The Motion Detecting Sprinkler Seems To Be Working

There has been nary a hoof print nor a bite mark in the last little bit which means that I was finally able to go out and reap a bit of the fruits (or should I say veggies) of our labors.

Of course, I had to send Nathan out to turn off the sprinkler before I went out so I wouldn't get soaked (he didn't mind getting wet since it is so unseasonably warm today) but I can put up with a bit of inconvenience if it means my garden can go unmolested.  Maybe next year I'll invest in a timer so the water will only be on from dusk to dawn.

A Trio Of Green Thumbs

In spite of all the trauma my garden has endured this season, we have still managed to reap some of the benefits of our labors. We ate lots of lettuce (until the deer finished it off for us), have had a few tomatoes (they are slow to ripen and the deer have nibbled them as well), and today the boys picked the first of their carrots. Daniel and Nathan both got some nice big ones.



Matthew's were a bit on the small side which is not a surprise considering they have been severely shaded by the beans he insisted on planting right next to the carrots. But he picked his first three green beans today as well so he didn't mind the small carrots.


He just got right to work snapping his beans so he could eat them for lunch.


Now they are hoping that the few pumpkins that have grown will have enough time to mature before the garden freezes. I'm thinking it's not likely, but considering that it is mid September and still ninety degrees every day, who knows?

My Poor, Poor, Sad Garden

This is what is left of my cucumbers after yesterday's hail storm:


The poor things almost got smooshed into oblivion. I don't know if they'll rally or not. The pumpkins are not nearly as pathetic as the cucumbers, but they are still pretty sad. Their tougher stems kept the plants from completely buckling under the assault.


This is all that is left of the lettuce, but it wasn't the hail that did this damage. There really wasn't much left for the hail to smash after the deer got to it.

The deer also ate all the leaves off the top of Matthew's beans. The dumb things are so resilient that they have taken advantage of their leafless stems and started twining together to keep climbing.


The deer also nipped off a couple of my tomato plants. This particular bush was 8-12 inches taller three days ago.


But at least the carrots have managed to survive the week unscathed. Hopefully the hail won't happen again soon and the motion detecting sprinkler we just got will keep the deer from using our garden as a wildlife smorgasbord. It is a bit hard to teach the boys about the benefits of a garden when they never get to harvest anything.