As I went out to empty our kitchen scraps onto the compost pile at the edge of the garden area, I paused to look around and noticed something interesting.
There were trails, everywhere.
And not one of them made by human feet.
They were all deer trails.
They all lead to our feeding station!
This is by far the most well worn trail of them all, cutting through an old section of the garden that hasn’t been in use for some time.
This pathway runs between the maple grove and rows of spruces that were planted much later. You see that post in the mid-ground? That’s where there is a water tap. When I was a kid, the walking path around the edge of the garden was right up to that post. All those trees to the right are growing in an area that used to be part of the garden. Same with the apple trees in the opposite direction, near the spruce grove. As big as the garden area still is, it is much smaller than it used to be.
I made my way through here, having to wind around broken branches and dead trees all over the place. There don’t seem to be very many maples left in our maple grove. :-( We’re going to have some major clean up to do in that area.
This is one of the furthest ends of the garden. This gate is where we could drive into the garden itself.
As you can see, it is no barrier for the deer! Their tracks look as if they can walk right through the gate, as if it’s not even there! I know they’re jumping over, but it doesn’t look like it from the tracks alone.
Going through the maple grove was a bit of an eye opener. We have got SO much work to do to clear that area out! It’s a lower priority over working on the house itself, of course, but I hope we will be able to do at least some of it over the summer.
At times like this, I think my family and I really got the short end of the stick with this deal we made with my mother to live here for “free.”
Ah, well. We came here expecting to have work to do, even if we didn’t expect quite this much.
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 