Outsmarting the enemy!

Today's sunshine got me started to thinking about the raised beds I want to make to plant herbs and perennials in this spring. I am especially thinking about how I can prevent the deer, and one smart groundhog from munching on my plants.That groundhog is huge, and if I ever catch him in those beds, his days are numbered.

Critters love newly planted things, as evidenced by the mouse that loves going after our greenhouse seedlings. They seem to prefer the larger seeds. So we are after them too:)Don't get me wrong, we love our wildlife, but destroying the garden, well, lets just say, we don't "cotton" to that 'round here!This year I plan on putting up some electrically charged netting around the new beds just to see if it has any effect on them. Fencing is about the only method that works to keep the deer out, but generally it has to be quite tall to do the trick. We have fenced all the acreage that we have in production with 8 ft.tall deer fencing and up to now anyway, has been very effective.It's quite an expensive fix though, and a quite a job to put up. I can only hope it keeps working over time, we'll see. It takes all the creative thinking you can come up with to outwit wildlife! They've been here a long time and have become very territorial. They think they are the landlord and they just let us live here:)

When I think about how I want to lay out the raised beds,I would like to have "themed" beds when I plant them out. I plan to have one or two beds in perennials and two or three beds in herbs. I have many favorite herbs and perennials. Since they will be in full sun, I will have to choose carefully which plants go where, along with which like it dry, and which like to be kept moist. Luckily most tolerate heat and don't require a lot of water. I have thought about planting a Jefferson garden, a Tea garden, a Culinary garden, a Medicinal garden,etc. Still in the thinking stage about this. It should be lots of fun, and pretty when finished. The layout is giving me some trouble, but I need to move along on the project, so the planting can begin! After all the work that will go into these beds, keeping critters out will be one, if not my main priority.

We are doing lots of planting right now on the farm, and sowing more seeds, which is an ongoing thing around here. About the only time we aren't sowing seeds is in late November and December. The rest of the time, something is generally being sown since we grow all of our own transplants for use on the farm. That way we have better control of the quality of the plant that goes into the ground, plus we can grow a larger variety of things to offer our CSA shareholders.

Before long the forsythia will be in bloom and for me that's the real sign that spring is here, for good! Our flowering quince bushes are full of buds and they will soon burst open and give some much needed color around here after what has been a long, cold winter season.

For those of you blessed with Oakleaf hydrangea on your property, you may want to prune it now or in the early spring. If it experienced winter die back, prune it back to below the point of injury, so that it will flourish again for you. I love any kind of hydrangea! I could plant them all over the farm, they are that pretty to me!

To all of our friends, we wish you a happy Spring season!