I planted two cherry tomatoes, both Sun Sugar yellow cherry tomatoes. When I bought the plants at the nursery, another gardener commented that deer could be kept away if you put human hair around the garden. Okay, I thought, I'll try it. I had a haircut soon after that and brought home the sweepings.
About a week later, a big storm came through. I went out to check on the tomato plants. Everything fine except, no hair. Then I realized, of course, birds had gathered the clumps of hair for nesting material. So much for that strategy. I continued to think of ways to garden for both wildlife and myself, not just for wildlife.
A week ago, one tomato ripened. Then a few days later, two more. It was then I realized how many empty stalks were on the plant. About a dozen. Guess who! The pretty little deer has been beating me to the cherry tomatoes again. I keep her off the roses, mostly, the coreopsis, and the cut leaf coneflowers with Liquid Fence. But I can't spray this noxious mixture on tomatoes that I want to eat myself. Yesterday I built a light barrier around the tomato plants with stakes and picture framing wire. We'll see how effective that is.
