It’s not all been perfect carrots and potatoes, y’know. Growing organically and without pesticides has been a challenge, and we’ve lost our fair share to the bugs and the deer. Mainly, it has to be said, to the damned deer.
Deer are not supposed to like garlic, onions, leeks or anything strongly scented. Ha. Ours obviously have exotic tastes. They’ve chomped through the green foliage of all three of these all summer.
Plant globe artichokes, those in the know said. The leaves are big and bristly and the deer don’t like the texture of anything bristly or prickly. Ha. They’ve been eating the yacon and artichokes too, biting out the lead shoots completely on many of our plants.
It’s also the closest bed to the common grazings on the hill , and as such the most tempting, I suspect. The rest are annoyingly close to the caravan.
Kale was always going to be a crop that we knew would potentially suffer from their grazing, although they did wait until it was of sufficient size to be worth nibbling. Thoughtful of them. Then they feasted.
What the deer didn’t eat, the caterpillars and other bugs did.
This is a picture of one of my red cabbages from the raised beds. As you can see, the leaves are like lacework, having been nibbled by whatever passing insects or caterpillars we are harbouring. Companion planting helped a bit, but most of the garlic and other strongly scented plants that were supposed to deter passing devourers had been harvested long before these cabbages were, and then the fun started.
I am not despondent. I’m happy to lose some to wildlife, but am determined to find ways to minimise the damage and maximise our crops. Our soil is productive and good. I think that netting against insects for longer next year will help, as will deer fencing around the vegetable plots, if not the whole croft.
It’s a journey, and we’re learning.
On the whole this growing thing has been surprisingly successful for us, and next year with the benefit of the knowledge gained from our experimental year, more beds and the polytunnel in place, we’ll be even more productive.
Ravencroft Skye 
Starting a new garden is always a lot of learning and local folk wisdom is not always accurate! Each year I do a bit better and find a new problem. Still I grow enough and the challenges keep me interested and on my toes. You have done well in your first year and will grow even more next season I am sure.
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Lots of learning in your future! You have already learned so much about your new niche, I’m sure you will continue to improve.
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Thank you. There’s always more to learn..😊
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I’ve always read that deer can be very destructive to veg gardens. There’s loads of deer around us, but none in our valley thankfully so we don’t have to contend with them. If we did, with the other pests, it would be too much, so I definitely empathise with your plight.
To keep caterpillars under control next year we’re going to try nematodes – the slug nematode worked brilliantly this year so hopefully this will protect the brassicas.
Do you guys have a plan for the deer? Will that entail some form of caging? Also, what did the deer not fancy, or was everything in the menu?
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Interestingly they’ve eaten everything, including plants I specifically grew because they weren’t supposed to like them! They’ve even eaten globe artichoke plants, despite all bristles. I think that we will have to deer fence more or less the whole croft next year if the young trees that we plan to plant are going to have any chance….😟
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