Marilyn Buel of Bettendorf hit the nail on the head last week with her blog on Quadsville.com about her experiences as a first-time vegetable gardener.

Marilyn and her husband live in a subdivision with the word "deer' in the name and although it is heavily populated, deer wander through with regularity. A few months ago they saw 14 in the yard at one time!

Blogging on the Quad-City Times social networking site, Marilyn reported that, on a recent night, "a deer found my raised bed - where my little pepper was growing - and ate the tomato plants, the sunflower plants, and even the wooden stakes that were marking my 12-inch squares in my abbreviated square-foot garden.

"AND the worst part is, the little pepper got knocked off and stepped on," she wrote.

"But then," she added, "every once in a while, Mother Nature provides a special moment such as this little guy lying out by our neighbor's fence."

And beside that sentence she posted the photo that can be seen at right.

Even hardened souls are likely to say "Ahhhh" when viewing such a beautiful picture.

And this is the paradox that Marilyn nailed: We dislike deer for trampling our plants, everything from vegetables and flowers to prized trees. But we can't help but love them for their looks, for their bringing a bit of nature, of wildness, into our urban lives.

"The fawn was sound asleep when I got to it with my camera," Marilyn says. "I actually petted it for a few minutes. If I had a choice between eating a home-grown red pepper and finding a baby deer, I would take finding Bambi in a heartbeat."

Check her blog at my. quadsville.com/mbuel/blog.

And in Rock Island, all is well in garden

Kim Woodward, blogging at my.quadsville.com/ newlywoodwards/blog, reports that "everything seems to be growing well" in her Rock Island garden.

"Weeding is turning into a big job, even with a smaller garden," she says. "But I've been keeping up. The recent rains seem to have helped all the plants."

You can tour 3 area gardens

As part of its Home Grown Challenge Purposeful Gardening Series, Rock Island County/University of Illinois Extension will offer tours of three private vegetable and ornamental gardens and arbors, allowing gardeners to see unique and varying ways of doing things.

The first tour will be 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, at Donna Minear's Journey's End Garden, 1750 Knoxville Road, Sherrard, Ill.

The tour is free, but pre-registration is appreciated and can be made online at www.extension.uiuc.edu/rockisland or by calling (309) 756-9978, Ext 10.

July 28: Friendly Fences Garden in Orion, Ill.

Aug. 11: Whispering Winds Arbors and Garden, also in Orion.

More information about those gardens will be posted on the Extension Web site prior to the tours.

Want to be Scott Co. Master Gardener?

Iowa State University/Scott County Extension is accepting applications for Master Gardener classes that will begin Sept. 8.

If you are interested, stop at the Extension office, 875 Tanglefoot Lane, Bettendorf, or call (563) 359-7577 for an application form. Completed applications should be returned by July 17.

Master Gardeners are volunteers trained in horticulture by ISU who return service to the community through educational projects.

Trainees attend more than 50 hours of classes and complete 40 hours of volunteer service.

Classes will be held 6:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays beginning Sept. 8 and ending Oct. 30. The cost is $130.

Class looks at garden maintenance

A class titled "Keep A Tidy Garden" with everyday maintenance tips to keep your garden looking well-kept will be 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, July 11, at Riverside Park, Moline.

Topics include deadheading and pruning.

The cost is $10; to register, call (309) 736-5716 or send e-mail to Wilson@moline.il.us. Ask for class 221002-02.