Win Deer Repellent from Sweeneys & protect your garden!

I love living in the country. It's so rewarding to look out my window at my gardens and the ducks and chickens pecking in the backyard. In the fall, we have turkeys wandering through our yard. In the spring I hear coyotes howling from the woods across the street.

My daughter came in from putting away the ducks and chickens last night all excited because she saw a bunch of deer at the edge of the woods in our backyard. Our home is bordered by woods and most of our 2 acres is wooded so wildlife is a part of our every day living. To see the deer so close to our home was really neat though.

As much as I love wildlife, I really don't love them in my gardens. Gardening is a lot of work and it takes constant attention to weeds, soil moisture, mineral content, sunlight and a lot of other factors to get the herbs, vegetables, flowers and fruits that I want to help feed my family throughout the year. That said, I don't want to hurt the wildlife either. I just don't want them in my garden.

Sweeney's offers Deer Repellent that can be placed near your garden to keep deer away. I normally don't use any sort of repellents near my edible gardens but what attracted me to Sweeney's is that it's safe for edible gardens. It's also weatherproof so I am not running outside after each rain storm to reapply it.

The deer repellent is contained inside a patented weather proof station.  It protects the repellent from rain and keeps working all season.  There is absolutely no repellent contact with fruits or vegetables and no offensive odors to humans. The repellent is a natural color and virtually disappears in your garden.   The repellent scent flows through the station and across your garden to keep the deer away.

The package contains six ready to use repellent stations and stakes so you have enough to protect your whole garden.  It's too early here in rural Vermont for me to have my garden in yet.  Our last frost date isn't until May 25.  But, I plan on using these in my garden as soon as it's safe to plant. I'm glad that the deer in our back yard will stay out of my vegetables this year!

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One of my lucky readers is going to win a package of Deer Repellent from Sweeney's.  Here's what you can do for a chance to win!

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Remember, to please leave a separate comment for each entry. And please enter only in the ways listed above. I reserve the right to delete comments not adhering to the above entry guidelines.  You must be 18+ years old & live in the USA. The last day to enter is 5/14/2011.

My thanks to the sponsor for allowing me to review this product.

As required by the FTC: I received a product sample in order to write my review.  I received no monetary compensation.  All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

Please note that  I am not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. I have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a timely manner I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize but ultimately I am not responsible if they do not fulfill your prize win.

Attracting Native Polinators

Book Title: Attracting Native Pollinators
Subtitle: Protecting North America's Bees and Butterflies
Author: The Xerces Society Guide
Genre: Farming
ISBN: 978-1-60342-695-4
Publisher: Storey Publishing
Suggested Retail Price: $29.95

From the book:

Bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, flies, and some beetles pollinate more than 70 percent of flowering plants, but North America's native pollinators face multiple threats to their healthy and habitat.  The Xerces Society offers a complete action plan for protecting these industrious animals but providing flowering habitat and nesting sites.
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Attracting Native Pollinators is a guide that will help not only farmers but anyone with an interest in helping to guarantee our food supply.  It will also appeal to the backyard gardener and homesteader as a reference book and an inspiration.  Without pollinators, fruits and vegetables will not grow. We need to encourage their growth and to do that we need to provide them with shelter and an environment that encourages them to grow.

Close to 75% of flowering plants on the earth require some sort of pollinator to set seed or fruit. From these plants comes one third of our food and an even larger portion of food for our wildlife. Attracting Native Pollinators walks you through an introduction to native pollinators that is very easy to understand and comprehensive.  Whether the topic is totally new to you or you're a seasoned pro, you'll find some great information. The introduction explains why you should care about pollinators and what benefits they offer. It also discusses topics like pest management and conservation.

Chapter three introduces you to each pollinator with some great pictures and information. It also talks about insect life stages, nesting styles,  and reproduction. It tells you how to differentiate between butterflies & moths and wasps and bees.The second chapter includes a ton of information on the biology of pollination. I loved this chapter. I'm a seasoned gardener and still found lots of information I wasn't aware of. It discusses self pollination versus cross pollination and gives a fantastic introduction to the parts of flowers, germination, and fertilization.  Chapter four talks about threats to pollinators including habitat loss, exotic organisms, climate change and pesticides. It also discusses genetically modified crops

The second part of the book explains how you can take action to help the pollinators by protecting, enhancing or restoring wildflower-rich habitats.  It also talks about nest sites, host plants and overwintering refuges.  It encourages you to advocate for conservation and support wildlife, beautify our world and support sustainable farms and urban environments. It goes into depth about how to provide a foraging habitat and encourages native plants and pesticide free habitats. It has a great how to section on constructing a wooden nest block. There is a very handy regional plant list for native pollinator gardens that explains which plants are native to which regions of the United States as well as a low cost ornamental section with pictures.

Part three is an in depth look at bees of North America that will help you identify some of the more common bees.  It also talks about the families of bees found globally and their characteristics. The information on class systems would work really well for a homeschool unit study. I had no idea there were so many different types of bees. Now I know what they are and how to identify if they're male or female. There are photos, information on identification, foraging, nests, conservation concerns and even similar insects.

Part four walks you through creating a pollinator friendly landscape with plans for many different sample gardens.  It also gives you a regional plant list for native pollinator gardens that gives common name, scientific name, bloom time, flower color and cultural requirements. It also includes a handy reference with picture & growing conditions for different native wildflowers and which type of pollinator is attracted to each. This book is definitely a valuable resource to have in your gardening library.

This is a really helpful, in depth book. It has great information that can be used by a wide range of people from your casual gardener to farmers and those concerned with public areas like golf courses, industrial sites and parks.

My thanks to Storey Publishing for allowing me to review this book.

As required by the FTC: I received a product sample in order to write my review.  I received no monetary compensation.  All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.