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Re: New and in Michigan

Jessie Vic, near Lansing, said,
>I've got quite a large area available to garden, but plan to start with 4-6
>4x4 beds. I've a family with four kids under 8, we homeschool, and love the
>outdoors. Good thing, with 27 acres to roam!

If the beds aren't already built, I suggest you alter their dimensions for
easier access.  SqFt beds that are more than 3 feet across are harder to
work in than narrow ones.  Remember, you never step on the soil in a SqFt
bed!  If your beds are wider than about 3 feet, you won't easily be able to
reach across them to weed or harvest veggies.

Also, if you plan to have these beds in any kind of rows, be sure to leave
at least one wheelbarrow-width between the rows.

>I'd really like to hear any suggestions regarding deterance of deer - we have
>a regular herd of 9 that visit quite close to the house.

Applications of predator urine will probably do more to deter these
attractive but damaging visitors than, say, the human-hair-in-the-pantyhose
trick.  A loud, large dog, combined with perimeter fencing, should help,
too.  Wolves are natural predators of deer, so there may be some imprinted
fear of canines in deer even though natural populations of wolves were
exterminated in the East well before 1900.  (Reintroductions in Minnesota
will probably spread in your general direction over the next 10 years, but
Lansing is a long way from Minn.)

A motivated deer can bound over a 10-foot-high fence, so fencing alone is
probably not useful.  The fence is to keep the loud, large dog IN.  ;>)

Gardening, and square-footing in particular, offers huge educational
opportunities for kids of all ages.  I think you're very wise to incorporate
this activity into your homeschooling curriculum.

--Janet Wintermute
[2.5 decades ago, a teacher in Cleveland]


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