The Blueberries are ripening

Sitting writing for the blog this morning I suddenly noticed a Blackbird peering in through the sliding doors, with his beak full of Blueberry and a guilty look on his face. I jumped up and shooed him off, letting him know in no uncertain terms that he was NOT welcome. [I hate Blackbirds - they are so destructive!]. Actually, I hadn't realised that any of the Blueberries were ripe, so I went out straight away and made a close inspection. I found that right at the back, up against the wall of the house, there were a few berries that were very nearly ready for picking.

If I were picking them for human consumption I would leave them another few days because they are still not 100% ripe, but the Blackbirds are obviously not so fussy. [I hope they get the bellyache!]



So, there was obviously a need for urgent action. The first thing I did was move the pot of Blueberries with the nearly-ripe berries on it into the garage whilst I made a plan...

I realised that I'd have to either erect a net or lose the whole crop. Once the Blackbirds have identified their target only physical barriers will deter them! Fortunately I found that there were some masonry nails in the wall, left over from years ago when at one time I had some Clematis plants growing up the wall. I attached a net to these and brought it down at an angle so that it stood away from the plants.

I weighted-down the edge of the net with my potted Chives. It's not brilliant, but it's the best I could do in a hurry. Next year I must think about this earlier.

So now this is the Blackbirds-eye view of the berries:

Let's hope it works!