I've been working on building a Fruit Cage for months now with a great deal
of help from the under-gardener. I think we started this project in early
Spring.

It's coming along but I don't know if I'd have ever started if I'd realised
what a big job it was going to be.

Our veg garden is on the north western side of the house (it'd be about a
fifth of an acre I guess). It has a 6 ft high fence along the western edge
with shade cloth all along it to stop the westerly winds. Outside this
fence is a windbreak of wattles and smaller native shrubs.

One day I was in the veg garden and wondering whether I should plant more
trees shrubs on the northernmost end of the windbreak when I suddenly
realised that there was a perfect spot for me to punch out the fence and
build a big fruit cage out into the windbreak area as there really was no
more space in the veg garden for one.

Great idea, but then came the work. Pull down the shade cloth on that end
of the veg garden, drop the fence. Think about the structure and realise
that if we put in a long post to support the remainder of the fence, we
could use this as the corner post of the fruit cage. Put in 5 more posts.
Put up sheep wire on western and southern side of fruit cage, cover that
with shadecloth. Put fence back up and put shadecloth back on fence.

Start putting timber edging in for beds starting on southern side - do some
soil improvement on that side. Beds will be in a 'U' shape. Realise that I
have a Sultana grap in a pot that has been in the pot too long. Put it in
the fruit cage on the southern wall and start training it up the wires.
Realise that I need to stop snakes/lizards getting in around edges behind
where the timber sits to hold the soil in the beds - pefect spot for snakes
and lizards to get in. Stuff cheap black bird netting at bottom of
sheepwire/shadecloth and top it with large pine chunk mulch from another
part of the garden weaving birdnetting over and through mulch. Mulch path
with fine wood chips.

At this stage I still have 2 sides of the 'U' beds to finish and the
northern wall is till as bare as a bobies bottom but for for that side I've
bought a roll of 6ft high bird netting. To think how many berries I coul
dhave bought for the cost of that wire - not sensible but then what gardener
ever is sensible.

We need to put something across the top to support a roof (steel/2 inch
plastic? Yet to be decided.) Roof will probably be of white bird netting.
Then I have to get a door shape welded up so that it fits closely into a
door frame (again to exclude snakes) and cover that with bird wire. So much
to do still....... Perhaps it will be ready by next spring Sigh!