Keeping the Deer at Bay When Joe's Away - My Quest for the Twenty-five Dollar Victory Garden

(To watch this video in better High Definition, click here to view it on Vimeo).

So I survived nearly week away, without my nightly ritual of spreading homemade deer repellent around the garden perimeter. My plan to deter the deer in my absence was one I concocted in a few minutes time, but with no idea as to its potential effectiveness. Yet with no other options, I had to take a chance and hope for the best.

As you’ll see in the video, I placed these “deer repellent traps” for lack of a better term evenly around the garden perimeter by securing them to the bamboo fence with twine. The tops have remained securely in place and I’ve managed to avoid any evidence of deer or other critters munching on my garden since then.

In the next episode I plan on addressing other pests control, such as how I’m dealing with whitefly and cucumber beetles that have started to show up in my garden. With only a little over ten dollars in the budget, home remedies are still at the top of the list for controls.

And now that it is officially summer, all the veggies my family and I eat for the rest of the season, must come from my garden. This week, we started harvesting cucumbers, along with lettuce, chard and Chinese cabbage. Basil is a no-brainer and I use that every day.

So here’s a rundown of where we stand as of June 26, 2009: 

Current Expense Count (still the same):

Seed starting Mix: 2 bags….$7.00
Twine for bamboo………....$2.27
Two tomato plants…………$5.28

Total……………………….$14.55
Available…………......……$10.45

Thanks for keeping up with my progress and especially for your comments on this blog and when you post them on YouTube.

Comments

[Daphne]

I'm so lucky I don't have your budget. I've been keeping track of what I harvest and how much I spend. I'll come out on the positive side at the end of the summer, but I will have spent quite a bit. Or course I bought most of my seeds and one plant ($46) and had to buy my light set up since I didn't have any shop lights and no place to hang them ($68). I amortized the 18 year old fence around my garden ($60).

Of course to my way of thinking you have already gone over your budget. Surely you had to replace those shovels you broke a couple of posts back. Though I think I cheated in my accounting too. My husband gave me a new garden fork for my birthday when the old one that his grandmother gave me years ago broke (never owned a tiller so I always hand dig). I didn't count that because it was a gift. Is that cheating too?

[Jeph Remley]

LOL NEVER thought I'd be watching a TV celeb/book author talking so much about pee, not to mention getting to see bottles of it... Funny!

Wow Joe, your garden's doing great! And you were gone five days - where are your weeds!? Be honest - did you go clean it out BEFORE videoing??

You're just a little ahead of us with the cukes - mine are only about a half inch long at this stage. The two old retired farmers down the street have me worried that cross-pollination between the gourds and cukes sharing the same trellis will affect flavor, but from all I know it seems like it should only affect something raised from this year's seeds...

[Mike Taylor]

Good job, Joe. Not only effective, but uses only recycled and 'waste' materials as well!

[Joe Lamp'l]

Thanks Mike for the comment. Yeah, I felt good about the process and material I was using as I devised my plan. Wasn't sure if I had a prayer though but looks like it worked. It's not rocket science but it is effective and free.

[Joe Lamp'l]

Jeph, that's because TV and other big media types don't let people in the public eye be human enough sometimes. I've caught just a little flack around the lines of your comment but I guess this is my opportunity to have some fun, share some valuable information while providing a peek into more of my personality then is often evident when it's someone elses "show". I think the public relates better to a "real" person so why not let your hair down a little and allow them to get to know you better.

And regarding the 'pee' references in the last two episodes, the following comment is not directed at you specifically but just for the record, I have no obsession or affinity to the stuff. It's just that we're talking about a real life challenge here with a real budget of only $25. If that's all someone has to grow and defend their garden, then they better learn to be pretty darn resourceful and the bottom line fact is, pee works and my role in this series is to tell it like it is. Hopefully I've done that in a decent yet humorous way. We all need to laugh a little more, right? Thanks for your comment. It's always good to hear from you.

[Joe Lamp'l]

Hi Daphne. Yes, the $25 budget was an arbitrary number but one that seemed certainly low enough to present a significant challenge. It has proven to be that. On the other hand, it has forced me to be as creative and resourceful as possible as I seek solutions to stay within budget. So far so good but I can see why anyone could easily have a hard time not blowing right through it. I've been tempted to myself many times.
About your comment on the broken shovels, yes, technically you could add the value back in for the replacement of those, but I could have also stopped prying with them long before they finally broke. I was aware of the risks and should have called in the truck option a lot sooner. However, since these shovels had been on hand a long time and rarely used, I was willing to sacrifice them with the knowledge that they would not be replaced. I just thought that if they broke, it would make for better video. I didn't do it on purpose, yet I didn't worry about them breaking either. If I was I would have stopped way before and avoided the issue altogether.

Anyway, all that to say is that there is a bit of subjectivity here as to how we look at it but in my mind, I'm o.k. with things as they are and still consider myself within budget.

Thanks for sharing your story as well. All things considered, you've done very well too.

[Anna/Flowergardengirl]

Too clever! Be sure and replenish the source of the odor. Drink your fluids.

[Daphne]

I do love how you've become creative with garden problems. Sometimes all that you have to do is look around and see the resources you already have. I have a woods behind my house so when I wanted to re-edge the bed, I brought out the saw and started cutting. I've found a use for all those Norway maple saplings that I usually curse.

I agree that it is subjective. I think of shovels as something I would HAVE to replace. I only have two, one curved one flat. If one of them broke, they would immediately get replaced.

[Verab]

Fantastic idea!!!! I may have to steal that idea . . . we are going away this weekend and I do NOT want to come back to a ruined garden.

Thanks so much!

Vera B.