Deer Me!

Stick with me... I'll get to the title in a bit...

Over the weekend, we went to visit my college roommate, her husband, and their almost two year old son. It was a fabulous way to end the summer and incredibly relaxing. They're so easy to be with and love much of the same stuff that we do, so it's super fun to spend time with them.

We chose this past weekend (and not another summer weekend) to go because it was the annual crafts fair (54th annual) in Burnsville, NC and it's an event that we discovered through Donna and Jeremy. We had a blast checking out all the handmade stuff from all over the region, including a wealth of pottery, fused or stained glass art, fiber crafts, and others. While we were there, we picked up a pottery mug and some culinary lavender, since we'd run out of what we had from Annie at Sunshine Lavender. We also ended up leaving with about eight Rose of Sharon bushes that they were wanting to get rid of, so I'll plant those along the fence line here. They'll be beautiful next summer.

While we were away (here's today's focus topic), the deer totally chowed down on my veggie garden. The tomatoes that were almost ripe are completely gone. The peppers (even the hot ones!) were chewed to bits. They even ate the fuzzy zucchini and cucumber leaves... who knew they'd eat those?! And they went after those when there were tons of apples from our tree in the woods...

So, we're contemplating how to keep the deer out next season. We've tried flowers (marigolds and herbs) with some success (the peppers in the flower garden haven't been touched... so glad I tried two locations). A local friend said that you can try human hair or urine around the perimeter. (I'm thinking that I know several three year olds who would love the opportunity to pee in the yard!) And then there are the obvious... fences. The varieties are endless... picket (pricy), barbed wire (dangerous), woven wire (think chain link or wire mesh), and the list goes on. We'll probably end up going the woven wire route, since we have some left in the basement from a previous project. It's also one of the cheaper options, and the fence itself would serve as a great trellis for beans, squash, climbing flowers, etc. The trick is going to be to make it look attractive and tall enough to keep the deer out. Ultimately, we want a solution that will be earth friendly, and even healthy for the deer, while keeping our veggies safe and sound. Yet another project to add to the DIY list... :)

If anyone has any tricks for fencing or keeping deer out of the veggies, I'd love to hear them! Here's to living and saving green in garden pest control!