The Blueberry Cage

Way back in January, when the cold wind blew and the snow was deep, I posted some photos of the blueberry cage that my father built.  Several people asked me for more details, including Melinda ~choosing happiness~ S. (northwind) . I wanted to wait until I had some photos of the growing season as well as winter, so finally, Melinda et al, I am posting the story of our blueberry cage.

My father first built the cage around 30 years ago. He wanted to grow blueberries but knew that birds would steal the berries and deer would eat the bushes.  So he had to create a cage to keep the berries inside and the critters out.

I must admit to not paying much attention to the cage's construction; I was busy raising a family and living my own life in another state.  When we came home to visit, my daughters loved to pick blueberries with grandpa.  It was like being in a playhouse with screens for the roof and walls!

The pictures can tell you more about the cage construction than I can.  I know that the side panels are based on the width of chickenwire, I think 4 feet, and they are about 6 feet high.  I can stand up inside, but my father had to stoop just a little. 

Each side panel is held to the framework by a simple wire or rope tying it at the top. When the side panels are removed, you can see that inner framework supporting the roof.  The roof is composed of more panels laid end to end the length of the cage (I think 6-foot wide wire may have been used.)  Where those panels meet there are rafters holding the weight.  There are also other boards laid across to help support the netting/chickenwire, so if birds sit on it it does not sag.

My father originally used chicken wire on all sides and the top.  I assume he replaced the wire from time to time, but I was not part of that maintenance.  When I inherited the cage and bushes in 2001, the wire was beginning to disintegrate, and since I had no clue what to do with the bushes, they weren't producing many berries.  

So first I pruned the bushes by guess and by golly, just getting them to fit within the confines of the cage.  Then I bought some huge bales of wood shavings at my local garden store and covered all the ground in the cage.  The shavings smother the weeds and help create the acid soil that blueberries love.

Repairing the cage itself was a much bigger project.  I went a cheaper, easier route by using plastic and nylon netting instead of chicken wire.  I hate handling the wire--it attacks me and leaves major welts! So I built a "better" blueberry cage using the netting. 

It has been just a couple of years since the netting went on, and I am very, very sorry that I wasted the time installing it!  The weather and sunshine have made the mesh disintegrate to the point that merely touching it creates gaping holes.  We are limping through this season as it is, but next spring I see a major cage overhaul in my future, attaching new chickenwire to all parts of the cage.  Father did know best!

There is one design change that I plan to make since I will be doing such a large repair job.  I want to add either a second or a wider board along the bottom of each side panel, so the wire will start higher up the sides. That way I can trim the grass along the edges without destroying the mesh.  Fortunately birds don't tend to walk into the cage at ground level; there are a great many holes where the weedeater went wild!

This must seem like a lot of trouble to go through for a crop of blueberries.  It is. If I did not already have the structure, I probably would not build one.  However, since it is part of my heritage and my father is right there in spirit each time I pick the berries, I will continue maintaining the cage to the best of my ability.  It's a great opportunity to soak up some extra Vitamin D in the sunshine--and it's fun listening to the birds talking about me while I eat the berries that they want!