Have I got a fun story for you

 Over the past few weeks I've been slowly ripping out the garden. 

I left the broccoli and whatever flowers there were, for the pollinators. 

I thought I had taken photos when I was cleaning out, but I did not.  Instead my phone was being used as a radio. I did catch this bumble bee clinging to one of the remaining cosmos. 

This year was a first for collecting seeds for hollyhock, calendula and a few other flowers that I started from seed in the last couple of years and some were volunteers. 

Okay, so I've been gradually cleaning out the garden, leaving things out there for as long as possible.  I'm in Zone 3b/now 4a. 

Last week I ended up ripping out everything, digging up the onions (the harvest was a joke/disappointment this year.  Carrots are still out there.  I'll dig those up next month before the ground completely freezes up. 

I harvested the last of the tomatoes and will let them ripen in the house. 

So the garden is pretty much empty.  I realize I keep saying this, but it's true, except for the flowers. 

The flowers I left are by the garden gate, where I'm standing to take this photo, and behind me. 

Also, how beautiful are those trees with the sun beams coming through? 

I think it was that night my son was outside, over by the garden, and came running back to the house, asking if it was all right that the chickens were in the garden.  I didn't give it much thought, actually, I said it was fine, cause it was.  They couldn't do any damage on what was left in there.  It was just some flowers, ground cherries and broccoli plants. 

Well, that one is on me.  Cause the deer discovered the garden was open and ate everything that was left.  Seriously.  They ate all the flowers.  The mowed down what was left of the broccoli, the lone jalapeño plant that was in there.  Hollyhocks.  I'm still shaking my head over that one.  They ate a whole hollyhock plant. 

They also ate the milkweed that was outside of the garden. 

I was like "Wow, really?" Guess nothing for the pollinators and the milkweed seeds were mown down, too. 

I made sure the gate was closed after that.  Though that's kind of like closing the barn door after the cows get out, right?  

We had one last thing in the garden area that is precious and that is our pear tree. 

Since I have been all over the place this past summer I don't think I wrote too much about the pear tree that my husband hand pollinated with apple blossoms. This is the pear tree my sister-in-law gave us.  It fruited for the first time and we had 13 pears on there. We were determined to keep those pears. 

A day or two later my husband and I were out by the garden and I was showing him all that I got done and we were just walking around. 

I don't recall if it was me or him who spotted the blow out in the garden fence. 

We both said "What the heck happened?"  He said it had to have been a deer breaking through.  

You'll notice that it is right next to the pear tree. 

Those bratty deer were bound and determined to get our pears. Have you ever heard of such a thing? The fencing is high enough that it can't be just jumped over, either. 

Somehow those deer got in to the garden and ate the pears and then burst through the fence. 

Oh, but wait, there was one pear left, we saw.  So we decided to just go ahead and pick it. So we walked around to the gate and stopped short. 

This one didn't photograph as well.  The deer pushed in the gate until it opened and walked in to the garden. 

The gate was all pushed in and the fence posts are kinda jacked up. 

While I was assessing the damage to the gate and how I could get it closed again, my hubby went and picked the pear and took a bite out of it. He then said I *had* to try it, as this was the sweetest pear he had ever had. 

I took a bite and had to agree that it was THE BEST pear I had ever eaten.  It was *so* super sweet, without being sugary sweet.  And juicy ... yeah ... 

I ate almost the whole thing and fully understood why the deer were bound and determined to break in to the garden so they could get the pears. 

We will need to do some reading to see what other steps we can take to further safeguard to pear tree next year.