wildlife to some, pests to me when I'm trying to grow edibles :(
Long time ago, I posted, praps in Edibles, that for the 1st time EVER in 15+yrs my psb had been stripped by a marauding flock - despite the fact that I live opposite a wood, I'd not had them target my greens before.
I came to the conclusion that the birds had been attracted to the gardens by my (bless em!) next door neighbours who had put out "crumbs for the birds" ie....half loaves of bread? ....and the birds, once used to al fresco meals, continued to scavange our gardens, even after the "crumb" supply was discontinued by the passing fad of said neighbours....
So, my questions are.......what crops do pigeons/collared doves NOT attack, please? and therefore won't need caging?
Thanks.
I have to net all brassicas. And gooseberries. And peas. And asparagus when it first starts to shoot. (There's probably nothing else around at that time of year.)
But they seem to leave the beans alone. And the grapes. And they stay away from the weeds as well!
I agree. They're a pest!
Tomatoes??
Can't answer. Never had them go for PSB. But I'm not going to give up Brassica because of them. And netting is still the answer. I've been generously minded, letting them have their nibbles of my young plants, but it has become TOO much & I've had to fleece them. Which, more & more, I find a 2 person job. Especially if, as usual, it's windy. With us, it's just ONE Pigeon, I note. Thinks it's his patch. Snacks every am & then sits, content, on the greenhouse roof. So - I've asked our chap to lend me back my air rifle. I've been very restrained for years, but my patience is exhausted.
Pity that one bird does not feed 2 people.
you could make it serve 2 - Rick Stein does a fab rx of a warm salad of wood pigeon with pommes anna, cabernet sauvignion, walnut oil and frisee ;D
As soon as we get some cold weather, I find brassicas need netting for the rest of the winter, until there's plenty of green stuff about again. They never bother anything else except the soft fruit. They seem to act differently everywhere; nobody on my father's site in Oxford had to net brassicas at all.
I have never had to net or fleece and i have a pigeon loft in the next garden and 50m from open farm land.