Is it possible to grow strawberries in the garden, without the birds eating them?
Because I have a strawberry bed now, in what was this spring a tulipe bed, also called The Heart for the World (see earlier blog posts). It is not covered with any net, so logically the garden birds should go there and eat. But they don’t. And I have some theories. First theory is that I give the garden birds seeds every morning, not so much, just a small support for their summer meals. Is that more attractive than diving down into the bed of strawberries?
Second theory, my strawberry bed is very “messy”, because I did not have time to weed it during spring. There are a lot of faded leaves from winter and also leaves from the tulip season in spring. It makes a ground covering that protects the berries from lying onto the bare soil, but perhaps is it also too messy for the birds to dare to dive into bed – what could be hiding down there, a snake or some other predator?
So I provide food and water for the garden birds and they keep the amount of insects at a healthy leavel. The result is, this season I have harvested more than 15 litres of strawberries! Thank you nature and thank you birds for this amazing cooperation.
Crazy Swedish Gardener 