Veggies
Look at these beautiful beets!
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We’ve never seen such beautiful beets! Probably because this was our first beet harvest in over 4 years. |
| It was our last beet crop that triggered us to seriously consider the “ultimate deer fenceâ€. My parents were were visiting at the time, and upon their arrival we gave them a tour of the crops in the fields, of which was a beautiful crop of beets that would be ready for harvesting the following week. The very next day as we were harvesting crops a few beds downhill from the beets when Mother noticed all the beets had been completely eaten by the deer. (The @%$+ deer ate all the leaves and roots!) Mother said something to the effect, “You both either need to quit farming or do something about the deer!â€. I know that I frequently complained about our crop loss to my parents; I’m certain that every time I spoke with my parents I mentioned a crop that was eaten by the deer that particular week. I am not sure the 200 bunches of beets quite paid for the $10,000 fence financially, but they sure did in beauty and flavor! After all, we’ve tried 6 foot tall electrical fencing tilted outward, double electrical fencing with staggered wires, baiting the electrical fence with peanut butter foil strips, human hair, soap hung around the perimeter of the fields…. In fact, when we were certified organic, the application requests that you list the “sprays†used in pest control; to which Carl’s favorite was “Lead for Deerâ€. Many of these various fencing strategies would work for a few weeks after which the deer would become accustomed to and continue grazing our crops down. |
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Gorgeous Swiss Chard which is another favorite of the deer! |
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Bunched Beets! |
