave sprinkler. I know, I know, drip systems are better, and wave sprinklers are wasteful, and top watering is bad, and so on and so forth. Well, we're putting in a drip system eventually, but right now the garden needs watering and we have other projects more pressing, so a wave sprinkler it is.
Anyway, Todd pointed out to me that the tops of some of my newly planted tomatoes were snipped off. AUGH. We further determined that there was damage to our two small cherry trees as well, and deer prints in my garden beds. While I do like deer, and I don't actually care much if they're wandering around in my yard, and I don't even mind if they eat my ornamentals or poop in my lawn, they best be leavin' my veggies alone. Now I'm on a mission to find deer deterrents that actually work.
Todd's bringing home "repellent stakes" for the edges of the garden. I asked him to call me from the store to read me the ingredients, as I dislike using chemicals in the yard. These contain, and I kid you not, "100% Dried Blood". I tried not to think about what kind of animal might have once been using the blood, and told him to bring some home. While the ew factor for me is a bit high, the plus side is that I don't have to spray it on anything and it's chemical-free.
I'll also be making Deer Repellent Spray at home. I'll post the results after I find out whether it works or not. The spray I'm trying first:
- 3 large eggs, shells included
- 1 large clove of garlic
- 2 cups of fresh green onion tops
- 2 cups of water
- Bar of deodorant soap (like Dial)
- 2 Tbls chili powder or cayenne pepper
Put the first four ingredients in a blender or food processor and liquify completely. Pour into a bucket, add 2 quarts of warm water. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the soap and add to the bucket. Stir well. Add chili powder or cayenne pepper. Stir well again. Pour into a sprayer and squirt your plants well. If there are still chunky bits of shell, use a watering can with big holes to pour some of the mixture around the plants. Use every 2 weeks, works year-round. Rumored to be effective against Voles and Rabbits as well. Also rumored to be more effective if left to "ripen" in the sun for a few days before use.
