The blueberry wars

I like birds, really I do.
There are more than 25 bird feeders and birdhouse on the GardenSpirit Garden Retreat property.
But when they start harvesting my blueberries, I tend to get a bit, well, defensive.

All year, I tuck fertilizer around the roots of the bushes that line the fence at the front of my property - the sunniest place in the entire 7 acres. In the spring, tiny pink-white blooms peek out at the edges of the bare branches filling my heart with gladness: the hard tiny green berries aren't far behind.

As the days get warmer and the berries swell, I carefully erect my blueberry nets over the bushes. I'm kinda proud of the design; created it myself.

It looks a bit kooky, but I twisted together white PVC pipe to make a 4 x 4 foot frame around the bushes - it's 20 feet long altogether - and then drape bird netting from the ground, over the top and all the way to the ground on the other side. Protection from hungry birds with little beaks and big ideas about eating my blueberries!

Finally, some of those marvelous berries begin to change color from the sour green to a lighter pink-rose and finally a deep dusky blue. And it's precisely at this moment that those crafty birds, with their little bird brains, figure out that there are some gaps in my netting, some weaknesses in my defense of the blueberry bushes.

Unfortunately for me, the birds discover the gaps long before I discover the damage they have done to the current crop - drat! Foiled again!

Two years ago, I had blueberries by the bucket. This year, I'll be lucky to harvest a quart or so.

It's so frustrating - I only get one chance at blueberries each year. And - surprisingly, I really don't like to EAT them (never developed the taste) and I really don't like to PICK them (they take forever --the clusters ripen at different times forcing me to go over the same bushes again and again). But I do love to grow them, feed them to people I love, knowing that my organic fruit is healthful and appreciated.

But not this year. Grrrrr. Not this year. Maybe those little bird brains aren't so little after all. And for Pete's sake, birds need to eat too. Right?

Oh heck, next year, I'll try to think like a cardinal or a wren. I'll nail down those nets. Find the gaps. Early. Keep some berries for myself and my family.

Or maybe I'll "forget" and let the birds enjoy the feast. Either way, those blueberries are sure tasty!