[Floody]

A colony of woodpigeons live in the woodland bordering our allotment site, hence the need for netting (not forgetting butterflies of course) on any brassicas we want to grow. 
My pet hate is having to take up this netting every ten days or so in order to weed, then put it back again.  I hate having to do it, and from talking to other people on the site, I'm not alone.  Quite a few of the older, more knowledgeable hands talk about how they are going to move towards just growing plants that can look after themselves - a net free plot.
I'm struggling to come up with plants that don't require netting, that my wife and I would actually eat, and which would fill a 200 square yard plot.
Any ideas?  Or has anyone out there already done this?  If so, can you list the plants you're growing?
As usual, thanks in advance for any contributions 

Floody 

[Lardman]

My back garden looks like Alcatraz and I've been contemplating the same lately. I think you'll need to consider how much manual pest control you want to do as all the sprays I've bought/tried are useless and how much of something are you happy to share with pests.

Is it just pigeon proof you're looking for?

[JimB]

Hi,

You have my sympathy, i am in the same boat, beside wood pigeons I also have to contend with cock pheasants which are even stupider than the pigeons.

[Goosegirl]

Just a thought. Why not try a different way of netting crops. I don't know what you use for the supports, but try making a permanent top of draped netting (a.k.a. a roof) then fix horizontal supports of canes, wires, whatever, on the outside of the draped sides to make it bird and insect-proof. All you need to do then is to imagine them as curtain wires. Get your side netting and fold about 2" over to make a tube then use twine to stitch it together. Slide the netting curtains onto the horizontal supports making sure they overlap and secure them firmly onto the ground with bricks or whatever you have. When you want to harvest, remove them, slide the curtains back, pick your crops, then slide them back together and  re-secure.

[Floody]

I'm trying to get a discussion going about a net free allotment but this thread has turned into a discussion of what different types of netting people use. 

I give up...  



Some posts about netting have now been removed

[Fairy Plotmother]

My plot neighbour, old Joe, only covers his cabbages when they are small. He just lays debris net over them. When they have out grown the covering he removes it and ties black plastic bin bags to tall canes. They flap about in the wind and he doesn't seem to have much by way of pigeon damage. I don't know about the cabbage white however.😕

[Potty Plotty Lotty]

I'm trying to get a discussion going about a net free allotment but this thread has turned into a discussion of what different types of netting people use. 

In answer to your question.... I grow the following things not under cover which may give you some food for thought...

Some fairly obvious things that pigeons don't go for:

Asparagus, Beetroot, Blackcurrants (haven't needed to net them so far...), Potatoes, Spring Onions, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Chard, Broad Beans, Runners, French Beans, lettuces, courgettes, squash, onions, shallots, Garlic, Sweetcorn, mini pop sweetcorn, carrots, parsnips.

Maybe less obvious:

Kale (cavalo de nero kale)-pigeons tend to leave it alone until the winter and don't tend to strip the lovely new growth in the spring, Mangetout/Sugar snap peas-I use bamboo skewers to protect the small seedlings and then bamboo canes-has worked so far but I know it doesn't for everyone,

I have a much smaller plot than you but you could also grow some flowers for cutting, minarette fruit trees (if your site allows trees), have a big patch of comfrey, use green manure of some patches.

[LotuSeed]

I'm growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, watermelon, pumpkin, green beans, kidney beans, black beans, peanuts, radish, spinach, popcorn, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I had one strawberry bed netted at the beginning of the season, but that was to deter deer, not birds. Nothing else is netted now. I've lost a few raspberries to the catbirds that frequent my yard, but there's plenty to share. I grew broccoli two years ago and that wasn't netted either

[Floody]

Brilliant!  Much food for thought, thanks everyone! 

Floody

[surbie100]

We have a similar population of pigeons. Most of them at the moment are too fat to do anything other than waddle about. But ours do eat most brassicas, including kale. I have to net all the berries or I won't get any at all.

Things I have to net at first to stop birds eating or pulling them out: onions, peas, broad beans, leeks. But after they are a decent size the nets come off.

Things that I never need to net: globe artichokes, fennel, French beans, spuds, courgettes & squashes, oca, achocha, chicory, beetroot, radishes, tomatoes, aubergines, melons, spinach, chard, sweetcorn, popcorn, pears, apples, quince.

It can also depend on where you plot is on the site. One person never nets their redcurrants, the bushes are heaving with fruit and they are largely undisturbed. If I did that, they would be stripped almost overnight.

[RJR_38]

I hate having to net everything too but what can you do?! It really varies from site to site I think as even from the list surbie says she doesn't have to cover I have to cover sweetcorn with chicken wire (deer eat them all) and looks like I am going to have to cover all my alliums in enviro mesh as I have had leaf miner for 2 years running which have obliterated my onion crop

[Goosegirl]

I'm trying to get a discussion going about a net free allotment but this thread has turned into a discussion of what different types of netting people use. 

I give up...  

Some posts about netting have now been removed

Sorry Floody. Just thought the problem was with the cumbersome nature of netting and accessing your crops.

[sunshineband]

To add to the list of "net free" crops, I find that Autumn Raspberries, Tayberries, Logan berries and Blackberries seem to manage with little loss to birds.

Outdoor cucumbers and tomatoes are never netted, and neither are pakchoi or other Chinese leaves

[surbie100]

To add to the list of "net free" crops, I find that Autumn Raspberries, Tayberries, Logan berries and Blackberries seem to manage with little loss to birds.

Outdoor cucumbers and tomatoes are never netted, and neither are pakchoi or other Chinese leaves

Same here, minus pakchoi etc which I've not grown yet.

[captainhastings]

Just a thought. Why not try a different way of netting crops. I don't know what you use for the supports, but try making a permanent top of draped netting (a.k.a. a roof) then fix horizontal supports of canes, wires, whatever, on the outside of the draped sides to make it bird and insect-proof. All you need to do then is to imagine them as curtain wires. Get your side netting and fold about 2" over to make a tube then use twine to stitch it together. Slide the netting curtains onto the horizontal supports making sure they overlap and secure them firmly onto the ground with bricks or whatever you have. When you want to harvest, remove them, slide the curtains back, pick your crops, then slide them back together and  re-secure.

dont suppose you have a picture ? sounds good idea