Oh, deer

It occurred to me after I took this photo that the sunflower looks a bit like it's depressed to be in jail. It's not, though. That's just the end of the pea fence.

Not that it's worth having a pea fence in my father's garden this year, which makes me sad. I'm a huge fan of fresh peas (as my two fans will remember from previous years' pointless photos of empty pods), but there isn't going to be much of a harvest this year. And why? Well, I could say that the late spring made seeding so late that there isn't going to be much of a harvest of anything, but that's not true. The peas came up as they always do, and the deer population was very happy about that.



Yep. That wasn't a typo in the title.

My father lives towards the outskirts of town, and especially since there are a few vacant, wooded lots in the area there was always at least a bit of wildlife in the area.

There's more now, though.

A few years ago a developer bought what we grew up calling the hatchery (it was really a pulletting operation, but whatever. There were chickens, and it was stinky on a hot day) and started building a new subdivision up there. Which he kept the name Chicken in. Fine for those of us who have been around long enough to know the history, but if you were new to town would you really want a house in a place called Chicken *something*?

Or maybe it's just me that thinks that. Remember, though, that I'm the one who grew up with hot summer days of chicken barns airing out.

Be that as it may (hey, it's a change from anyway).

The creation of the subdivision meant the tearing down of the chicken barns. It also meant the clearing of the brush on the side of the property away from the chicken barns.

Which meant?

Oh, deer.

Displaced deer, that is. Now, don't worry about them too much because there are loads of good deery places in the neighbourhood. The problem is, though, that the year of the clearing of the old home was also the year that the deer discovered that their neighbours have gardens. The deer problems went from being occasional to constant.

For the most part, that doesn't bother me. I like gardens, but I also like deer. I can generally handle both at the same time. My feeling is that you either learn to share, or you look up plants that deer don't care for and plant those instead. Think daffodils instead of tulips, for example (although I have to admit that I heave a sigh for the tulips every year. They're still trying sooo hard to flower...). There are a couple of exceptions to this resignation, however, and oddly enough they're both featured in today's NOT POINTLESS photo (oh nooooooo. Now the blog will turn into a pumpkin).

Hey, deer. Why all of a sudden have you decided to go after the peas and the sunflowers?

See, the thing is that they normally don't bother either of those plants much. Sure, the occasional young sunflower will be clipped off, but the peas are usually ignored because it's not worth the bother to unentwine them from the fence. This year, though, apparently the deer menu specified young pea greens before they even had a chance to reach the fence, and sunflower tops. The sunflower you see in the picture is one of only about four that's even going to get a chance to flower.

Really? Was that necessary?






Ahhhhh well. I guess I can't change my philosophy for the sake of a few sunflowers, can I?










The peas, though...