This is me in my bee hat. I wore it in front of thousands-well hundreds-we're a small town. I was part of the garden club entry in the annual parade. Our theme was -surprise-Bees.
Big news-
for the first time in three years I got to the apples before the bear. I think I've hit on a no fail deterrent. Scary eyes.
for the first time in three years I got to the apples before the bear. I think I've hit on a no fail deterrent. Scary eyes.
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| scary eyes |
Garden report
90% of my seedlings were eaten by slugs while we were away. Slugs, slugs, slugs, I said emphatically to the lady who was house sitting. As in, hunt those suckers down and kill them. Bless her, she carried on watering the sad little stumps.
The strawberries went crazy in our long hot summer. I could hardly keep up and they are still throwing out a tasty handful for when I'm weeding. The other bumper crop was scarlet runner beans. The freezer is packed with them. In my opinion they retain their flavour and texture better than frozen bush beans. The bush beans were a disaster anyway. As were the summer beets, the heat got to them.
I half heartedly picked up four cucumber plants at the store. They went crazy. Our grandson went into the cucumber retail business. Honour stall at the gate with a jar labelled MNE.
In the garden for winter
Collard greens
Spinach
Brussels sprouts
Kale
Beets
also in but iffy
Carrots
even more iffy
Turnips
In the category of how did this happen I am now President of the Friends of the Library. It is like herding cats-fortunately the cats, in their own way, are getting things done.
Welcome back...I may not have commented often but I always read. I think the red eyes are a great idea. We don't have bear here (thank God) but I wonder how that would work for deer and other things? Of course, I'd probably go outside when we spend the night at the farm and scare myself silly but that's another issue, ha.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely to hear from a you. A real pick me up. As for the red eyes, you can buy a blinking red light designed to deter deer but my homemade method was more fun and less expensive.
DeleteGreat idea with the solar lights. I needed that a week ago when we were gone and the garden gate blew open. The deer ravaged my garden - ate all the ripe tomatoes, the tops of the potatoes, all my bush green beans and lilacs, petunias, hollyhocks, etc. We are going to try your lights in our orchard garden, too, and like 1st Man, I will probably scare myself when I go out at night!
ReplyDeleteHow awful! Did you scream? I would have. I hope the scary eyes work. Something weird was going on, every time I went to your blog I was getting a January post-I was getting worried. Today it worked fine, so I did a little catch up.
DeleteHaha, you are really a surprising bee with the hat on. I love the idea of scary eyes made of solar lights, I wonder if they also keep the rabbits away.........don't think so, may be when I put them on the lawn with flickering eyes.
ReplyDeleteFlickering would be really effective. The bee hats were for the children on the float but they took one look at them and politely but firmly declined. Our lovely organiser was so disappointed I decided to wear one.
DeleteWhat works wonderfully in a garden one year can be a disaster the next. Slugs are the bane of every gardener and can do so much damage. They can take down a plant very quickly.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see your blog back on my dashboard. It reminds me that it is time that I wrote something also.
I have really appreciated your kind words and thoughtful support. I'll pop over and see if you have posted.
DeleteWe did see a bear at the cabin this summer, but he never went near my garden or pots. He may or may not have been on the deck. We heard a big crash and then saw a bear on the cliff. Not sure if the two were related. My Scarlet Runner Beans made beautiful plants, but no beans. They just wither and fall off before maturing. The few that do get big enough to pick taste fine. I've got curly kale and red chard going strong from my spring planting and new kale just starting to take over. I planted spinach, but no sign of it yet with all the rain. My carrots and beets are getting picked and eaten, but I'll leave most in the ground to use until gone, maybe November or even December. Glad you are back. - Margy
ReplyDeleteMy Scarlet Runners were not doing well at first. They were in pots. I finally carefully removed them and planted them in the ground in enriched soil. Lots of bears around here-I expect when the salmon come in they will all be fishing down at the creek.
DeleteHooray for apples and funny hats! Life is short! Have fun! :o)
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the day is at the top of my list of reminders. If it means wearing a funny hat I'll go for it.
DeleteI love the scary eye idea - bravo! I might just steal it for halloween though. The only thing that has gotten into my high fenced small backyard is a raccoon - and the crows chased him off before he rifled through our garbage and garden area. Yay for homegrown apples!
ReplyDeleteWe have an arrogant racoon who stares us down if we try to chase him off.
DeleteWelcome back Susan....and how wonderful you have apples!
ReplyDelete