Berries, berries, no berries?

I LOVE strawberries! I pick gallons of the suckers every year. One of the highlights of this house was the garden AND this garden came complete with a strawberry patch! You can just imagine how pleased I was, shit my Dad was excited for me! This little patch is the perfect size, I could make jam ... if was disciplined enough not to eat them all.


Just last week I got to eat the first berries of the season. They were delicious!


The following day I noticed I was missing berries.


Whatever it was it was picky. Leaving the parts of the berry that hadn't even turned red yet. I kept a keen lookout for the culprit. Turns out it was robins! These aren't just any robins. These are urban robins. They probably dine on leftover sushi covered in wasabi. First I tried spraying the plants with chemical-free dish shop & water. That didn't work. Then I tried Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce mixed with water. No go. Actually I also covered a couple of berries with pure Sriracha and they gobbled them up as if it was covered in bird seed. How crazy is that? What was originally a strawberry patch with a promising yield was quickly turning into a handful. My Dad suggested that I cover them with a net. I headed to the Dollar Store and picked up a giant garden net (yes, that's what it said on the label) and a package of plastic spikes.


I make it sound simple but it was a bit of a pain in the butt. Once the net was finally secure I was able to finally enjoy the fruits of my labour! YUM!!!




*No birds were harmed during this experimentation. To be honest, I don't think they suffered even a slight case of heartburn!




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