Autumn is Among Us

 As I am writing this blog, the rain is coming down, again. Despite the rainy days, I love autumn. It's a time to enjoy some of my favorite activities, including leaf-peeping, long walks, apple and pumpkin picking. Autumn is also when we focus our energies on wrapping up the garden and outdoor chores so that we can begin to turn our attention inward on the numerous tasks that didn't get done over the summer. When the autumn tasks are finally completed, it also provides an opportunity for reflection.  As I reflect on our summer and autumn gardens this year, I think about the challenges and the lessons learned. 

Our garden was a feast for at least one insatiable woodchuck who devoured a lovingly inoculated shiitake mushroom log, squash blossoms as quickly as they appeared, marigolds and even the mint that was planted to discourage his appetite. He pushed his way through fencing, bent and broke our beloved raspberry canes, devoured tasty leaves of potatoes, lettuces, tendrils that may have given way to peas, beans...you name it. 

 The woodchuck transformed our well-kept vegetable garden to a disaster seemingly overnight. My husband and I went from happy gardeners who found comfort and peace in nature to ones filled with angst and bitterness like that of a bed of overgrown arugula. We began questioning our efforts, and whether or not we should just mow down the entire space or look for a solution. Night after night, as quickly as a new bloom or sprig would emerge, they would be gone by morning. How, we asked, after over six years of success, could this be happening now? Visiting the garden each day was discouraging to say the least. We had to do something. Was it simply chance or good fortune that allowed us to keep a garden successfully for the last six years? Or perhaps, the nasty creature was watching us all along and planning its attack?

Since we sighted the woodchuck scaling the fence several times, we bent the welded wire outward with the hope that the challenge would discourage him. Then, we waited. I watched as it persisted and managed AGAIN, like an acrobat, to climb up and over. 

our luffa harvest

We quickly realized that electric fencing would be the only solution. Electric or solar? To avoid the need to run an extension cord across the lawn, we opted for solar. After a relatively easy install, our autumn garden began to amazingly, thrive. We cleaned beds, planted more seeds and then hoped. 

After three weeks of having the fence  installed, the remaining plants began to thrive. Raspberry bushes were full of bright red berries, green beans grew, and tomato plants were in full bloom with fruit! Visiting the garden was no longer draining, but energizing. It was too late for all of the squash, pumpkin and melons. We sowed autumn crops and hoped for the best. 

The loss of many of our crops this summer and autumn were an enormous disappointment, but it provided an opportunity to make needed improvements to the security of our family garden.  Among the long list of items that we planted, we gratefully harvested nearly 10 pounds of green beans, luffa, a bumper crop of tomatoes that we dehydrated, and canned as salsa and sauce, jalapenos, bell and cayenne peppers, oregano, lavender, basil, lemon verbena, lemon balm, and raspberries. Sunflowers even emerged from the seeds dropped by the birds. 

The rain has slowed us down when it comes to completing our outdoor chores. If the weather cooperates this weekend, we will be tidying the garden and putting it to bed, planting garlic and spring flower bulbs, winterizing the chicken coops and run, creating an insulated outdoor house for our new addition, Macoun. There is a long list for sure and I'm feeling a bit behind.  Hmm... where to begin? I guess I better get outside to tackle that list.