Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2019 16:37:54 GMT -5
Yesterday I stepped outside and walked to the back garden---it is hidden from the house by a dry pond and trees. As I rounded the pond I heard a crow alarm and a whole FLOCK of crows took off from my grape arbor. Last year they got them all; this morning I got out early and picked all that I could, which was about a third of the crop---crows got the rest. I took them off the cluster. washed them and put them in a big pot like Mama used to do. Barely covered them with water and boiled them for about 20 minutes. Then I got out my handy-dandy stainless steel juicer (the kind with a propeller in the center, hand-cranked) and ran them thru that. Wound up with about two gallons of juice. Nothing left in the juicer but seed and skin. I did not recall how long Mama boiled the stuff in the hot water bath canner, so I looked it up. Five minutes? !!!!! Well, the stuff is pretty acid. Barb was skeptical until I showed her how to add a little sugar. At that point she pronounced the grape arbor an essential part of the property.
|
|
|
Post by bestofour on Aug 3, 2019 19:48:52 GMT -5
You’ll have to find something that scares crows.
|
|
|
Post by carolyn on Aug 3, 2019 20:58:55 GMT -5
well since the crows are already in the patch.. either cover with bird netting or put out big rubber snakes. we also spray a product called avian spray. its not cheap but it keeps the birds out of the corn. it changes the uv spectrum the birds see and it is caustic to their eyes and respiratory system. I just bout a 1 qt bottle and it was 115.00 with shipping. you would use nearly what we use and it would last you many years. we go through the whole bottle on corn in one season. you need a pressure sprayer and a respirator to spray it. it is made out of almond oil and smells quite nice but you cant breath it while spraying it.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Aug 4, 2019 7:17:28 GMT -5
When we grew grapes it was not crows that were a problem. It was Japanese Beetles.
We had a framework over our deck and we decided to grow grapes on it. All was well until the JB invaded it and when we went out to the deck, if we vibrated the floor by walking too hard, we were showered by JB as they dropped off and flew around. It was horrible so we only had grape vines for one year but the grapes were good and I made jelly as well as juice.
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Aug 4, 2019 9:24:24 GMT -5
Used to have a couple of Concord vines which needed an extension ladder to pick. They had climbed a mulberry tree. Came home one night and lit up like a Christmas tree from the car lights. Mother raccoon with her 5 youngsters were doing the harvesting.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|
|
Post by Gianna on Aug 4, 2019 12:30:49 GMT -5
I have a neighbor with a nice large fig tree. When they are ripe, you can see the crows move in.
I started a number of fig trees a few years ago, dreaming of making my own Newtons.. but alas I rarely get more than 2 or 3 the entire season. Not from crows, but from the usual suspects - in this case, smaller birds and ground squirrels.
|
|
|
Post by bestofour on Aug 4, 2019 15:42:26 GMT -5
We have 5 gigantic fig trees but only eat a few a year. We give some away and the blue jays and butterflies and now squirrels (can't stand squirrels) are eating them. I'm going to figure out a way to get rid of the squirrels though.
|
|
|
Post by ladymarmalade on Aug 4, 2019 16:03:18 GMT -5
@oxankle2, I'm sorry you didn't get the whole crop, but I am glad you decided to take a peek before the crows made off with ALL the grapes!
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2019 17:26:52 GMT -5
Interesting tales!!!! I belonged to a fig board when IO was in OK; planted figs and enjoyed the fruit, but I was on the very edge of their climate zone and had to cover them in Winter to get fruit. Only Hardy Chicago would reliably set fruit after freezing back, and I considered H C a very poor fig.
Here Barb"s father planted a Texas Brown Turkey years ago, and Barb favored the tree though it froze back and never produced fruit. I cut it down because it was sending roots, big roots, under the foundation. I took a piece of root and put it in the ground at the cabin this Spring, where it is now three feet high and branched. Because it nwas Barb's father's I will keep it alive, though to do this I will have to put a barrel over it and pack it with hay. There are other ways, all more work.
As for the crows; I will kill a few and that family will not come back. I have either a huge coon, a dog or coyote in my cantaloupe patch, so that is waiting for me as well. Too big for an ordinary box trap, but i have a four-footer.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2019 21:28:02 GMT -5
I must tell this; When I was in ok I rarely got a fig that grew low down on the tree. I thought this unusual but blamed varmints. Years pass, I move, daughter takes my old dog Daymond. Daughter plants a fig, it grows nice big figs and she catches Daymond sneaking around when he thinks she is not looking and eating the low figs.
I catch the varmint here that has been eating my cantaloupe; a fox!!!! Now I am making a primitive spring snare, and I have already made a PVC squirrel trap.
A final comment: I planted the Israeli cantaloupe, it put on two fruits, the varmints ate both. NEXT SPRING I TRY AGAIN.
|
|
|
Post by bluelacedredhead on Oct 8, 2019 13:30:32 GMT -5
The vineyards here use that red plastic tape or yellow caution tape on their arbors to scare away birds. Only problem is, it has to be somewhere there is a constant wind. You sound like yours are too sheltered, @oxankle2,
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Oct 9, 2019 0:22:32 GMT -5
Look into nylon bean trellis/netting. Most are 5' high and 50'+ long, cheap and strong. Openings big enough to harvest through but scary for crows.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|