Bambi Strikes

Yes, now it's Bambi. It looks like two deer attacked my strawberry plants -- eating leaves and stems on my new plants. Thankfully they weren't completely destroyed. With a little nurturing (and no more torture from Bambi and his friend) they will be fine. Close call. It's funny because I was going to write telling of my strawberry plants' success. They are now creating "daughter plants" for next year -- the little shoots they send out to create a new plant. This year I am to remove any blossoms to boost the plant's energy, nurture the daughter plants for next year when I will actually be able to pick strawberries!

Now, about Bambi ...

Well, I was just about to leave the house with Ripley when I went out to harvest some lettuce and snap peas for a salad at "Grandmama and Gramp's" and discovered THE DAMAGE. I knew it was deer that devoured my strawberries because I actually saw numerous hoof prints in the mud and straw!! Panicking, I went to the freezer and pulled out cayenne peppers to make a pepper spray -- simmering in water for 15 -30 minutes. Then I decided we would make a human urine barrier -- diluted with water -- around my garden. When I went to collect ... the urine ... somehow I managed to spill the container all over my bathroom floor!! Good grief. Just where is the Candid Camera guy? Undaunted, I used what remained and created a barrier around my garden. Meanwhile, I went to the stove to get the brewing pepper spray. When pouring the liquid through a funnel into a spray bottle I managed to slosh the boiling hot pepper spray spilling all over the floor and splashing onto my face, neck and chest! I ran to the refrigerator and pulled out sour cream and began smearing it all over my face, neck and chest. What a vision. Ripley was dumb-founded. Just WHAT is Mommy up to?! First she asks me to pee into a container which she then spills all over the floor. Then, she splashes boiling hot water all over the kitchen and herself ... then smears herself with sour cream! What is UP!? Stay tuned to see if my organic, low budget way of detering deer is effective.

On a lighter note, I did sneak a few stalks of Rhubarb from my new plants (you are supposed to wait for a year). I made my mother's Rhubarb Dessert -- but used strawberries left over from strawberry picking instead of raspberries. Really, the "dessert" is a crisp. Yumola! Here is a picture.

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