Deer?

Post date: Jan 26, 2013 4:21:14 AM

It took all of December to top last winter's total snow fall. As the snow piled up we took the opportunity to break out the snowshoes. It was one part fun, one part orchard maintenance; time to refresh the garlic clips on the apple trees. We trekked around removing the old clips and snapping on the new clips. Unfortunately, it looks like we waited a little too long between garlic applications as several, not all, of the trees have deer damage. Those pesky, four legged, brown, no good, orchard eating vegetarians nibble off the soft tips (next years growth) of the branches. It's pretty distinctive. As usual, we are behind on our posting, so although the photo is early January, it is now late January, just after the standard January thaw. We hope the recent thaw uncovers other food sources easier for them deers to find. Our other hope is that our refreshed clips will prevent additional damage. However, this situations leaves us asking, "Deer? Really? What Deer? In Vermont?"