Hey, all!

I thought I was out of Gardening for the year, but it turns out my backyard will not need digging up for septic and I am planting up!

I do have a question: if I were to plant something in a field with deer nearby, what would they not eat? Pumpkins or corn, perhaps? Any information you can give would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

The big ungulate rats with split hooves will eat pretty much anything if it's greener and fresher than what they can easily get to elsewhere. This year they have been nibbling on my peoneys and bleeding hearts and munching on the leeks and onions that made it through the winter.

They will come on the porch to steal a jack-o-lantern, so doubt that pumpkins would be safe, and certainly not corn. They've eaten green beans and peas and lettuce and greens like that are a treat for them.

They haven't bothered my *****ly zuchinni nor my tomatoes. I wouldn't trust them around onions or garlic, as they go wild over chives.
*****ly zuchinni might be your best bet.

M

ha, ha, they edited out my word for the little stinging hairs on the zuchinni leaves. It wasn't meant to be offensive. : 0

Hmmph. Too bad. My name reflects my conundrum here, b/c the only available space is out in a deer-ridden field. They do sell deer fence though...

I hear they won't eat Chinese bitter melon, which is good, but on the other hand, neither will I.

btw, those are some harsh words for zucchini-kind. They will punish you will more stinging squashes than you can possibly eat. X^D

My deer won't eat chives or any herbs for that matter. I let bella dona plants grow on my place, which are 1st or 2nd cousins to tomatoes. I grew purple viking potatoes last year and the deer didn't touch them.. I have found that deer will munch regular slicing or paste tomatoes, but they won't bother cherry tomatoes (this has been my experience). I grew a Lima bean variety that has been in the family since the Civil War or earlier, and the deer wouldn't eat those. Deer around here won't bother garlic, onions, or any other member of the allium family.

But a deer fence is a good thing. I fenced in my 16' x 32' plot with 5 ft fence and they don't bother it.. but I tried closing in slicing tomatoes in a very small enclosed area with only a 3 ft fence and the darn things jumped right in and I caught them in the middle of the small area munching away. So go with at least 5 feet tall fencing. My 16x32Ft area cost about $50 to buy fencing for.. and about $20 for the posts.

The deer around my place don't eat the tomato fruit itself but they sure do love the tomato leaves.

What the deer won't eat, the raccoons will, if you have them. They can tear squashes and pumpkins to shreds, and take every tomato they can find. Fencing is the only thing that has given me peace of mind.

But if you want to temporarily keep the deer off, and other mammals, until you get the fence up, you can use an egg yolk spray. Separate 2 eggs, beat the yolks with a little water and strain into a hand sprayer (crucial to keep the whites and bits from clogging the sprayer), fill with water, add a few drops of hot sauce. Spray on everything, and repeat every three days, and always after a rain. Refrigerate. Although it works as well even if it starts to smell, but it might turn into chunks which will also clog the sprayer.

I put a colorful construction string top line across my deer fence because sometimes the birds at dusk couldn't see the top of the fence, and especially in flocks, the last guy went straight into the fence (I guess he was watching the guy in front of him). Now they avoid it much better.

Maybe I'll give potoes a try! Thanks again!

Know what? Plant some alfalfa in that field so that it is closer to where they retreat to than your garden will be. I've noticed that around here, the deer dissappear once the alfalfa starts growing. If they can get to something pretty tasty without feeling endangered, they will choose that over your vegetables and ornamentals.

quote:

But a deer fence is a good thing. I fenced in my 16' x 32' plot with 5 ft fence and they don't bother it.. but I tried closing in slicing tomatoes in a very small enclosed area with only a 3 ft fence and the darn things jumped right in and I caught them in the middle of the small area munching away. So go with at least 5 feet tall fencing. My 16x32Ft area cost about $50 to buy fencing for.. and about $20 for the posts.

Rabbit,
What type of fencing did you use? Was in 1" Chicken wire with t-posts or something else?

I was puzzling over some king of noisemaker to scare them off. Coyotes are in the area, so a little bit of urine spray might be enough to send them away...hmmm... or maybe if they smelled venison sausages cooking...nah, just kidding. Besides, I may not need that space, anyway.

Learn to love game meats untill they learn to stay away from your garden.

I like Tom C zones reply. Deer is tasty.. I just wish we could shoot the things in town (city limits).

I use fencing that is standard fencinvg for horses or other livestock.. It is 5 feet tall. It is a much heavier gauged wire the chicken wire, the spacing is something like 2"x 4" between the wire. It no doubt costs more than I paid for mine. I bought the wire in 2004 and 2005. At that time it cost about a $25.00 for 25 ft x 5 ft wire. So to fence in 16 x 32' it just took 50 ft...

Deer definitely like the tender ends of tomatoes. It has been my experience that they like to eat the flowers off of tomato and pepper plants.. the flowers probably taste a little sweeter. Darn wild goats!