Let’s get right to it: The psychological fence that we put up to keep deer out of the garden has been a 100% success! Not only have there been no hoof marks or chomped-off plants, but we’ve actually seen deer lying down outside the garden, looking in longingly on what’s no longer theirs.
It’s all thanks to about a dozen wood stakes, set about three feet inside our existing garden fence, with a line of kitchen twine connecting them. It makes deer think twice about jumping the first fence, afraid they’ll get caught up in the twine of the second “fence.” And, hey, it’s WORKING!
The super-hot weather the past week or so has made me be more deliberate and consistent with watering. I’ve tried to only water in the early morning or early evening (sometimes both), because midday watering in extreme heat leads to more evaporation than hydration for your plants. I also have been trying to give our garden gang a thorough soaking, not just a surface wetting, to maximize the nutrients getting to their roots.
Everything — ornamental and edible — seems to be happy and healthy despite the heat. We have seven varieties of tomatoes that look like they’re on the right path toward production: Jet Star, Valencia, Rutgers, Grape Juliet, Mortgage Lifter, Pineapple, and Black Cherry. Squash is getting ready for a first harvest, and we plucked some chunky cucumbers off the vine today.
Jagger had a “no repeats” policy on garden flowers, meaning he wanted all new stuff from what we grew last year. So we put in some yellow calendulas, orange coneflowers, and purple impatiens, which are complementing the volunteer nasturtium that cropped up from last year.
Garden recipe: We made the most of bountiful herbs by rolling out a batch of homemade pasta (NYT recipe) with chopped herbs embedded right in the dough. We sauced it with more herbs (we used dill, sage, parsley, tarragon, rosemary, and basil) blitzed in the blender with garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. Here’s a good version of the green sauce recipe.
Setting the record straight: I was so excited about my new garden tool that I misspelled its name in the last Tiny Seeds post! To the dibber and to you, I regret the error.
Until next time — thank you for reading!
Great success with the psychological fence! And now I understand how and why it freaks out the deer. Jagger is learning so much and I bet knows the name of all the plants and herbs and tools!