I have mentioned ad nauseam on here before that one of my favorite things about living out in the country is the wildlife. Specifically, I love the deer! I love watching them and especially right now, I love watching all the leggy, knock-kneed babies wandering around. As I am want to do, I find myself getting overly-emotionally invested in them and grieve when I find they have been killed by careless drivers.
Hubby and I have a different approach to wildlife than most. Our philosophy is: they lived here first. We do everything we can to ensure they have access, nourishment and safety. We don't view the wild animals on our property as nuisances to be removed but rather original inhabitants. In an effort to create a deer Utopia, we even went so far as to plant white clover in a small section of the yard this year because we knew the deer would like it.
Sometimes, however, the desire to give nature precedence conflicts with being a homeowner. For example, I have been wanting to garden outside the confines of our gate, but found it overwhelmingly impossible because the deer - literally - eat everything. After a lengthy trip to our local garden center, I now have a list of deer "resistant" plants that they hopefully won't be interested in.
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Before
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Hubby built me that amazing shelf on top of the fence for my herbs (left to right: rosemary, thyme, chives, purple basil, garlic chives and regular basil). You might be wondering why? We have .25 acres that is fenced in, there must be someplace to plant? Yes, yes there is. But...
Enter, Little Miss Sweet Face, who also eats everything she can get her mouth on. She was actually eating the herbs straight out of the cartons as I was potting them. I have also been attempting to grow strawberries in that wine barrel but every time there is even an inkling of a new berry, she eats it. *sigh* She's real lucky she's cute!
