When I planted strawberries on the outside of the garden, I assumed the biggest threat would be birds and ants, which is the same as inside the garden. I kept the plants covered with netting until after the fruit stopped producing, then I took the cover off assuming we were in the clear. Oh wow, was I wrong! Deer love strawberry plants, who knew. The internet knows! I should have looked it up in hindsight. Bambie nibbled all of my plants down to the ground. Luckily strawberries grow like weeds and they perked back up over the summer. I recovered them, however over the winter the cover blew off and the plants are nibbled down yet again.
No more! I told my husband we needed a more secure lid and we needed it ASAP or we wouldn’t be enjoying any strawberries in the spring. I quickly drew a plan for a lid that would be on hinges and could be lifted, then secured to the fence behind it.
My husband is a very handy man, but details sometimes are overlooked in his effort to “just get it done.” He didn’t exactly follow through with my drawing, instead, he made the lid flat. There is about a seven-inch gap between the soil and the top of the chicken wire we used. I’m not sure if that will be enough clearance, but I told him we’ll see what happens. He may have to revisit it. I also wonder why he didn’t follow through with the drawing I put in front of him. He must like doing things twice and hear me complain. I do most of the gardening that he benefits from, so an occasional project that requires his attention is only fair.
The lid is heavier than I wanted, but it prevents the kids from opening it up and eating all the goodies without us. He did include a handle and short bungee cord that will allow me to pin it up to the fence behind it. All in all, I think it will work fine. The deer can go munch on something else. We also have fox, groundhogs, opossums, and raccoon, I also suspect we have skunks. So a sturdy lid is a good move.
My winter garden, cold and brown. I will soon do a good burn with the leaf pile and old plants. Hopefully killing bugs that are sleeping in the soil and providing some ash to the soil for nutrients.
Melisa Peterson Lewis 