Dang birds are working you over !

Mockingbirds wear me out. I have a ton of tomatoes in the freezer so I have been letting them have those. I went to Galveston a few weeks ago. I had hundreds of Chiltepin's that would be ready to be picked when I got back. Got home and went to pick them. There were about 10 on the plant. Mockingbirds ate them all.

Same here, I know of two mockingbird families that have been raised off of my garden this year.

I ran a web of twine over my garden and tied strips of foil on it, That seems to have deterred them.

I used the netting and a fake owl. Still got in under the net. .177 pellet works great but that would be illegal...…..

I think its the flash from the foil that gets them.

Yea I got some 25 and 30 cal pellets that work also !

Yep, I am having to do the same to my Roma's also.

Need some advice - I just put in this new bed (about 8'x8') and added 15 bags of cow manure, 5 bags of sandy top soil, 15 bags of compost and 5 bags of Miracle Grow Raised bed soil. I mulched it all up pretty good and then shoveled and tilled it all with about 2 foot deep of the native soil. What else should I add and till in before I plant in September?



I plan on planting my broccoli, cukes and zucchini so they don't crowd out my primary garden like this spring.

I also planted a Butterfly bush near this bed and my primary bed to help attract the bees. Will this help or should I have planted the Voltox bush?

TIA

^^^^^^ Sounds like you wont need anything else,soil should be plenty "hot" as is. Careful with that Butterfly Bush,its extremely invasive. Probably should have planted Butterfly Weed instead(asclepias tuberosa).

I like to add perlite, vermiculite, and expanded shale to my raised bed mixes. Agree on the Butterfly Bush. You can plant a Sage as well. I have an Autumn Sage and it blooms all year. Bees love it. I also have a Rock Rose and some type of Coreopsis. I don't see honey bees on them, but Solitary Bees hammer down on them. Attracting Solitary bees to you yard is a very good thing to do. They are actually a much more efficient pollinator than honey bees. I have 3 solitary bee houses up and have around 20 living in them right now.

I used mushroom compost in my raised garden and then planted sage, oregano, thyme, and rosemary. The oregano seems to stay in bloom as long as I keep cutting the seed pods and the bees love it.

Thanks guys - the lady at Calloway's said that I could trim the butterfly bush (shape it like my other hedges) in the fall and spring and it is manageable. I will add some Autumn Sage (can it tolerate a little shade?) and the perlite, vermiculite, and expanded shale.

I am also adding crappie carcusses in to the beds (bury them two feet deep so the cats/rodents don't dig them up) which I think helps a lot.

My sage doesn't start getting sun until around noon. Then it's pretty much in full sun the rest of the day. It can take heavy trimming too. My specific one is Cherry Queen Autumn Sage. I like it a lot.

Checked one of the solitary houses tonight. They are using them more than I thought.