Last summer, my husband called me on his way home from work to tell me he was bringing home, “Misty, Jewel, and Emerald.” Fortunately, he was referring to blueberry bushes, and not professional dancers. We’d been reading up on what kinds of blueberries would grow in Los Angeles, and while our choices were somewhat limited, there were still several choices (enter the three sister plants with sultry names). The blueberry bushes were pretty small last season, and only ended up producing about three or four mature fruits between the three plants.
Over the last year, the three sisters have grown quite a lot, and and every branch, on every plant is now heavy with fruit. Unfortunately, a gaggle of little garden birds is watching, and waiting…
I hatched a plan to build a netted blueberry cage to fully enclose the bushes. In my head, this blueberry cage is fully designed, measured and looks pretty awesome (in my head). The only hiccup in this plan, is that the berries are ripening FAST, and I have not had the time or material to build my cage! Eek!
As a stopgap, I got resourceful by re-using some netted produce bags from Costco and Trader Joe’s. I’d been saving these grapefruit, onion, and avocado bags for months, and now was their time to shine! The framed netted cage *WILL* get built, mind you, but for now, I’m placing the netted bags over each branch of quickly ripening fruit, and securing them with a wooden clothespin. Easy peasy!
So far, the netted bags are doing two things I’m happy about. Thing 1.) is keeping the birds from eating the fruit. Thing 2.) is that the bags are catching any super-ripe fruits that fall off the branches. When I do my evening garden stroll, I can easily collect and eat them!
Those netted bags are a good idea. I planted a dwarf blueberry plant in a pot last year, and this will be the first year that I will have blueberries. I never even thought about what the birds might do to it!
Thanks so much! Do you know what kind of blueberry bush you have? Good luck with yours!
xoxo
radmegan
Can’t wait to find out what your creative genius comes up with when you finally harvest your blueberries. My mother-in-law lives on 10 acres in Maine, and she has an entire acre of blueberry bushes. We definitely need some ideas!
I love blueberries but they are not very common in Portugal. Some small farms grow them but you can easily pay around €5 (around $7) per 250g. Ouch!
AliBlahBlah- STAY TUNED. I am crazy for blueberries and will do my best to bring you something unexpected and delightful. I’ve always wanted to visit Maine for the blueberries, crab and lobster! Sounds like you have access to 10-acres of heaven!
Celia, ouch indeed! At that price, it might be worth it to see if there is a blueberry plant that would grow in your area. Those prices are too high for me!
xoxo Thanks for the comments friends!
“When I do my evening garden stroll…” Oh my dear… I wish I could say I did that too. Someday. BUT your berries do look VERY delicious! The nets are a great idea!
xoxo
Janee
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