Soft Fruit

 The fruit cage is an elaborate affair with sliding doors. It could do with a lick of paint, but apart from that it works well. We could have used bamboo canes with netting draped over the plants, but I've always believed that even the very basic of things can and should be made to look attractive. 

And this is especially true in any garden. Just because you have a vegetable garden doesn't mean it has to look like an allotment. Permanent, or temporary structures can be made to be functional and look good at the same time. 

(Redcurrant)

(Alpine strawberries)

We go to all this trouble of course, because of the birds. They love soft fruit, especially anything red, such as strawberries and cherries. Black birds are the worst. We love birds, but when you've gone to all the trouble of growing something, you want an opportunity to enjoy the literal fruits of your labour. 

In this garden we grow gooseberries, red and white currants, raspberries and strawberries. Soft fruit is one of the easiest of foods to grow. There is an initial outlay buying plants, but they remain productive for years, require very little work apart from pruning and netting as the fruit emerges. You can also increase your plant stock by propagating. In the case of strawberries they produce runners, and currants are amongst the easiest cuttings to take. I often come across red and white currants growing away in the garden. Evidence of where I have just stuck prunings into the ground and forgotten about them. 

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