EDEN GARDEN - HOW TO KEEP THE DEER OUT

We (my wife and mother-in-law) finally got thru the garden for this year with most of the canning.  It was a lot of work and I was involved mostly in the fencing and tilling and set up - and not so much the intense weeding and watering regimen.  We wanted to see what this place would produce and we were amazed.  We can pray over our gardens and our crops and our animals and we will be blessed.

We can also be given inspiration in how to defeat the natural world around us.  We have a serious deer problem around us and could realistically only hunt them in season using a shotgun.  I was stunned at how tame they were when the kids set up a shooting range down in the hollow next to the creek.  We had been shooting some very loud weapons for around 20 mins when two bucks and a few does then appeared at the top of the hill and observed us.  If I had raised the end of my rifle two inches from where it was at, I would have nailed the buck - and my gun had just been dialed in by my daughter.  I then grabbed the shotgun and blammed away and not even a flinch from those animals....way too tame..... and they love the delicacies found in the garden.

The neighbors just spent $10,000 on an 8' tall fence to keep them out of their garden and orchard area.  I did the $2500 option for an area about half the size.  I used two fences made of stock panels 4 feet apart with 6 foot posts on the outer perimeter and 8 foot posts on the inner fence in case it needed to be electrified if they got more bold and tried to clear both fences.  We never experienced one intrusion with the twin lower 5' tall fences.  With chicken wire on the lower two feet, chickens can patrol the perimeter and snag the crawly bugs that are working their way to the garden.  The guinea hens were allowed inside as they generally do not touch the plants and focus more on the bugs and ticks.

My mother in law, who is a master gardener, was able to do amazing things.  I was most impressed with the celery bed - that is not pictured in the photos.  Using hay to keep the lower roots and stalks moist and out of the sun, that stuff was the most amazing I have ever seen.  We did not use wood chips for mulch, as I had originally hoped, but we used old moldy hay and plastic and had quite some level of success using that technique.  There is so much more that we learned.  I tilled the other area where the horses from the boarding business had destroyed the natural grasses and I planted rye since it was cheap.  It kept the invasive weeds under control, needed no moisture other than what fell from the sky and the ducks are now feasting on the grain heads (we did not harvest) and we give them precious little corn to maintain themselves on.  Next year, I try some old food storage wheat to see what it will do (the local farmers grow it by the hectare in our area without irrigation.  I want to make sure we can multiply what we have on hand - the famine will take about 5-7 years to run its course and it will be dire in the fourth year.

Next year, the big push will not so much be the garden, but it will be focused on other areas until our skill set is more complete.  My daughter has built two beehives and we are going to try our hand at that art.  There is a reader whose blog I have been keeping an eye on to learn the ins and outs of that art.  We also have a neighbor who has promised us her next queen when a swarm happens.  I cannot wait!  Honey will be quite the commodity when it cannot be imported.  Plus, no more hand pollination in the garden by the little girls with watercolor brushes!

Here is a link to Emily's blog: 

  CLICK HERE http://theorganicsuburbanfarmgirl.blogspot.com/2012/10/first-years-honey-harvest.html

Here are the pics of the garden:

You can see the double fence in the back of this photo with the taller 8' fence posts on the inside perimeter fence.  We have no reflective streamers up or anything like that because it was not necessary to this point.  Now that the above ground harvest is over, the chickens have been rooting around the garden for bugs and seeds that they can find.  They will patrol is all winter, fertilizing as they go for next year's harvest.

 
The horse barn I have been rebuilding is shown in its dilapidated state in the background on this pic:

 That Swiss Chard is 2-3 feet tall.  The garden was put in the old horse pasture where manure piles were 12-18" deep in places.  We move the piles around and deep tilled and pushed the little Kubota to its limits.  If you must buy a tractor, buy a Kubota.  There is no other one to buy out there and they are made state-side so parts may be available if things break down internationally.

I feel inspired to say one more thing.  For those who want to make it happen - you may not be able to do it alone either financially or emotionally or mentally.  We, by a miracle, came together with my MIL and were able to get out from under the bank, live inside a home that is twice the size and almost half the payment of our old home and we are able to do it because we are thinking outside the box.  My wife and I could never have made this garden happen - just way too much for us under our current circumstances and knowledge levels.  We have had more of a Zion spirit about us and came together where we were not cohesive before - and this was the result.  My MIL will have someone to keep an eye on her in her older years and we are getting the excellent knowledge transfer and family support which is critical in our current circumstances.

So, my point is to think outside the box if you are in a situation where you want to pull something like this off and may not be able to do it alone.  You may have to swallow some pride and you may have to be unconventional - but, generally, you will find it to be worth it if you are committed to principle and are humble.  Repent first of all, then think about it, ponder on it, and the way will be opened for you.  Go frequently to the Temple for confirmation  It worked for us.