Okay Steemit! This will be my first post here, and I plan to do an introduction next (backwards I know)
So last winter we officially became dwellers of our 13 acre homestead in the pacific northwest, and therefor became guests in the very thick forest home of our woodland friends. This Photo was taken this morning from our sliding glass door!
The First thing we built was two large raised garden beds, Since then we have put much of our energy towards a large chicken coop that we need to have built and predator proof by next spring when we will start our chicken journey. There was our first mistake. WE SHOULD HAVE BUILT A GARDEN FENCE! The deer have committed the following crimes : Annihilated my row of raspberries ( not planted in the raised beds) Chomped off all of the strawberry leaves, and then pitter pattered over all of my newly sprouted watermelon plants, to get a bite of my poor broccoli... I'm in over my head with this guys! I expected a little bit of trouble from the wildlife but it is so frustrating to come home, and see that I have at least an hour of garden repair to do, and that's not to mention the things that are beyond repair.
We plan on starting a simple 5 foot fence soon, possibly with electric wire across the top, but we have a bit of project overlap right now so I need to find a way to bide my time. I have looked into the "Deer Off" that my local farm store carries but I don't want to put anything in my garden that isn't safe for children, let alone to eat? I have seen some suggestions on Pinterest about different home made sprays, but the sources on Pinterest rarely give you real world results just a "Worked Great for me!" and frankly I don't have the time or money to waist trying to play chemistry experiment when I haven't any solid proof it will work!
On the other hand, I wonder if the garden is worth sacrificing to keep this young buck coming around until it's his harvest time. I would honestly be happy with a filled freezer from our back yard, or a years worth of produce.
Please comment and let me know what you do to help keep the deer at bay!
Follow to hear more stories about my young family, and our new homestead. Thank you!
