14.9.05

fall is creeping up on us in eugene

i went out to the garden this morning to check on the tomatoes. this is a daily routine because even though we've encircled our minature garden with deer fencing, the deer (or should i say, venison?) relentlessly rip through it, go under it, tear it from the posts, and happily trample through the garden and eat our tomato plants. every single night. we do fix the fence occasionally, when we have time (well, i should clarify here so that i don't hear about it later, that my Loving Boyfriend, dear that he is, is the one that goes out and fixes it). but it's kind of a big job so we've accepted now that we're just going to lose most of the garden to fatten up the deer in the neighborhood. and yes, we have a fence all the way around the property. and yes, we have dogs - big dogs. but we still have deer. and it is illegal to make deer into venison inside the city limits. not that i would shoot them by any means, as i'm not much of a hunter. but i have no doubts they would taste good because they're the healthiest, biggest deer i've ever seen and they've been fattened up on all of my organic vegetables all summer long.

in fact, this is the only tomato we have that has 1) become red, and 2) survived long enough to become red. it's a striped roman. and it must be one hell of a tough tomato or taste really bad...otherwise i'm sure the deer would have eaten it by now.

the other thing i noticed this morning was that we've now had our first frost:

i guess its time to begin to let summer go and start dreaming of pumpkins and apple pies and nights of sipping mexican hot chocolate...

4 comments from you:

Shauna said...

Frost? Already frost? Sigh.

You're doing a wonderful job here. I just stumbled onto your blog because I found out you linked to mine. (Thanks!) And I love it. The photo of the berries, the gorgeous shot of Crater Lake, the enthusiastic writing--keep it up. I'll be coming back!

Farmgirl Susan said...

Hi Michelle,
I just linked here from the very sweet comment you left me on Farmgirl Fare. I'm so glad I discovered your yummy new blog.

We, too, have deer problems, but (and this might make you feel a little bit better) since we're out in the middle of nowhere, we are allowed to shoot them (in season of course), and venison that has been pan-fried in homemade lard is now, I have to say, one of my all-time favorite foods. : )

P.S. Thanks for adding me to your links list. And I love the "blogs I read when I'm supposed to be working" heading!

Michelle said...

Shauna - aww, you're sweet. thank you! i hope you feel better soon; being sick is the worst. i'm sure that delicious looking chicken soup you posted will fix you right up.

Farmgirl - hi Susan! i'm so glad that you made it here! in the 'four seasons' cookbook, there's a recipe for venison pie i think about every morning when i check the garden. but i may have to go with caribou, since it's in the freezer (my dad lives in Alaska) and i don't have any venison except the ones eating my garden.

how in the world do you make homemade lard? i might have to try something like your suggestion with the caribou as i normally have to use it with sauce because it's so lean.

i hope things are back up and running at your house and farm now?

kitchenmage said...

I'll swap you your deer for my neighbor's cows. My deer are remarkably well-behaved and tame so my herb garden with a few vegetables survives. So far.

You had frost already? Isn't it early for that?