Welcome to NE section of GardenWeb. You've picked yourself a tough yet rewarding location to begin gardening again. I wish you great success in the coming years, and am praying that the deer stay well fed elsewhere ;)

Bea, welcome to New Hampshire and the New England forum from another former Ohioan (though for me it's been almost 35 years since I lived in OH, though as long as my mom owned a house there I did some gardening for her when visiting.) I haven't had much in the way of problems with bear, deer and moose eating my gardens, though the first two are common here, and the moose occasional visitors. However, I don't put out bird-feeders and bury potentially attractive scraps in the compost pile to reduce bear appeal. There are a few plants (yews and hollies) that the deer will nibble down to bare branches. One thing that is really different here from OH is the acid soil, so Rhododendron and blueberries are happy here, and your veggies will grow better with wood ashes or lime spread on the garden to raise the pH.

I am in awe of you managing college, kids, and a garden! With so many commitments, mulch will be your friend as far as keeping control of weeds. I use wood shavings or compost or shredded leaves or ground up branches from tree trimming, depending on where I am using the mulch and what is currently available.

Welcome, Bea! A bit late for this year, (although not totally, since I actually just started mine this past weekend) but I wanted to let you know about the winter-sowing forum here. If you've never winter-sown, check it out. It will really change your gardening life!

Sounds like you have some adjustments to make garden-wise, but it also sounds like you are ready to face them! Best of luck - and have fun!! - with your new garden, and we're glad you joined us!

:)
Dee

Welcome, Bea! I had to look up your location but I'm a little bit familiar with the Sandwich/Tamworth area west of you. Recently we went on a great small farm tour in Tamworth that was put on by the OLLI program (education for 55 and older). I asked about garden tours because I went on one several years ago in the Tamworth/Sandwich area. The farmer told me to check with the Bear Camp Garden Club. What I learned on that garden tour was that there are 22 fewer growing days than I have near Concord NH.

Last night there were 12 deer in the field south of us. I had trouble with deer the first summer but started using deer repellant. That seems to have worked. That hayfield might be a lot tastier. Rodents were horrible last year, however, eating a lot of garden veggies. Friends love using a salad table which is something I might consider if I were pregnant! Hope those young guys give you some help with stoop labor. I am much older so hope gym squats are going to make gardening easier for me this summer.

I've had some good luck keeping a low tunnel over a veggie bed until things are well along (good for zucchini) and then using it late in the season to protect a late planting of bush beans from an early light frost that we get around Sept 18 (but then have a couple of weeks of warm weather). It is covered with Agribon that originally came from Johnnies.