Darn pigeons eating my brassicas!
- Cheezy
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 675
- Joined: Thu Apr 20, 2006 10:00 pm
- Location: Darlington UK
It's weird , everyone around my plot suffers from the flying rats (wood pidgeons)
But we don't so much. Last week my neighbour asked me how the caverlo nero was going, as the 4 I gave him , long with his own cabbages and cauliflowers were all eaten.
THe only difference between the plots are I have a solid fence, raised beds, and wait for it 2L pop bottles, with the bottoms cut off, tied to canes by a long peice of string, set at an angle so that any wind at all moves them around and bangs them against the cane. Don't know if it's this, but we have so far been lucky.
But we don't so much. Last week my neighbour asked me how the caverlo nero was going, as the 4 I gave him , long with his own cabbages and cauliflowers were all eaten.
THe only difference between the plots are I have a solid fence, raised beds, and wait for it 2L pop bottles, with the bottoms cut off, tied to canes by a long peice of string, set at an angle so that any wind at all moves them around and bangs them against the cane. Don't know if it's this, but we have so far been lucky.
It's not easy being Cheezy
So you know how great Salsify is as a veg, what about Cavero Nero,great leaves all through the winter , then in Spring sprouting broccolli like flowers! Takes up half as much room as broccolli
So you know how great Salsify is as a veg, what about Cavero Nero,great leaves all through the winter , then in Spring sprouting broccolli like flowers! Takes up half as much room as broccolli
- Urban Ayisha
- Living the good life
- Posts: 255
- Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:50 pm
- Location: London, UK
Never mind pidgeons, who are bad enough,
but my flippin chickens have just decimated half of my veggie plot!
I have NO beetroot left - (about 20 plants) save but the stalks,
and half my years curly kale is gone
and they did it in just under an hour (the school run)
its a good job there was such a small time limit - Ive got loads growing this year. I guess I'm spending the day putting up protective fencing - ho hum!
Annie
but my flippin chickens have just decimated half of my veggie plot!
I have NO beetroot left - (about 20 plants) save but the stalks,
and half my years curly kale is gone
and they did it in just under an hour (the school run)
its a good job there was such a small time limit - Ive got loads growing this year. I guess I'm spending the day putting up protective fencing - ho hum!
Annie
just been up the plot and it seems that the slugs have done for the brassicas I put in last weekend. I netted and rabbit fenced off the whole plot, so they're the only culprits left. And this was after I put down all manner of deterants and those fancy new pellets. Never been lucky with brassica... 

Hypocrite slayer for hire. So many hypocrites, so little time.
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- Barbara Good
- Posts: 116
- Joined: Fri Feb 02, 2007 6:37 pm
- Location: Bedfordshire
That's interesting, I lost a load of Brassicas and never found the culprit - we have Partridges around here, I can sometimes hear them sqwuaking away in the evening.Thurston Garden wrote:Hmmm. I sympathise having lost 4 * 50m rows of brassicas to a pair of Red Legged Partridges last year.
*goes off to borrow shotgun from farmer...*
Walking stick kale! I've been wanting to try that since I heard about it. Where did you get the seeds?ina wrote:My walking stick kale are leafless stems, too![]()
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If the slugs are approaching across the earth, rather than already hiding in the plants, try coffee grounds - I got a load of old grounds from Costa and it really works.
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- A selfsufficientish Regular
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- Joined: Sun May 22, 2005 9:16 pm
- Location: Kincardineshire, Scotland
I'm pretty sure it was the Organic Gardening Catalogue - have to see if I still have the bag left to be 100% certain. The couple that survived my first attempt at growing them have become quite tall; they were ravaged once by cows leaning over the fenceChristine wrote: Walking stick kale! I've been wanting to try that since I heard about it. Where did you get the seeds?



OK, I had planted them mainly as goat feed anyway - but I had wanted to make the decision myself on when to feed it to them!

Ina
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
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- Jerry - Bit higher than newbie
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:44 pm
Went to my plot yeasterday and similar sight....all the sprouts and broccoli had been ravaged.
I had netting up but it looked like one of the scoundrals had dive bombed it - feathers everywhere.....hope he's learnt his lesson.
Back to the "It's a Pound" shop for more nets - 2mx10m for a £1, but they'd sold out
Anyone know where I can buy a low mileage Peregrine Falcon ?
I had netting up but it looked like one of the scoundrals had dive bombed it - feathers everywhere.....hope he's learnt his lesson.
Back to the "It's a Pound" shop for more nets - 2mx10m for a £1, but they'd sold out

Anyone know where I can buy a low mileage Peregrine Falcon ?
never mind pidgeons,it's catapillars here.
Little blighters munched their way through all my brassicas last year so I contructed a tunnel today out of roll of 5" square mesh we had here when we moved in and covered the whole lot with fleece and fingers crossed it will do the trick but any suggestions on the mouse in my patch eating seeds and leaves??I wondered why my beans hadn't germinated then realised the seeds had been eaten!!
Clare
Clare
Grow it,make it ,eat it, drink it and sleep well!