7-7-11 Visitors

Above is a picture taken by Sharri R. who is the interim preschool director at the church. I believe this is the doe that I encountered while watering the garden one quiet afternoon. She walked out of the woods near where the pastor parks and continued on into the back part of the garden that's right there. I happened to be standing about 15 feet away watering that same garden. She was wary of me but more interested in eating than running away. At first I was worried she would be after the flowers I had just planted. But, then I noticed that she was only eating the tender green vines that were creeping up the plants. It's a miracle! A deer that only eats the plants you want them to eat. She was eating the weeds I was going to have to labor in the heat and humidity to yank off of the plants anyway. I love this doe! And how could anyone resist those cute little fawns she has in tow? Thanks Sharri for this wonderful picture.

The rest of the garden is going strong. So far I have harvested half a dozen large cucumbers and a bunch of cherry tomatoes and jalapeno peppers. So we will have plenty of bell peppers and an eggplant or two. The sunflowers are in full bloom. Some of the flower heads are almost ready for harvesting and drying to get their seeds. We lost one cucumber plant. I don't know if it caught a disease or what happened. I realized too late that perhaps I should have planted the cucumbers in a different part of the garden than where I planted them last year. I know a little about crop rotation but it slipped my mind on planting day. Also, the snow peas shriveled up for the season and I pulled them up and planted a butterfly bush. I'm hoping that the blooms from the butterfly bush will attract pollinators. If nothing else, it will provide some color.

As for the rest of the garden beds, all is well. Besides a few weeds here and there, the garden has been low maintenance this year. When I started gardening at the church in 2009 I couldn't imagine a time when the gardens would be somewhat stable and mostly maintenance-free. It's a good feeling but one I don't expect will last too long. Soon enough it will be time to pull out the summer plants and put in the mums and winter pansies.

On a side note, I can't stop thinking about planters for the railings on the front entrance of the church. I want to buy them now but I've told myself that I should wait until next growing season. I don't want to introduce too many new elements at once. But the wait is killing me!