Of all the ways that gardeners try protecting strawberries from birds, bird netting offers the best solution. Learn how to safely protect your strawberries. (Source: Bonnie Plants)
I mentioned to Catherine Seidenberg recently that strawberry bandits persistently steal/damage our ripe strawberries. The first couple of years after we established our strawberry patch, we produced an excess of strawberries.
No; correction. There’s no such thing as “an excess of strawberries”.
But we literally had to give strawberries away to keep up with the volume of delicious, ever-ripening strawberries. We couldn’t eat them all, even when our two still-tiny-but-strawberry-loving nieces visited. In hindsight, that was our “strawberry honeymoon”. Bliss. Worry-free. Decadent…
[pullquote]Abundance philosophy: grow enough strawberries that people and critters can feast.[/pullquote]And then the squirrels (and chipmunks and birds) discovered our strawberry patch. They eat the ripest fruit. And, honestly, I’m okay with that. Abundance philosophy: grow enough strawberries that people and critters can feast. Everyone’s happy.
Except that it doesn’t work out that way. The squirrels take a bite out of a ripe strawberry and move onto the next one. From fruit to fruit, taking a toothy swipe and then moving on, spoiling far more strawberries than they could ever manage to eat. The result is lots of rotten strawberries, and fewer and fewer fruit for us to eat.
Catherine Seidenberg suggested row covers and sent me a link to “Protecting Strawberries from Birds“.
Undoubtedly the most effective way to protect strawberries from birds is to drape the strawberry patch with bird netting… Supported on a frame like a floating row cover… (Source: Bonnie Plants)
I’ve ordered 100′ of Reemay Garden Blanket that should arrive later this week. Now I just need to figure out what I’m going to use for hoops…