Sunday 22 March 2009

Comrades together

Passing the soft fruits early on today. Merdre!!! Surely there were more leaves on the bushes yesterday. But only two days ago I had twined yards and yards sewing cotton round and round the bushes to keep the birds off them. Apparently it wasn't working.

Dusk was starting to come down. Boing! Into my head came a 'borrowed' idea,from a friend I once knew. It involved recycling bendy-type tent poles.. However, I feel that a few Helpful Hints were left out.



You need:
Two long bendy-type tent poles, preferably of the same length.
Bird netting
Scissors
String






1) Make bits of each pole stay together in their places. Before they come undone, with some force ram one end of one pole into the ground at one corner of area neding to be protected to the depth of about 3 inches, more if you can.
2) Before it pings undone, take other end and put it in the diagonally opposite corner. It will wobble but should stay in place.
3) Take other pole and do the same in the opposite corners. You should have all four corners with a pole-end in.


"That's a good idea" said Lester, "Now I wouldn't have thought of that at all, but you don't want to do it like that, you want to just move this here like this, and that in there. Where's the string?"

And so Head Gardener / Tech Team Guy, took over the project to show me how to do it properly. Bless.



Oh so how is one supposed to get this twirly tangly netting-stuff over that flippin frame.


But, you see, it stretches! Yes, it does! It is truly magical in its stretchiness.



"You have to stretch it really tightly, " I say to Lester, "so the birds can't get in."
"I've got to go and water the trees" he said, going off the boil noticeably.
"How are going to make it bird-proof on the ground?" he said over his shoulder as he walked off.
"Rocks."
A few minutes later back he came, "Here, use these". Tent pegs! Bless again.



So pulling and stretching, the bird-keeper-outer takes shape.









Oops. Cut the netting too short.
"It doesn't matter" says Lester, "they are only birds".


But thinking of the craftiness of birds I cut some more netting and construct a sort of patchwork effect. It might not fool the cleverest of birds but it just might fool lesser birds.





Et voila!



















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