Every year, my stone fruit trees sprout a comforting number of cherries, plums, and peaches.
But by the time I should be harvesting, 90% of it is gone.
Its as if I can hear the birds laughing at me.
For every perfect strawberry, there are four that have gotten hit by pill bugs before they ripened.
Our fruit is highly susceptible to local foraging wildlife, bugs, and even sunburn.
Gauze your plants
to get to get fruit, you need pollination.
The gauze allows light through, but not bugs or birds.
I prefer the bags because theyre less likely to trap pollinators or birds.
I have started using the bags on my grapes because I found it made them far easier to harvest.
You simply plucked the bags away, with the grapes already contained.
you could protect your perfect figs or apples, too, using this method.
The clay coats the fruit in a harmless coating that deters pests by disguising the fruit.
The benefits dont end there: The kaolin protects the fruit from sunburn, too.
Im amazed each year at how effective this low-effort method is.
Deterring bugs, however, is a little harder.
Ive resorted to elevating the berries to eliminate the problem.
These two methods have greatly increased my fruit yields.
You get the top; I get everything else."
Now I have enough berry plants around the property that theres plenty to share.
Planting pollination stations with native berries will be a distraction for the local wildlife population.
Check your nursery forthemtheyre usually cardboard and sticky, and come with a specific pheromone.
They can be hung in the area of your fruit and be changed out every so often.
