Deer Were Here – Winter Farm Walk

This is how deer eat turnips around here in the winter time. First they browse off the greens and than they go after the turnips themselves while they are still in the ground. They are sloppy and disorganized about it, like a toddler learning to eat an apple. They manage to get at least one bite from each, usually more.

The deer pressure is on the upswing around here. They are abundant and hungry. Signs of them are everywhere, deep hoof prints in the mud, spicy winter greens munched down to the nubs and now they are going after half frozen turnips that are still in the ground. Ideally, you can keep harvesting turnips and winter greens all winter in Maryland, but we are clearly sharing these. Soon they will be hit by enough frosts that the turnips will soften anyway, but we have never seen this kind of turnip grazing before.

On the bright side, we are still harvesting a few types of cabbage and cauliflower on the farm. So far we have kept the deer off our strawberries greens which are overwintering and gathering strength for spring.

On the (almost too) bright side, our Camellia tree is in full bloom with its absurd hot pink blossoms, our taste of the tropics. We are hoping for our first winter snow today, these blossoms always look the best covered in snow.