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Dean 
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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 Posted: July 03 2012 at 09:02 |
 Snow Dog wrote:
cats anyone? |
When we lived in a back-to-back terrace my neighbour tried to keep our cats out of her garden using this:
...we never saw her again. 
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin & Razor Guru
Joined: February 02 2004
Location: South England
Status: Offline
Points: 14693
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Posted: July 03 2012 at 09:18 |
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Snowie - Don't know if it does work, but a friend always sprinkles black pepper on his flower beds & says this helps against cats using them as litter trays
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
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Joined: March 23 2005
Location: Caerdydd
Status: Offline
Points: 32995
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Posted: July 03 2012 at 09:27 |
Jim Garten wrote:
Snowie - Don't know if it does work, but a friend always sprinkles black pepper on his flower beds & says this helps against cats using them as litter trays |
Worth a try. I remember also reading that half oranges spread around the garden work. Not sure I want to see rottiing oranges everywhere.
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin & Razor Guru
Joined: February 02 2004
Location: South England
Status: Offline
Points: 14693
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Posted: July 03 2012 at 11:06 |
Rotting oranges or cat poo? The decision is yours 
At least if the black pepper works, you can call yourself a seasoned gardener 
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
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Joined: March 23 2005
Location: Caerdydd
Status: Offline
Points: 32995
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Posted: July 03 2012 at 11:36 |
Jim Garten wrote:
Rotting oranges or cat poo? The decision is yours
At least if the black pepper works, you can call yourself a seasoned gardener |
It isn't cat waste that is the problem, it is their predating on birds that I encourage to feed. I know black pepper works against squirrels. i might give seasoning a go.
...seasoned gardener, Oh dear. 
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: July 03 2012 at 12:30 |
Pepper works on squirrels because they don't like the taste (dried chili in the bird feeder also works), ergo the trick would be to make the birds taste unpleasant to cats (again, dried chili in the bird feeder may work).
Lion poop is supposed to work, but I think that's a myth - how would a domestic kitty know what lion poop was?
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam
Joined: April 29 2006
Location: Atlantais
Status: Offline
Points: 29630
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Posted: July 03 2012 at 13:06 |
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We don't have a cat problem but we've tried the pepper and also a product called Critter Ridder. Three kinds of pepper Multi-species repellant. Squirrels and chipmunks are main bane. A rabbit family has also made a home somewhere on the property. Then the birds go after the blueberries before they even turn.
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened... 
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin & Razor Guru
Joined: February 02 2004
Location: South England
Status: Offline
Points: 14693
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 02:26 |
Snow Dog wrote:
It isn't cat waste that is the problem, it is their predating on birds that I encourage to feed. |
I think we're lucky in that respect; our garden has bird feeders all over the place yet our cats seem content to watch from the veranda (I did have to discourage Baggins from taking too close an interest in a goldfinch the other day though).
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 02:45 |
Jim Garten wrote:
Snow Dog wrote:
It isn't cat waste that is the problem, it is their predating on birds that I encourage to feed. |
I think we're lucky in that respect; our garden has bird feeders all over the place yet our cats seem content to watch from the veranda (I did have to discourage Baggins from taking too close an interest in a goldfinch the other day though). |
We also have several bird feeders and the cats seldom (can't say never) bother them, they're more interested in keeping down the rodent population, which is fine by me. We get an amazing variety of birds in the garden considering we have four cats.
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin & Razor Guru
Joined: February 02 2004
Location: South England
Status: Offline
Points: 14693
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 03:05 |
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Us too - although we're on the fringes of a large estate, we back onto a churchyard & what used to be Shephall village green before Stevenage expanded in the 60s.
In addition to the usual suspects, we get green & gold finches (plus the occasional bullfinch), jays, woodpeckers; there's a sparrowhawk which takes out the occasional pidgeon & we get (distant at the moment) a fair few sightings of red kites, too.
