Fighting What Is and Inviting The Deer In Already

This is a plant in my garden.

Rosemary

These are plants in my garden



Bean plants whose leaves and beans have been stripped clean.



Tomatoes stripped of everything.

Notice anything?

Many of you who know me or read this blog know that I’ve been fighting a valiant battle against the neighborhood deer for some years now. Some years I’ve had no vegetables. And some years I’ve had plenty.  And there is a fence. A rather large 7 ft fence. It’s not completely obtrusive, but it is there. And grass grows up against it and makes it difficult to weed properly so things look unkempt.

Some years my fence keeps things out and sometimes it lets them in. And then all of the things I've been trying to protect get chewed on anyway.

Recently I’ve been thinking about this and pondering. And I’ve come to the conclusion that it takes much more effort to keep the deer out than to just let them in.  My fence is only so strong.

It is clear, that some things do well in my garden and some do not. 

Deer in the garden is what is.

So I’m taking down the fence.  

And growing what I can grow. And my garden will be more beautiful because of it. And I won't be all stressed out over the state of my tomatoes.

Have you ever noticed how fighting what is, is often much more difficult than working with it?  Living with it. Making something new and different out of it.

Trying year after year to keep the deer out is a long shot. Growing tomatoes is a crap shoot. And it is eternally frustrating. And keeps me anxious. It’s like pushing a boulder up a hill.

Sometimes it pays to know when to put the boulder down.

But growing Rosemary, well, that always seems to work for me.

Other people grow beautiful tomatoes, I can buy them at the Farmer's market. Heck, my mom is growing a champion tomato garden this year. She's harvested over 400 tomatoes and she's not even a gardener really.

What is. Let it in.

Less tomatoes, Beans, Squash + Less Fence = More Rosemary, Lavender, Zinnia, Broccoli, Garlic, & Leeks. 

I can take down the fence and still grow something beautiful.