Mr BlueSky
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replanting shallotsEvery five minutes. 
Does anybody here use bird netting to keep them off. If not then what tips do you have for keeping your shallots etc. in the soil?
EDIT: I will appologise for my laptop keyboard, it is sha66ed. Just saving up for a new one off ebay.
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tahir
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Re: replanting shallots | Simon wrote: | | Just saving up for a new one off ebay. |
Got a few spare if you've got a UK address I can send one to.
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tahir
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I guess strings zigzagging between sticks across the plot would keep em away
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tahir
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Re: replanting shallots | tahir wrote: | | Simon wrote: | | Just saving up for a new one off ebay. |
Got a few spare if you've got a UK address I can send one to. |
Actually scrub that, just noticed the word "laptop"
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Mr BlueSky
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Yeah, we have loads of normal keyboards. I could plug one in but it takes up too much desk space. I found tons of replacement keyboards for the Compaq Presario on Ebay UK but none on Ebey.fr. 
Regarding strings, I have tried that. The birds stroll between them/under them, ripping out shallots as they go. My grandad used to tie milkbottle tops on the strings to dissuade them. Sadly we only have milk cartons these days. Maybe a few bits of kitchen foil would do the trick. 
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Slim
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Are they picking them out to peck at them, or just because they've seen you plant them and want to see what you're sticking in the ground? Maybe it's time to start planting under cover of darkness?
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mark
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chuck a sheet of polythene or fleece over them for a couple of weeks till they get going and birds have stopped collecting stuff for making nests.
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wellington womble
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Fence the bloody chickens out of the kitchen garden. This is what mine have been playing today, too. Along with lets-see-whats-in-the-farmers-field and lets-escape-onto-the-grass-verge. Idiot birds!
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judith
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I put sections of chicken run panel over my onion sets until they have taken root satisfactorily. Thereafter the chickens seem to leave them alone.
Why I don't use the sections of chicken run panel to corral the chickens is still something of a mystery to me. 
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Slim
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are we talking about chickens or just other curious birds?
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Mr BlueSky
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The chickens/ducks don't get near the shallot plot as they freerange out back. As far as I can tell it is the small birds pulling them up to see what they are. I suppose the tip of the bulb maybe looks like a worm? They aren't damaging them, it's just a pain having to keep replanting them.
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Slim
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typically I plant shallots with 1/3 of the bulb above the surface of the soil, this might have the added benefit of showing enough that the birds see they're obviously not a worm?
One year I had to replant my garlic three times. A squirrel (or maybe a bird?) was watching me every time (unbeknownst to me) and digging them up to see what they were.
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