Xylophone Stand Update

This is an update on my 4/19/2012 post on the xylophone stands.  I was able to complete the additional eight stands over summer vacation.  Total cost was $233.27.

Here's the final product...

...and one up close

Blueberry Bush Net

This was a quick little project but worth mentioning.  I wanted to protect our blueberry bushes from birds so we could get some for ourselves.  And it was worth it.  Look at the first round of blueberries I picked!  We've been getting a bowl this full every week!

I did some research online for ideas to get me started.  A lot of people build a frame out of wood or PVC pipe, but in the end I decided I didn't want to make a fixed structure.  For one thing, I wanted it to break down afterward because we don't have a good place to store a big frame.  Additionally, I wanted a more natural, low profile look that would blend into the background.


MATERIALS:

6' bamboo stakes

"BirdBlock" netting from Gardener's Supply Company online.
(They also sell this at The Home Depot for cheaper)

green gardening velcro tape

landscaping staples

TOOLS:

PROCEDURE:


I first used the loppers to clip the bamboo stakes to the right height and pushed them into the ground at the four corners of the bushes (I made the back two a little shorter than the front two because the ground is higher at the back of the bushes and it was difficult to get them deeper in the ground without breaking them).  


Then I measured and cut the piece of bird net to the right size and draped it over the bushes and bamboo stakes.  Sounds easy, but this was the hardest part of the project.  The netting was getting so stuck to every little branch, it was slow-going to get it on there just as I wanted it.  It may have helped to have another person lift the other side of the net so we could go up and over without touching the branches and then let it down over the bush.


Next I used a few little pieces of the green gardening velcro tape at the top of each bamboo stake to secure the netting to them.

velcro at the top of each stake

I wanted to have easy access for getting in to pick the blueberries as they ripened, so I cut a slit down the netting just around the corner on one end of the enclosure and used another piece of the velcro tape to secure my makeshift 'door' shut.

slit on the end for the 'door', secured with velcro

The last step was securing the netting to the ground so that critters wouldn't be able to enter from underneath.  I inserted the landscaping staples through the holes in the net and into the ground several inches apart around the perimeter of the enclosure.

landscaping staples along the bottom

Note: In order to get into the enclosure to harvest the blueberries, I remove the landscaping staples from the ground along the front of the enclosure, remove the little piece of velcro that secures my 'door' shut, and pull the netting up to drape it over the top while I pick.

opening the 'door' on the front