Sunday, 12 July 2009

And now for Something Completely Different

When I had some overgrown evergreens cut down a few years ago I decided it would be a good place to grow some fruit. Having lost much ripe fruit to marauding Blackbirds in the past I decided to have a fruit cage. After looking around to see what was available I decided I would be better off building my own. It is not pretty to look at but is gale proof, large enough to walk in and does an excellent job of keeping the ripe fruit safe.

From album


Last year I had excellent crops of Blackcurrants, Strawberries and Blueberries with a few Raspberries. This year all my Blueberry plants died as did the Strawberries. The Blackcurrants were attacked by greenfly but did manage to grow new leaves and produce some fruit. The Raspberries have been groaning under the weight of fruit.

Nothing quite like fresh picked fruit for taste. Unfortunately, with the aid of a dollop of single cream, they don't last very long.

From album


Also in the cage are a couple of patio pear trees, yet to produce anything, and a patio plum tree which did start to form a few plums but then the cold weather caused them to drop.

Oh well - better luck next year. At least I have a bowl of Blackcurrants ready for today and more Raspberries ripening for another day.
Posted by at

5 comments:

  1. Helen12 July 2009 at 14:33

    I am very envious and the bowl of raspberries look delicious...I think I will have to treat myself to some next time I go shopping:-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. ShySongbird12 July 2009 at 15:53

    Yum yum! Those raspberries look gorgeous, I can almost taste them! Well done on the construction of the fruit cage that is the sort of thing my dear old Dad would have done, it would have taken him a while but he would have thoroughly enjoyed making it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. holdingmoments12 July 2009 at 17:48

    If the cage works John, it doesn't matter what it looks like.
    Worked on those raspberries; they look delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. mick12 July 2009 at 20:49

    Yum! A few years back I covered my blueberry bushes with bird netting but did not do a good job with a frame like yours. In consequence I had birds nearly every day get caught in the net (mainly Noisy Miners) and I spent a lot of time running out and rescuing them before my cat also heard the noise and applied her own solution! :-(

    ReplyDelete
  5. Midmarsh John12 July 2009 at 22:07

    Hi Helen. They certainly were.

    Yes Jan. They were. I enjoyed building the cage.

    Hi Keith. Well, I'm the only one who has to look at it and it does the job.

    Hi Mick. I have had to let the odd Sparrow out a couple of times. Amazing how they find a way in but not a way out. The Blue Tits are often in and out looking for insects but at least they leave the fruit alone.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Related Posts with Thumbnails