Bird breakfast.
They chewed every leaf of the green lettuce, and nibbled on radish leaves, but didn't touch the red leaf lettuces. I noticed the same thing last spring, they never ate the red leaves.
So, instead of prepping the bean bed, I bird proofed a lettuce bed. One down and one to go. I'll be planting the front bed tomorrow, so I'll wait until then to install the netting.
I love this plastic garden fencing. It's cheap, versatile and reusable. I've been working on the same 50-foot roll into my third year now, and I think I paid less than $7 for it. I just leave screw heads sticking out a ways on the top and bottom of each corner stake, and loop the fencing over them. That makes it easily removable for planting and/or harvesting. The top piece was just an inch or two too narrow, so I inserted cup hooks to loop the corners over. Mr. H cut the corner stakes to height after I had screwed them into the beds. Yes that crooked cut on the front left stake will drive me nuts every time I look at it. No, I will not say anything to him about it.As the weather gets hot, I'll replace the netting on the top with white lattice to shade the lettuce and extend the season. By then, the side netting can be removed. The birds never bother the larger plants.....they just like to eat my babies :-(
stinkin' birds!
ReplyDeletePlan B looks like a great way to go. I soooo understand how you feel about the crocked little stake.
ReplyDeleteWay ahead of me, as usual. That looks like it'll work, for sure. Glad you got some rain, too. We're still getting showers here, but much less today than yesterday. Was nice while it lasted, though.
ReplyDeletebird bastards!
ReplyDeleteGranny you have given me two great ideas today. The first one being the cage around the squash which I will use for the pumpkins I’m planting this weekend at the Haven Garden and second, your plastic garden fencing for my garden, both simple but effective. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI think I have been havin the same problem. I like your idea of the plastic fencing, as opposed to netting. I have been using netting, but it is difficult to handle because it is so light it falls/slipps all over and you can hardly see the stuff.
ReplyDeleteBad, bad birds...they won't mess with granny anymore now will they? : )
ReplyDeleteIf you could check em I bet they would be a nice addition to the compost!
ReplyDeleteWe feed the birds in the vegetable garden. I always have concerns of them eating my plants but have yet to have a problem.
Megan, that's for sure!
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Maureen, things like that just drive me crazy! I'd screwed them on, using a level to make sure they were plumb, marked them all to be exactly 15" above the tops of the side boards, then he cuts one at an angle. Grrrr. But it's hard enough getting him out there to help, so I'm not going to complain (to him)!
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SB, I wish I'd had my seedlings out to enjoy the rain, it would have done them so much good!
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Kelli, YES! That's exactly what they are! Here I give them birdhouses to live in, and the ungrateful creatures expect meals too. I feel like I'm running a bed and breakfast.
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Liisa, glad it helped you! I need to go to Wal-Mart and get another roll of that stuff. I hope they still carry it.
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Eleanor, I hate the bird netting. It always blows off, and I get my feet tangled in it....my dog Annie got her toenails caught in it once, and we had the devil of a time cutting her loose. I still have a big piece of it, and if I can get it untangled I'll line the back of the chain link fence, where the birds come through and eat my peas. I can clip it right to the fence and keep it off the ground, where it won't get our feet all tangled in it.
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Sunny, they might mess with something else, but at least two beds will be safe from them. Next come the peas...last year they decapitated them.
Dan, they wiped out my early (green) lettuce and all my peas last year. It's just the sparrows, once in a while the quail come in and snag the radishes.
ReplyDeleteThose sneaky birds! You have remedy for it all don't you Granny? Think the red lettuce is too bitter, or is it the color they avoid? Hmmm...
ReplyDeleteAwww MAN! I would be so mad! I have something eating the tops off my strawberry leaves. I didn't get many strawberries at all last year due to it being my first year planting them but MAN they have blooms everywhere! I REFUSE to let someone else eat my harvest or kill my plants! I am going to have to get me some of that netting. EXCELLENT! I will get that at the store where I am buying ALL NEW PLANTS!!! (due to my seedling tray turning over and all the plants dying)
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear, Granny. My Edamame and other beans just broke through the soil and I keep sending the dogs out to run around the yard and hopefully scare the birds away! One of them is part terrier so she does a pretty good job of yapping when she sees one and getting me to let her out after them!
ReplyDeleteKelly, I definitely think it's the color. From now on, I'll only plant the green lettuces under the plastic fencing, and put the red lettuces elsewhere. I always thought it was so pretty to have alternating rows of red and green :-(
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Jen, I bought netting for my berries last year, but Annie and I kept getting tangled up in it or it would blow away and be of no use. That's why I began using the plastic fence stuff. I do think I might make a hop house for netting this year, if the birds go for the berries.
