Bless their hearts, they saw our gardening joy and wanted the same. They worked diligently to clear an area on the side of their house, and carefully planted their flowers and plants.
From day 1 they were faced with 3 serious challenges:
1. Stumps
2. Minimal sunlight
3. Lack of Mustached Garden Pirates
These are nearly unsurmountable challenges, but they plowed ahead nonetheless. Sadly, though overcoming the first two roadblocks, it was the third that delivered the fatal blow. Sure enough, within a few days of planting, every tomato and pepper planted were eaten by the deer. It was the same deer, in fact, that attacked our garden before the Pirate held them off.
Yes, that is right, it was a deer that ate our plants. Thank you to all that voted. It seems we received more votes than a county primary election (14 in all). Although we initially thought that McGruff the Crime Dog had something to do with it, he has since been exonerated, and we actually hired him to unravel the case. For your information, we have included his report below :
"It was 3:23 A.M on May 22, 2010. A cool breeze picked up, and the scent of fresh plants pricked the nose of a passing deer. A doe, experienced in life and hardened in crime was the culprit this fine spring morning. At first, she eyed carefully the newly planted garden (our neighbors), and without any resistance, did it in. Then, as though setting her eyes on the Holy Grail of Gardens, she snorted softly, and stared lustfully at the motherload - a truck-bed liner, set in a manufactured backdrop of cars and buildings. The veteran criminal hesitated briefly at the sight of the pirate's mustache, but approached the parking lot garden with full criminal intent.
Within moments, the Early Girl Tomato and Zucchini were maimed and dying. The Chile and Green Peppers were injured, as was the Roma. A skirmish ensued, and the mustache... er, pirate emerged victorious." (McGruff & Co, Case 14251B, Section 14.1)
That was the report. Sounds fairly legitimate to me, but what do I know? I still think it was pretty thorough for only 27 dollars.
The deer has since been reported for two other infractions, and was recently featured on America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back (no leads yet, but cross your fingers).
We initially thought ants were at fault, and laid down a hefty load of ant poison donated by my grandpa (see picture). That took care of any ants, who had taken a few bites of our spinach, and gave Jordan a stomach ache when he forgot to wash his hands before eating some jelly beans. It is a small price to pay for security.
In the end, we are happy our garden survived the encounter, and in truth, our heart goes out to the "other guys". All I can say is: better luck next year, other guys.
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