FarmI wrote:
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!

What specifically are you excluding? I have some toothy beastie eating my
ripe tomatos right now. I think it is rats because there are holes with
scrabble marks in the garden but cannot tell for sure. I have put down
ratsak but the chomping continues and no corpses appear. I don't think it
is birds as we never see any birds on the bushes and the attack is always
from the underside. What else could it be? Any ideas?

David