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Erin, Annie and Otto must be so confused. I yell at them for barking incessantly all day, then encourage them to bark at birds and squirrels in the garden! The do an excellent job of keeping the critters out, except early mornings....when the birds and squirrels are feeding the hardest, Annie and Otto are still snug under the covers.
Well gee it seems like you need to find some more red lettuce varieties and get rid of that green stuff. Of course green lettuce is so pretty mixed in the the red.
ReplyDeleteSo that is what ate all our spinach! Here I thought it was the snail I found in the bed the other day (and I've never seen snails in our beds before). Interesting that they didn't touch the red lettuce, which is also growing next to our spinach (that no longer exists). I don't mind sharing but when they eat ALLLLLL of it, that's a call to action. ;)
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful weekend Granny.
Daphne, I think all red lettuce would get rather boring. I love my Buttercrunch, I will protect it with my life ;-) The Yugoslavian Red would work, being a combination of red and green. It has much the flavor and texture as Buttercrunch. I don't remember the birds eating that variety in the past.
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Di, I have the sparrows fooled now, but this morning a squirrel was digging in a garden bed. They've never bothered my garden before (they prefer burying walnuts in with the flowers, because they know how I love pulling those stinking trees out of the beds)....what is going on?
You have a great weekend too, Di. I'll be out planting more seeds.
Oh, how frustrating! And now the squirrels? Sheesh...
ReplyDeleteFor a Boy Scout project, the 8yo is supposed to put items that a bird would like to use to build a nest in the yard to see if a bird will actually take it. Now, why in the world would I want to *encourage* birds (and our squirrelly neighbors) to come into my currently not really visited yard--which is also why I haven't jumped on putting out the bird feeder he made (bad Mom)...
Just wonder why they don't like red lettuce... colour preference, allergy?
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I did not know the small bird would eat our greens. I will have to watch out for them. Thank you for mentioning it.
ReplyDeleteTotally unacceptable. Put Annie and Otto to work running them out of there!
ReplyDeleteMomma_S, I have two birdhouses in the garden. Now I'm wondering why. Last spring it was a huge flock of sparrows that flew in and decapitated the peas, so I couldn't blame just the ones in the birdhouses. With all the greenery around here, I don't know why they pick on my lettuce and peas.
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Bangchik, I definitely think it's the color.
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Keewee, I have the problem with sparrows and quail.
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Ribbit, they're real good about it most of the day, but they get up too late in the mornings for really good damage control. The cages are built now, the lettuce is safe. Now to protect the peas :-(
Yep, we have lettuce-devouring birds, too. I'm planning to just plant lots and lots and lots.
ReplyDeleteStefaneener, do you have any red lettuce? If so, do the birds eat it? Di says the birds only eat her green lettuce, too.
ReplyDeleteGosh, that's just awful! You sure do have alot of problems with birds eating your stuff. The plastic netting will do the trick, though.
ReplyDeleteIt sure seems like it, EG. I never used to have problems with the birds when my garden was right off the patio. Now it's too close to the neighbor's trees and bird feeders. I guess they like my greens after eating her grains :-(
ReplyDeleteThe pea patch that is now growing nicely is actually the second complete seeding of it - as the first was almost entirely eaten by birds! I protected the second planting better and no problems. Luckily (so far) the lettuces seem to be off the bird radar but I am sure at some point that will change. I use the bird netting over my PVC hoops to protect beds and it works very well but your garden netting looks like a great alternative.
ReplyDeleteKitsap, those pesky birds! I'll be spending the next couple of days protecting my pea patches, now that the lettuce is secure. Peas are more difficult, trying to get the netting where it won't get the pea tendrils entangled. The birds go right through the openings in the chain link, so I've already attached fine bird netting to the back of that, where it can stay indefinitely. Now I have to figure out how to cover the fronts and tops of the patches.
ReplyDeleteI need to make a cage like that for my beds. I've got holes in the corners of my beds and can put the posts in there. Your solution is great! I had no idea birds ate lettuce. My original concern was birds eating the strawberries and the bunnies eating the lettuce.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I use the same plastic fencing, hooked over screw heads, on my AZ garden. The wild bunnies have never figured out how to get in to eat the greens, although one did try to tunnel under the bed. I just collapsed his tunnel every morning, and he finally gave up.
ReplyDeleteOh no! Hopefully your seedlings will rebound fast. Luckily, the birds in our area don't seem to have an interest in our veg.
ReplyDeleteI need to get some of that netting for my strawberries!
I think they will survive, Thomas. They are fully protected now, as are my peas. It looks like I'm growing clothespins out there now! I'll have to blog about my clothespin garden ;-)
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