North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Spidra Webster <spidra@gmail.com>]

I didn't have too many apple pests to worry about in my garden in Berkeley
but it's a new ballgame here in South Pasadena. Yesterday I came back from a
short vacation to find that one Yellow Newtown Pippin apple had been knocked
off and another had been either pecked or bitten. Not sure whether it's
birds or squirrels. We have a number of corvids here (crows, ravens, scrub
jays) and they're pretty brazen. There are also feral parrots though they
seem to forage on camphor berries, and mockingbirds.  Then there are the
freegin' fargin' squirrels, who seem to commit random violence (I'm pretty
sure they're the ones who bit my sunflower stalk and tipped the sunflower
over but didn't touch the seeds) over and above what they do while actually
eating.

What can I use to protect the developing fruit and give it a chance to grow?
I'd rather not resort to bird netting since my gardening ground here is
borrowed from my parents and my mom will likely object to netting those
trees. I was hoping there was a plastic cage or some kind of bag I could put
on the fruit to discourage pests.


Megan Lynch
http://www.meganlynch.net

South Pasadena, CA Zone 9