Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

Thanks for suggestions...


--
Get Credit Where Credit Is Due
http://www.cardreport.com/
Credit Tools, Reference, and Forum

In article ,
Antipodean Bucket Farmer wrote:

Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

Thanks for suggestions...

Bird netting...

Cheap and effective.

Might be a neighbor too.
Get a big dog!!!!

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

In article ,
Antipodean Bucket Farmer wrote:

Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

Thanks for suggestions...

Bird netting...

Cheap and effective.

Might be a neighbor too.
Get a big dog!!!!

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

"Antipodean Bucket Farmer" wrote in message
...
Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)


Several years ago, I had that problem with my tomatoes. I later caught
my neighbor stealing the tomatoes. Some neighbor, eh?


Ray

"Antipodean Bucket Farmer" wrote in message
...
Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)


Several years ago, I had that problem with my tomatoes. I later caught
my neighbor stealing the tomatoes. Some neighbor, eh?


Ray

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Antipodean Bucket Farmer wrote:

Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

Thanks for suggestions...

Bird netting...

Cheap and effective.

Might be a neighbor too.
Get a big dog!!!!

Or, get a good electric fence and space wires about three inches apart
above the strawberries. It's not like you have much ground to cover.


Ray

"Katra" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Antipodean Bucket Farmer wrote:

Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

Thanks for suggestions...

Bird netting...

Cheap and effective.

Might be a neighbor too.
Get a big dog!!!!

Or, get a good electric fence and space wires about three inches apart
above the strawberries. It's not like you have much ground to cover.


Ray

il Wed, 22 Dec 2004 20:32:47 -0800, Antipodean Bucket Farmer ha
scritto:

Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

Thanks for suggestions...


Bird netting. We have a strawberry farm here that has netting over a
giant paddock. Must be several hectares. Like a giant avary.
You may notice blackbirds hop along the ground and dig around a bit.
Same with thrushes altho they eat snails more. I can often hear them
bashing a snail against the concrete footpath. Birds can murder
little seedling too, altho a half cut plastic bottle works ok. Put
the slug bait inside too.
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

il Wed, 22 Dec 2004 20:32:47 -0800, Antipodean Bucket Farmer ha
scritto:

Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

Thanks for suggestions...


Bird netting. We have a strawberry farm here that has netting over a
giant paddock. Must be several hectares. Like a giant avary.
You may notice blackbirds hop along the ground and dig around a bit.
Same with thrushes altho they eat snails more. I can often hear them
bashing a snail against the concrete footpath. Birds can murder
little seedling too, altho a half cut plastic bottle works ok. Put
the slug bait inside too.
--
Cheers,
Loki [ Brevity is the soul of wit. W.Shakespeare ]

If it is birds, they are attracted by the red berries (as we are).

Suggestion: Go to a novelty store and buy some plastic strawberries,
(red marbles will do) and place them around the vines before the fruit
begins to ripen. The local birds will ignore the red fruit as it
ripens. (not a 100%, but it helps)

On 23 Dec 2004 22:24:56 +1300, "Loki" wrote:

il Wed, 22 Dec 2004 20:32:47 -0800, Antipodean Bucket Farmer ha
scritto:

Hi, Everybody,

It happened again this morning. One of my strawberry
plants had an alllllmost ripe fruit, which would make
my morning treat.

I have seven strawberry plants, so they will soon be
able to yield more than one ripe fruit at a time.

But... Gone! Again!

In a quick search, I couldn't find any dropped fruits
or crumbs. The stem was just broken off right below
where the fruit was. This is about the third time this
has happened

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

Thanks for suggestions...


Bird netting. We have a strawberry farm here that has netting over a
giant paddock. Must be several hectares. Like a giant avary.
You may notice blackbirds hop along the ground and dig around a bit.
Same with thrushes altho they eat snails more. I can often hear them
bashing a snail against the concrete footpath. Birds can murder
little seedling too, altho a half cut plastic bottle works ok. Put
the slug bait inside too.

My current suspect is... Birds(?)

If that is the big danger, perhaps I could hang up some
surplus CDs to scare them away(?)

CDs make excellent bird scarers: a string across the bed, and the CDs
hanging on another string about a foot or so long. They catch the sun as
they turn in the breeze, and birds hate it.

Good luck!

Garry


--
http://pigstyave.blogspot.com/

"Ray Drouillard" writes:
Or, get a good electric fence and space wires about three inches apart
above the strawberries. It's not like you have much ground to cover.

Or, just space three strands of black cotton thread (thin sewing thread)
about 4 inches above each row of plants. The birds don't see the thread
and take fright when they bump into it. Keep the threads taut between
stick supports pushed into the soil. My Dad used this to keep the
sparrows from devastating his lettuce crops, and I reckon it should
work for the bigger birds, too.
--
John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)