Where should I site my new cage?

[Stephen]

I am in the fortunate position of having a 16' x 8' framed cage. (It's refered to as a fruit cage but obviously you may grow what ever you choose inside!)

I am wondering which bit of the allotment to cover, obviously it will only cover a relatively small section (it feels big when trying to move the kit around!)

I suppose that a major consideration is which crops are most heavily predated by birds as these are those which I will want to put inside.

More background information;
The site is at its highest to the south and has some large trees at that end. The best sunshine is afternoon/evening, although the morning sunshine gets through in the summer.
I got the plot in two tranches, the first (higher, shadier) I made into beds, the lower I have kept as an "open-field" traditional system.
In the shady parts I grow Jerusalem artichokes (growing well this year) and the rhubarb. Moving downhill, there are gooseberries, the two beds free of permanent crops (this is one potential site), before the asparagus bed (with some rose bushes at one end). Still moving downhill, another flexible bed, then into the open-field section. Here there are primocane raspberries but everything else is entirely flexible, but receives better sunshine as we move down the slope. The strawberries are in troughs towards the bottom.
The end needs to be kept uncovered for manure deliveries (I have the curcubits on the manure heap at the moment).
I see the choices as covering part of the open field, enclosing the troughs (but ther have nets of their own at the moment) or two of the beds, which are mainly used for salad stuff, brassicas, beans/peas at the moment)

[Johnboy]

Hi Stephen,
If you start off with a basic frame it is quite simple to make your own extensions using tile batten purchased from a Builders Merchant and the extra netting from any of the people advertising in the KG magazine.
If you were to consider this then you have got to situate the basic unit where you can take account of any extension you might want to make in the future.
My thoughts run to covering the soft fruit initially and then to anything that you lose from the birds in the general run of things throughout the season.
Extensions do not have to be immediate and to ease the burden on your pocket can be done over several seasons.
Just a suggestion mind!
JB.

[Compo]

And if I may just add...........I have the best set of summer brassica's I have ever had in my netted frame (about 20' x 4' x 4'. No pests of any kind in it what so ever and Minicole cabbages that would see fit on any exhibition table. It does, I feel depend on what predators are your biggest problem on your site, for me, the birds seem to ignore the soft fruit to a large degree, so it is the brassicas that I decided to protect. Most cages like this offer the advantage of a mini climate also which enhances growth somewhat, which is an added bonus. You should have seen me weeding mine yesterday when a cabbage white got in, I did eventually manage to get the blighter out before (I think) it laid any eggs!!

CoMpO

[Stephen]

Hi chaps
Thanks.
We do have very plump looking pigeons in Butts Meadow, which must be eating our various crops.
My soft fruit doesn't appear to be the targets (I think that raspberries are targets nor gooseberries, either on the plot or at home).

Extending? Yes, JB I do hope that I might lengthen it. In its original form, it will cover about 2/3rds of the width of the plot. It would happily cover two beds with a central path (pity the door fits onto a corner! serious mode, this will not be a real problem; if all else fails I will make some extra bits to allow for a central door)

[Stephen]

Back to the top.
I have been delaying this (for no good reason, but I have yet to make a choice of location). However, this weekend it will go up.
Any further views on what the pigeons steal most (brassicas, strawberries, onions?), as it is the netting will not exclude the slugs or insects!