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My husband planted our garden a couple of weeks ago. He made it narrow and long (but not too long) and put a 5-foot wire fence around it, then chicken wire around the bottom. He puts old screens from the windows on top. He left one end open, but he closes it off at night. The narrow and long and higher fence is to deter deer, which do not like to jump into a space they will have trouble exiting. The chicken wire around the bottom is to deter the rabbits, and perhaps the squirrels and chipmunks.
Unfortunately, we had hotter weather than usual in May, so the spinach and lettuce may not make it. The carrots may recover. The green beans are coming up nicely. The bell pepper plant and the two tomato plants went in a couple of days ago. At least the weather has cooled down to what is more in line with June temperatures.
We only have room for a small garden. I envy your large one, Chocomouse! Does the fishing line also work for the young deer?
My husband has some land in the Indiana classified forest program, and the deer are often destructive of his trees--and also of some rare plant life (like eating endangered orchids). In our yard, they also have chewed on non-garden plants that we are trying to keep. It seems to help with those if we scatter coffee grounds around those plants. The deer do not seem to like the smell.
I used to do a substantial garden. But over the years I have shrunk it. And in more recent years the area that I used to garden in floods too easily, which wipes out everything. So for about the last 5 years or so, I have been using "self watering" tomato planters. It's a plastic tub that has a plastic divider that separates the soil from the water reservoir, which is designed to soak up the water from the reservoir into the soil. The tub can hold 1 to 2 tomato plants, although it does get crowded with two. I have 2 tubs and do 4 tomatoes and a couple of parsley. The system works pretty good as long as I give frequent fertilizer and some calcium supplement.
This year I planter one each of Burpee Fourth of July, Mountain Magic, Burpee Big Boy Hybrid and a Health Kick. I planted them 2 weeks ago and they are progressing very nicely.
Skeptic, for years we've mulched our vegetable garden with a layer of 3-4 sheets of newspaper topped with 3-4 inches of grass clippings. We replenish the grass clippings as needed throughout the summer. That does a great job of keeping the weeds down between the rows and any areas that are not planted.
My mantra is we need about an inch of rain every week to get a good crop of fruits and veggies. Today is our first uncomfortably warm day this season, at 83*. It has been a lovely blue skies, slight breeze, and low 70s most of this month.
Our black raspberries on the terrace are ripening, but not enough at one time to have enough for jam, unless my husband can locate some in his woodlands. Maybe I should combine them with any more strawberries I can find at the farmers market.
Our Blue Lake Bush Beans are looking suspiciously like Pole beans. As our garden area is very small, that is not so great for the row planted next to them. The bean plants are flowering.
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