Who put the buck in buckwheat?
Me, I guess. It all started when I was sorting through old partial bags of miscellaneous cover crop seed. I found some buckwheat and decided to sow it on a part of the garden I was going to leave fallow this summer.
The seed didn’t germinate at all, so bound and determined to continue on this path – I bought some fresh seed. It did pretty good and I was feeling quite smug. Until I discovered that it was attracting the deer to the garden earlier than they usually show up.
Now, I have a weird relationship with the deer and their part in our local food chain. Deer and elk are the preferred food for cougar, and if there aren’t enough deer or elk, the cougars eat calves. So it is in my interest to not get too riled up about the deer. Couple this with the fact that our “failure to launch” set of poachers that live down the road. The deer are pretty scarce because they are being hunted at an alarming rate. These same fellas also seem to be “ridding” us of coyotes. So the rabbit and ground squirrel population is taking off. All garden eaters. It doesn’t take too much to upset the balance, and I often wonder when the ne’er do wells will start eating beef instead of venison. Fish and Game isn’t too interested unless they can catch them hunting from a vehicle – so it goes.
My garden rotation takes the deer into consideration – our garden that is the farthest away from the house is planted with vegetables that the deer don’t like, too much. We’ll see what they do when I work in the buckwheat. Sigh. So far they have been munching the Calais Flint corn, and leaving the hybrid sweet corn, taste testing the peas and hybrid carrots.
My hopes that the dogs would chase them away is a hit or miss proposition. They are too busy playing in the haystack…
Apparently, a swollen, hornet stung nose prevents deer chasing… . Trace thinks we need a new dog for the garden, he gave himself a promotion. Be careful what you wish for Baby dog!!
These guys! Melvin is performing lookout duties from the top of the hay load. “I don’t see anyone in the garden.”
And if you did Melvin, could you get down from the truck fast enough to do anything about it?
Food Renegade
Simple, Green, Frugal Co-op
Your yard, garden, and pastures are looking excellent! I’m glad the summer is providing well for you!
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
So far, so good!
I guess the deer are trying to find any way they can to sneak in some of your hard-work and summer bounty. What kind of climate does buckwheat need to grow?
Mango, the deer heard they should be eating a varied and rich diet, I guess… .
Buckwheat will grow just about anywhere, but it is very frost tender, so it is only used for a quick summer cover crop, usually to smother germinating weeds.
What other kinds of cover crop do you normaly use? That whole concept is new to me…..we are preparing a large plot of land this year for the garden for next year…should I plant a cover crop this fall?
Kristen, most of the time I use cereal rye/vetch or a oat/field pea combo. Or sometimes just the rye to get rid of quack grass.
Cover crops are good in theory, helping to build organic matter and add nitrogen to the soil if you use a legume of some sort. The only problem I see with home gardeners is the working the crop into the soil. For instance, for the rye to do it’s job, it needs to form it’s seed head, which means it may be 6 feet tall. If you have a tractor powered tiller, and a mower, that isn’t too much of a problem, but if you are battling it by hand, it is too much work.
A good combo, is the oat and pea because is will put on some fall growth and then winter kill, (hopefully depending on your climate) leaving you a mulch to protect your soil over winter and be more workable in the spring.
Deer are one thing I DON’T have to worry about being this far back from the river. The worst is when the Bossman lets horses graze the yard and one decides to take a roll………instant death of vegetation
Linda, geez I guess! Well the deer haven’t started rolling yet, but when I work up that buckwheat they are going to be mad and retaliate I am sure.
Deer can be a real pain, but boy they can be very good also!
Oh, I hope you can help me. A few months back, you posted a picture of your raspberries that you had taken out of your freezer and they didn’t look like they had been frozen at all. A number of commenters (me included) exclaimed loudly and begged to know how you did it. Well, you told us and I noted it in my head, but now I can’t FIND that post!! I spent about 25 minutes last night with the search feature on your site and – then I even tried the guessing game using my memory – trying to find it, sigh, but no luck. Can you point me to it? Please?
Farmgirl – I think this is the one:
http://matronofhusbandry.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/gardening-is-more-important-than-ever/
I couldn’t remember, but found it by searching raspberries, even though that wasn’t the tag. Hope that helps.
Thank you. Your link took me to the post where all your commenters were asking how you kept your frozen berries so lovely looking, from there I found your later post titled “Mushy Berries” which then directed me to the Not Dabbling in Normal post where your “Frank u berry mush” post gave me the lowdown. Phew, I’m tired now.
But happy. I can freeze my raspberries without washing them first with a clean conscience.
I love your pictures on this post. The dogs especially.
I just love it when I find our dogs on the front porch watching the deer top off new fruit trees. The pack of mutt is all curled up attentively eying a herd as if they were watching a damned national geographic special.
Well, Melvin doesn’t think it matters how fast he could get down. He is surveying and protecting his domain, and that’s what matters. Thor told me that, as he watched the deer in our orchard from his perch under the monumental maple tree.
Nita, Thanks for the “rant” on our blog — I enjoyed it very much. FoodDay is bizarre — so light yet so damning at the same time. Oh well. I guess the Oregonian needs to ‘push the envelope’ sometimes and probably figures that questioning the important of local/organic is doing so these days. Who knows? Stay cool this week!!!!!
Katie