Not a good idea

 

It's happening once more!

Something (Pheasants? Wasps? Squirrels? Deer?) is beginning to take our grapes - again.

Last year we lost practically every singke grape, we know not what to. We thought pheasants on account of the cloud of them that rose up when we entered the vineyard. 

 

 

We considered all sorts of deterrents. A dancing man, a clapper, electronic ultrasound, 

 

 

model birds of prey on long wires and so forth. All expensive and - we heard - only effective for a short time (birds get used to them).

A party last winter gave us an inspiration: Tinsel Curtains! We bought 10 boxes each of 5 curtains. 

At first the look was promising. However, we noticed that the grapes were not ripening well under the tinsel (surprise, surprise). Also grapes were being eaten.

Nevertheless, we pressed on. We'd bought the tinsel and there weren't going to be any opportunities for using it at parties for the forseeable future.

Wierdly, all the pheasants had disappeared this year. True, one or thwo have made their way back but nothing to worry about. 

Due to an inexplicable, once-in-a-lifetime glut in pears this year the wasps were occupied elsewhere.

True, two Muntjac deer were seen in the garden one morning but the depradations were nowhere near what they had been in 2019.

So we're going to harvest our two earliest varieties, Rondo and Solaris any day now.

We think Tinsel notwithstanding. Oh, and it's not easy to remove tinsel curtains from vines once they are no longer needed. Perhaps we should have thought of that.