Then the deer came. We live in the country, so this is not an unusual occurrence. But for some reason, perhaps our large tribe of outdoor cats, the deer had left our vegetables alone before last season. This time, they came through like a mower and ate nearly the whole garden right to the ground. I wonder if it had to do with the fact that very few soybeans were planted in the fields near us. It was mostly cotton and tobacco.
So this year, we're going to have the entire garden fenced off and maybe even electrified. Discussion about this made me get a little quiet. I love the deer, and even though I'm a hunter...hmm. My partner chortled about this, of course. Last weekend, my partner drove fenceposts and laid out a raised bed. He's thinking of installing a permanent trellis for climbing plants along one side, too.
I am so excited! While he's working on that, I'm going to clean out the raised bed along the back side of our house. Traditionally, we have planted lettuce, tomatoes and herbs there. I have recently learned that crop rotation is important even in small areas, so I plan to switch up everything except the perennials. I'm even going to move the tomatoes to the main garden. That will give me more space for basil! Last year, I had 4-6 plants. This year, I hope to have 8 plants. I want enough to use fresh, to make large batches of pesto AND to dry.
Pictured above is Sweet Woodruff, aka Gallium Odoratum aka the secret ingredient in May Wine. Last year, I grew some in a large planter. It's a perennial, and I'm hoping that the cold winter hasn't completely killed it. *crossing fingers* Because as my coven mates know, I am that kind of witch. The kind that shows up to Beltane with dew gathered at dawn and homemade May Wine. Oh yeah, baby!
It's almost garden time, garden time, whee!
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