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 03:29 |
We back on to several miles of open fields so just about the only things we don't get are foxes and badgers. We also have a (green) woodpecker that visits the garden regularly searching for ants in the grass, in addition to the usual suspects (starlings, blackbirds, magpies, pigeons, rooks, tits) we also get thrushes, finches, wrens and the occasional pheasant (to which you can see a distinct "what the  is that!" look on the cats), a buzzard or two (that for the moment are more interested in rabbits than the smaller of our cats), a ing heron and I once saw a kingfisher (which I was pleased to see even if it was after my bloody goldfish).
Edited by Dean - July 04 2012 at 03:29
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
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Joined: March 23 2005
Location: Caerdydd
Status: Offline
Points: 32995
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 05:03 |
^Great! 
Since putting out nyger seeds a while ago I now have an abundance of goldfinch. Next target bullfinch. Any suggestions for this elusive species?
Also we have an occasional sparrowhawk, buzzards also soar over from time to time. And I'm sure there is a raven about.
Edited by Snow Dog - July 04 2012 at 05:13
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Slartibartfast
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / In Memoriam
Joined: April 29 2006
Location: Atlantais
Status: Offline
Points: 29630
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 07:12 |
Thanks to the creeks, we get ducks, geese on occasion. I was surprised one day by a crane flying off my roof. I don't know where the hell that came from, I think it was lost. It left a dump on the roof as it flew off.
Edited by Slartibartfast - July 04 2012 at 07:13
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Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...
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timothy leary
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 29 2005
Location: Lilliwaup, Wa.
Status: Offline
Points: 5319
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 10:00 |
Snow Dog wrote:
^Great!
Since putting out nyger seeds a while ago I now have an abundance of goldfinch. Next target bullfinch. Any suggestions for this elusive species?
Also we have an occasional sparrowhawk, buzzards also soar over from time to time. And I'm sure there is a raven about. |
Try milk thistle seeds if you can get them, any thistle is attractive to finches, some of the birds in Western washington
finches nuthatches sparrows starlings downy woodpeckers pileated woodpeckers townsends warbler juncos pine siskins flickers crows stellar jays red tail hawks bald eagles osprey
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Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
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Joined: March 23 2005
Location: Caerdydd
Status: Offline
Points: 32995
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 10:13 |
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Bullfinches are different though. They like flower and fruit buds. I already have nyger seeds so don't need any thistle seeds. Couldn't get them anyway.
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Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout
Joined: May 13 2007
Location: Europe
Status: Offline
Points: 37575
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 10:37 |
Snow Dog wrote:
Bullfinches are different though. They like flower and fruit buds. I already have nyger seeds so don't need any thistle seeds. Couldn't get them anyway. |
I'd guess you'd need a fruit tree or bush that flowers heavily - raspberry, a current of some sort or a cherry. I'd go for red-current as you can cook lamb or duck with the fruit  (Wikipedia says kale or millet are good for bullfinches)
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TheGazzardian
Prog Reviewer
Joined: August 11 2009
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 8815
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Posted: July 04 2012 at 10:53 |
Dean wrote:
Pepper works on squirrels because they don't like the taste (dried chili in the bird feeder also works), ergo the trick would be to make the birds taste unpleasant to cats (again, dried chili in the bird feeder may work).
Lion poop is supposed to work, but I think that's a myth - how would a domestic kitty know what lion poop was? |
And how would you get it in the first place?
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timothy leary
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 29 2005
Location: Lilliwaup, Wa.
Status: Offline
Points: 5319
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Posted: August 24 2012 at 14:24 |
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Just got back from blackberry picking. It is a great year for berries here in Washington state. The bushes were loaded. Picked 5 gallons in under an hour. Blackberry cordial and blackberry pies coming soon. Next up will be huckleberries and chanterelle mushrooms in about a month. Any other foragers here at PA??
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Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
Status: Offline
Points: 15784
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Posted: August 24 2012 at 14:58 |
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I only due some basic stuff, but I had some great dandelions earlier in the year for salads.
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"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
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Padraic
Special Collaborator
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Joined: February 16 2006
Location: Pennsylvania
Status: Offline
Points: 31169
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Posted: August 24 2012 at 15:04 |
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Garden did great this year. Crazy amount of tomatoes, which are winding down, but I'm still getting tons of peppers and eggplant. We'll probably be expanding it next year, to grow more/different things.
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