It has been such a good garden year. I started almost everything from seed, the exception being cucumbers because I just never got around to it. I got a late start, due to the weather, followed by my slow pace for getting things done. But the weather seems to have been perfect, my little seedlings grew big and beautiful and green.
And now I am watching it slowly disappear.
The weekend was actually rainy, so I didn’t get out much, and our bathroom renovations started this week so I am exhausted from getting ready for that, plus all the other stuff I try to get done on the weekends. Since last night I have been suffering from serious sneezing and sniffling and my nose is sore from blowing.
But when I went out to water my plants tonight, I decided I’d better take some photos before the deer eat everything.
I started 24 tomato plants, 12 pepper plants this year. Everything survived to be transplanted, and has been flourishing. When I was transferring everything, trying to find enough containers, tomato cages and potting soil, I wondered if it was too many, but now I’m glad I have a lot.
Most of the tomatoes and peppers are in the area behind the house, along the fence. I have an alley of tomatoes and I like it!
This plant is taller than me! Yeah, yeah…No great accomplishment, I know.
- Heirloom Pruden Purple
Along the side of the house, I have pepper plants in amongst the tomatoes, along with some tomato plants that came up from seed left by fallen tomatoes last year. The little seedlings were there when I was putting out my containers, so I arranged the pots around them and fertilized them along with all the rest and they are looking like they might actually produce fruit.
- Peppers and Volunteer Tomato Plant
I have a promising number of green tomatoes so far.
- Chocolate Cherry
- Heirloom Pruden Purple
- Sugary Grape
- Bobcat
Unfortunately, I can tell you first hand that deer enjoy green tomatoes. Two of my Pruden Purple were in the garden bed, and four of the Bobcat were in the containers by the Tardis, and they are now deer food.
So far the deer have not ventured too far into my little alley, hoping maybe they don’t like how enclosed that space is.
While the deer ate almost everything else in the yard – sunflowers, blueberry and strawberry bushes, bean, cucumber and tomato plants, they had been leaving my sugar snap peas alone which I found surprising.
Shortly after the deer first started visiting I picked a bunch of peas, because I was afraid they’d be eaten next. But when I tried them I realized they weren’t really ready yet, so I’ve been leaving the rest alone. I picked some last night that were nice and fat, and we had them with dinner. I was afraid I’d left them too long, bu they were just right.
Apparently that’s what the deer were waiting for because I noticed today that they finally started nibbling on them.
Guess it’s time to pick the rest of them.
Also, we really need to look into deer-proofing this fence.