Fall cleanup

I'm afraid I gave up on my garden early this year. I was just too discouraged by the damage that the deer, raccoons and groundhogs did. The only crop they didn't destroy was the peppers.

Next year I will definitely have some strategies for deterring them before they become a problem. Electric fence? 8-foot tall deer fence? Wire mesh around individual plants?

DH is mowing over my filbert trees next time he mows the lawn. They've been there 6 years, and the deer have done so much browsing on them they are now shorter than they were when they were planted. I consented to this, a sign of how depressed I am about these stupid deer.

Our Macintosh apple tree had great promise this year of having a good crop - but the deer got them all.

Today I noticed that the one tree that succeeded in the yard that I planted (a red maple) has marks on the trunk where I deer has been scratching his antlers.

I'd really like to have a dog again!

Anyway, back to the topic of the post. Tonight we took up all the soaker hoses and I took down some of the pea pence before it got dark. Tomorrow I'd like to take down my bamboo trellises, and maybe start pulling up the mulching fabric, which may require pulling weeds.

I've developed tendinitis in my right elbow, so I am trying to treat it tenderly (another reason for giving up on the garden early). I may just cut the weeds off at the root rather than pulling them, although I've noticed using scissors also causes some pain.

After removing the mulch I will ask DH to bring over the neighbor's tractor and till the garden, and then put a few yards of compost on the garden for the winter.