Recycle your snack bags to use in the garden!

Growing fruits in the home garden is very rewarding. Our fruits include blackberries, blueberries, figs, strawberries, apples, peaches, plums, pears, and muscadines. With a wide assortment to choose from, it is inevitable to not have the birds visiting our gardens. I enjoy bird watching but not watching them eat all our fruit! I would much rather harvest the fruit than share some with the birds after harvest. So we are always looking for the perfect solution to keep the birds away from the ripening fruit! The birds are constantly checking out the fruit as it matures, taking a peck here and there as they test for ripeness. We have tried the aluminum pans to scare the birds away and they work if you have a good breeze to create movement.

Garden centers sell flashing tape to help deter the birds. Or, you can simply make your own strips using aluminum foil cut 1-inch wide and about 12 inches long. Then hang the strips on the tips of the fruit tree branches or along the wire of trellised fruit tree or bushes. The shiny silver strips moving in the breeze reflects flashes of light, scaring the birds. 

Some gardeners use old CDs and DVDs hung among the trees and bushes with the same concept in mind. But why not use something that is lighter weight and also helps with recycling? 

Have you ever noticed the shiny, metallic material coating the inside of your snack bag? One of my favorite snacks is popcorn! And, if I buy the pre-popped, then it most definitely will be Skinny Pop. 

Recently, as I was folding a bag from the inside out in order to get to the bottom, it occurred to me that the “silver lining” was just what was needed for the fruit trees!

After emptying any kernels, hulls, or crumbs left in the bag, I cut a small strip off the bottom. Then, I cut the bag into 1-inch strips. One large Skinny Pop bag yielded enough strips for our blackberry patch. What could have been thrown in the garbage is now reused for the garden!

Tie one end of the strips to the trellis wires or tips of the branches, spacing evenly throughout the garden. Use the same method on all your fruit and vegetable crops. A gentle breeze will move the strips back and forth and keep the birds away from the garden and at the feeders you have provided for them.