No Hate Fences

The phrase, “good fences make good neighbors,” is not just for humans. Today I was reminded why I spent two hot months building my fenced in garden.

I have a second garden plot behind my first one, but it is not fenced in. It is probably a sunnier spot than my fenced garden, but last year’s job of building my garden was big enough for one human so I did not fence my back garden. This spring, as I finished planting the fenced garden I found I had a couple of plants or started seeds left over so I went ahead and planted them in the unfenced garden. I knew this was risky, since I fenced the first garden after years of heartbreak growing vegetable just to feed wild life.

For most of the spring and early summer the things in the unfenced garden went unnoticed by the abundant deer and bunnies that call our neighborhood home. So I actually bought four cantaloupe plants to add to that garden, thinking that deer did not like them.

Russ had gone to Boston first thing this morning to see Carter since he has work in Rhode Island this week. Shay and I lazed around since no one was watching. As I was getting ready to be a productive human I looked out my window and saw a patch of brown in my unfenced garden. Sure enough a deer was there making a buffet of it. I pounded on the window screaming at the deer who could not quite figure out where that sound was coming from as the storm window was down.

I threw on some clothes and trusty guardian Shay and I went out to discover the murder of the cantaloupe, okra, green beans, and peppers in the unfenced garden. On top of that the butternut squash, which had grown out of the fence and back in as well as some pole beans that had grown up the fence had been sheered off on the outside of the fence in the fenced garden.

One of the reasons I put up the fence was I was trying to eradicate hate from life after so many years of a certain politician as well as the innocent deer just trying to get a good meal. The fence had worked as well as a good and fair election. I had not felt hate in my heart for months.

Today, for just a few moments it came back. Then I went into my fenced garden and harvested today’s bounty. The hate disappeared just a little bit. I know I never should have advertised that baby cantaloupe on the blog two days ago. It was just begging for it to disappear. That dear had no trouble eating the whole little melon along with every single flower that represented future melons and 80% of the leaves.

I already knew that fences were good. I just needed to be reminded. I am not sure I need to build a second fenced garden. It was so much work. I just need to be satisfied with the one I have and not plant things the deer would like to eat in an unfenced area.