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Strawberry beds
Maggles Myland
Posts: 4
My husband has created a couple of dove cotes along side my raised strawberry beds
The doves spend a lot of time rummaging in the beds, which can easily be rectified, however what about all the droppings from above, are bird droppings on plants going to be a problem?
This will be the first full year for this situation.
0
Posts
Not unless you get huge quantities of the stuff. Bird poo is an organic fertilizer and was extensively used years ago. Nowadays it's not used as much in europe or the west although it's still used in developing countries as a cheap fertilizer.
You should have good strawberries!
It'll be quite rich in nitrogen though, so you might find you get lots of soft leafy growth at the expense of fruit. Something potash-rich like wood ash would help to rectify this.
The only problem would be droppings on the strawberries. Washing strawberries is bad news.
I would not eat anything that has had bird droppings on it, very bad for you. I put a plastic cloche over my strawberries last year.
Fried or hard boiled strawberries just doesnt sound right some how.
Do you really eat egg shells, Edd? Are they an acquired taste?
Sounds like quackery to me!
We regularly eat egg shells when someone makes scrambled egg...
Eventually they'll learn how to keep the shell out of the pan
(I'd be a little wary of eating strawberries that could be bird pooped on - they bruise so easily when you try to wash them!)
Can you move the Doves or berries easily?