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Author Topic: Time to invest in a fruit cage!  (Read 3202 times)

Blondie

  • Joined Apr 2014
Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« on: June 27, 2016, 08:29:05 pm »
Well after lovingly tending my red currant bush and enjoying literally the first couple which ripened, the local blackbird family decimated every single berry in less than 48 hours.

On top of that the dog has developed a sweet tooth and is plucking the strawberries off and munching them as soon as they near ripeness. (Not to mention the brocolli and any broad beans that happen to be in her path.)

Lesson learnt and a fruit cage will be ordered and the mini veg patch and fruit patch will be rearranged.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #1 on: June 27, 2016, 08:31:59 pm »
Blackbirds seem particularly fond of redcurrants, don't they  ::).  I have three large bushes, which crop well each year, but I haven't had enough fruit to make even one small jar of jelly for several years  :rant:   The blackbird family is really healthy though  :thumbsup:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Blondie

  • Joined Apr 2014
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #2 on: June 27, 2016, 09:17:26 pm »
Our male blackbird is actually pied so is very distinctive and has 3 babies. The four of them basically live in our front and rear gardens. Never seen mum.

They are so damn take now, they take no notice of the dog and will let you get about 3ft from them before they fly off

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2016, 11:12:31 pm »
Maybe it's not that they're tame but just too stuffed to fly  :roflanim:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2016, 01:02:57 am »
I have a jostaberry and the sparrows love the berries. I do get a lot for myself though. The birds don't seem to be interested in blueberries, thank goodness, and they mostly leave the strawberries along but the slugs or earwigs have those.

laurelrus

  • Joined Apr 2014
  • Quainton,Buckinghamshire
  • Hobby farmer
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #5 on: June 28, 2016, 08:14:59 am »
We lost 99% of our strawberries to the crows last year so used flexible pipe and netting to cover the beds this time!
2 pygmy goats, 3 Ouessant sheep, 19 chickens, 2 donkeys, 2 Shetland ponies and 2 dogs

Mickey

  • Joined Jul 2012
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2016, 06:46:22 pm »
Charles Dowding of the No-Dig site suggested to me that using fleece or netting was better than buying a fruit cage which he said are a nuisance to keep tidy around the edges.  I'm currently trying fleece as last year all of gooseberries disappeared overnight, so far so good and not a berry lost - there's still time though :-)

Steph Hen

  • Joined Jul 2013
  • Angus Scotland.
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2016, 08:29:54 pm »
And just to chime in, geese LOVE gooseberries. Not useful at all I know  ;)

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2016, 12:35:24 am »
And just to chime in, geese LOVE gooseberries. Not useful at all I know  ;)


But could come in useful in a pub quiz.  :roflanim:

Ina

  • Joined Feb 2012
  • South Aberdeenshire
Re: Time to invest in a fruit cage!
« Reply #9 on: June 30, 2016, 10:59:20 am »
Old net curtains are good on red currants, too. Mind you, my local blackbirds found a way in at ground level...

 

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