Registration is open for the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Organic Land Care (OLC) Accreditation Courses in MA, CT and RI. This 5-day intensive course trains land care professionals and advanced gardeners to design and maintain healthy, ecologically-sound landscapes.
White-tailed deer are beautiful creatures but there are simply too many trying to survive in Connecticut woodlands. My south-central Connecticut town is listed in Connecticut hunting zone 12 which includes shoreline towns from Milford to Stonington and Connecticut River towns of Lyme and East Haddam. Zone 12, along with zone 11 towns in southwestern Connecticut, has extended white-tail deer hunting seasons because of high deer density – as many as 60 to 70 deer per square mile in studied areas of these zones. Considering that deer eat 5 to 10 pounds of plant material per day, deer density exceeding 20 per square mile is enough to significantly alter forest undergrowth.
I was reading to my two-year-old granddaughter yesterday afternoon when the motion detector alarm by the front porch entry beeped. From our reading chair we looked out to find a four-hooved, instead of a two-legged, visitor. After allowing my granddaughter her first through-the-window close-up look at a white-tailed deer, we ventured to the glass storm door leading to the front porch. There my budding gardening companion had her first experience chasing deer away. A few loud knocks on the glass sent the deer scurrying off towards the woods. My granddaughter was taken aback by the deer's sudden movement, but praise that she had done a good job helping grandma chase the deer away soon changed her tone. She proudly informed grandpa she had chased the deer into the woods. That's my girl!
This is a first for Connecticut. A Nor'easter before Halloween. The leaves are still on most of the trees. Hardy flowers are still blooming in the garden. My south-central CT gardens (zone 6a) just saw their first frost 24 hours ago.
Looking for a good laugh or a light-hearted gardening-related respite from responsibilities? Follow this link to 3 Men Went 2 Mow.
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