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  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: nafex mailing list at ibiblio <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [nafex] how to tell if apples are ripe?
  • Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2012 23:07:26 -0400


On Aug 26, 2012, at 8:18 PM, Road's End Farm wrote:

>
> On Aug 26, 2012, at 8:08 PM, sherwin wrote:
>
>> I cannot believe animals are smart enough to know that there is
>> something yummy inside the plastic bags.
>
>
> Their eyes work, don't they?
>
> Underestimating non-human critters is often a bad idea.
>
>
>
> -- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 6A now I think
> Fresh-market organic produce, small scale

Their eyes work, and so do their paws. Two years ago I bagged about half the
apples, and the unbagged ones were eaten first, but then the bagged ones
went. Last year I meticulously bagged all the apples. Shortly thereafter, I
started to find ziplock baggies on the ground. Sometimes, I found a little
apple at the base of an oak tree. Once, I startled a squirrel in the tree,
and it dropped an apple on to the ground. A bit later in the year, a squirrel
dropped an apple onto my head! (On purpose? I doubt it, but who knows.)

This year I only bagged a couple of apples on a different tree. They all
disappeared. Did the critters prefer the bagged apples? I don't know. Maybe
they just preferred that tree to the Jonathan. Still, bagging is not going to
protect my fruit.

I might try the bird netting next year, if the other tree produces anything.

Meanwhile, I'll eat an apple and observe its seeds.

Thanks,
Ginda



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