Update on our GRuB Garden

This garden started back in April- THIS POST talks about GRuB and the KGP garden program and talks about how it got started.

First we had to build a fence around the garden to keep the deer out!  We used bamboo stalks and a netting we found at Ace Hardware called "Deer Netting" that was designed to keep deer out.

You can *kind of* see the netting around the garden.  And you see why we needed it!

 

 

In May we started planting things!  We did a lot of research finding out about companion plants so that we could plant things side by side with things that support them.  Some things we started from seeds, and others we started from plants that we got from GRuB or Slow Food Olympia.

Adam built this awesome trellace to go along the north side of the garden with the tomatoes and peas.

 

 

We were all so excited when things started sprouting!  Things grew quickly and pretty soon we were having our own Kale, Lettuce, and Radishes!  June and July were pretty amazing watching the plants get so big and being able to go out and get my own salad for dinner straight from the yard!

Adam is behind the Tomatillo plant on the other side of the trelace :)

Fresh salad for dinner!

radishes!

peas!

 

 

We were just waiting for the tomatoes to be ready!  We had a beautiful Sun-Gold Tomato plant that was beginning to make tiny tomatoes!  They were green and we were just waiting for them to turn that beautiful golden yellow color.  Then - tragedy struck the garden.  We noticed that things looked - nibbled on.  With close inspection we found a hole in the netting - the deer had somehow ripped a hole in the side and were stepping through it to eat the garden.  We didn't really know how to repair it, and figured we would have to go buy some more netting to go around.  Unfortunately at this time we were flat broke and couldn't afford to go buy any netting.  So we just decided to try and keep an eye on the garden.

One morning I got up and was making my coffee.  I looked outside and there was a deer INSIDE the garden eating the tomato plants!  It had stepped through that hole.  I figured if I went outside it would get nervous and leave, so I went out on the porch.  The deer saw me and decided to leave - but I guess it couldn't remember where the hole was!  It just pushed itself into the netting and forcefully pulled the netting down and ran away!

With our fence destroyed, we were very discouraged.  We had some financial difficulties over the summer and absolutely had no money to go buy new netting.  We couldn't repair it, it was too badly town and mangled.  Without the fence around it, the deer began eating our garden every chance they got.  Most of it in the early mornings before anyone was awake to scare them away.  Sadly - our beautiful garden soon looked like this;

 

The deer ate all the almost-ripe tomatoes.  They ate the cucumber.  They ate the leaves off of everything - the tomato plants, pepper plants, Kale, lettuce, beets, cabbage, everything.  It was very frustrating and disheartening.  All the beautiful harvest that was almost ready for us just ended up being Deer food.

 

So, here we are.  Mid-August.  The upper garden which had better fencing around it is doing well. (I will blog about that soon) and the herb garden is doing okay (Although the deer have eaten some of that too) - but we're not at a complete loss.  We learned that the deer in our area are very determined and simple "deer netting" will not keep them out.  We will build a better fence!  Somehow!  We're talking about doing a fund-raiser and asking for our beautiful Olympia community for help with this.  Keep your eyes here on this blog and our facebook page and we'll let you know how you can help!  There are still things we can plant in the fall to grow in the spring and we're not giving up!

 

Anyways - that's the update from May through August for the GRuB garden.  I'll post more about our other gardens and other things we've done over the summer, and I'll try to do better about updating the blog and sharing our journey with you!  Thanks for reading!