Inbetween the raindrops

I kind of love that it's been raining the last couple days.  Watering the garden is not a chore I love, and I have yet to put a system in place that doesn't involve me dragging a hose around the yard for a couple hours.





The Winter and Spring rains give our garden a great start.  It feels very nearly self-sufficient up until July and August roll around and the plants starts gasping for refreshment.  The last few weeks we've lucked out and had a steady cycle of sunny days punctuated with rain.  Right now the yard looks full, robust, perhaps even overgrown.  At this point in the year, I feel I have far too much Lady's Mantle, but I dread the bare spots that result when it's removed.







Sadly, the deer have also made their way through.  Looking around you can see signs of their trespassing... the fig, the grape, blackberry, vine maples, strawberries, geum, dogwood, and hosta have all suffered.  But over the years I've learned a thing or two about what the deer will and won't eat.  Many of these resistant plants thrive in our garden, fill in wide swaths, and very nearly take care of themselves, (Lady's Mantle, iris and crocosmia, foxglove, euphorbias, a little silver leafed spreader, these pink (and purple) spiky guys, lamb's ear, catmint, grasses, lavenders and sage of all varieties.)

This year I decided to pretty much not bother with a vegetable plot.  It's just too darn risky with the deer.  Jeff did put in our 4'x8' bed of potatoes that I know they won't touch.  And the other day a friend shared some kale starts with us, and I couldn't resist the thought of a bounty of cucumbers and red peppers, so a few seedlings were bought knowing the risk.  The kale and peppers were planted amongst other things the deer avoid, so hopefully they won't get noticed.  The cukes are rather exposed, but we'll just have to wait and see if they make it.  Fingers crossed!







Against the never-ending list of never-ending projects (so so sadly true, and yes, we are those people), today, I'm rather more interested in enjoying my garden rather than expecting to be fed from it.  Happily, the raspberries have come on full force.  I did nothing to wrangle their spread this past year, so they are everywhere and bountiful.  We picked a pint plus in a matter of minutes inbetween the raindrops this afternoon.  The eggs are always beautiful, and at this time of year we are not lacking.  And finally, a gift of lavender discovered on the doorstep upon our return from the morning's outing.  Sweet sweet neighbors, thank you.

Other gardens and farms will feed us this year.  This Spring we paid in advance for our veggies from the farmstand down the street, not a CSA but a special neighbor's credit arrangement that I am loving.  And I'm not going to stress about the deer or the slugs or really, even, the watering.  I think it'll all be okay.  We've found a pretty happy balance here on our little plot of ground, and this year, maybe, I'll just get to enjoy it.