A sweet treat, just not for me

Some gardeners are much better than I am about planting late-season crops. A friend on Facebook just posted a beautiful haul of beets the other day. I am just burned out by the end of the summer and I consider it a success if I can just stay on top of harvesting and general maintenance. Planting, and more importantly, nursing seedlings along in their early days is just not going to happen.

But I’ve been judiciously using my kale so that it would extend into late fall. Kale, like many of its cruciferous breathren, gets even better when the weather turns cool and it takes on a sweety, nutty flavor. In fact I’ve been planning a dinner in which my favorite kale salad is featured.

So imagine my surprise when I went out to the garden this morning and found my formerly lush kale bed looking like a stripped forest.

All that is left are the thick stalks, but every leafy bit has been nibbled off. The culprits are not difficult to finger. It is, of course, our healthy herd of neighborhood deer who apparently also know that kale peaks in cool weather.

I’m sure they enjoyed every sweet morsel of that kale. But I might have recommended a bit of parmesan and maybe a few toasted pine nuts to go with it.

5 Responses

  1. Oh no!! I feel so bad for you! I'm not very good at late season crops either. Usually, they don't work for me. Spinach and lettuce, yes, but that's about it. We did have some fall beets this year, but I'll be honest – I was shocked. And they still didn't do as well as spring ones normally do. (This year, the spring beets didn't do squat, for whatever reason!)

  2. AHHH Those buggers!!! They sure know how to go after the good stuff! It looks like it was a beautiful crop!!! Thanks for popping on by my blog today! I'm looking forward to following along with you on your journey!!!

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