Netting Saves Berries From Birds

Netting Saves Berries From Birds BIRD CONTROL We like the simple solution John Eckhardt came up with to protect his wife Misty’s strawberries from birds Eckhardt who works in the wholesale electric supply business used something he is familiar with - 3/4-in pvc conduit     He cut 6 legs 18 to 24-in for each of the three 6 by 10-ft beds and used elbows to connect conduit on each end and in the middle He added pvc T’s to run conduit down the middle for one half and because there isn’t 4-way pvc he butted the other conduit piece to the middle and secured it with a hose clamp     “At first I put metal rods in the ground to slip the conduit over but then I found I could just put the conduit in the ground about 4-in ” Eckhardt says     The couple covered the frame with bird netting and used twist ties to secure it to the conduit The ties along with the bricks and rocks holding down the ends of the netting are easy to remove when berries are picked     Eckhardt used 4 1/2 pieces of 10-ft conduit for each bed and spent less than $50 to make frames for the three beds     “It worked good and kept the birds out of the strawberries ” he says The setup would work in raised beds or in a regular garden     After the strawberries were harvested he disconnected the middle conduit and zip-tied the pieces for each bed in separate bundles to store over the winter until spring     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Eckhardt 606 S Nance Ave Minden Neb 68959 ph 308 832-5071; john eckha@gmail com

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