Beans & Birds

I've got a garden row where I've been trying to do a late planting of bush beans for a week - I've replanted once already. Instead of sprouted beans, I'm finding a row of holes in the ground from birds. We've got a lot of bluejays, mockingbirds, woodpeckers, robins, etc., around - and I'm not sure who the culprits are.

Obviously, some birds are eating both the sprouts and the beans as soon as the sprouts break through the ground and reveal where the beans are buried. I've got just a few plants up that they didn't get.

I'm trying to think how to cover that row with something when I replant again. If I can get the bean plants up and a couple of leaves on them, I think they'll be OK from then on. Suggestions?

I don't know how big of a row or how many beans you're trying to protect but something around here likes to eat my bean and corn seeds too. I only have a small garden so I just put plastic cups or coke bottles over them until they sprout and start looking more like plants and less like tasty worms or seeds.

I suppose if I had a big garden with long rows I might try throwing up a temporary row cover with a few wire hoops and some bird netting/plastic/cloth(old sheets).

I always have row covers available for when I plant new rows of anything to help water run off from heavy thunderstorms, which we have had a lot of this summer and to deter the birds. I keep the cloth over the rows until the seedlings are large enough that the birds won't be interested any more. I bought the original cloth from Pinetree by the linear foot. https://www.superseeds.com/products.php?cat=298

Sam/Ozark, I think it might be easiest to try some of that shiny bird tape stretched from end to end over your row of seeds/seedlings. It's pretty inexpensive, can be used over and over, and would be easy to install by just putting stakes at each end of your row and running the tape just above the row, high enough to allow it to twist and turn in the breeze.

I've never tried it (although I have a roll in the tool room) but apparently the sunlight reflecting off it messes with the birds eyes (or their heads!).

Shoe (whose robins dug up my early peas this year and the neighbor had crows doing the same to his corn)

Thanks, everybody - I've rigged some "bird protection" over that row as per your suggestions.

It's robins, I saw one grab a bean sprout.

When I'm laying out rows and planting in the spring I use white nylon string in the garden, and sometimes I find a long piece of string draped across the fence or up in a tree 'cause a robin tried to fly off with it. So in the spring, I always cut a bunch of foot-long pieces of white string and leave them in a pile for the robins. They always take every one of them to line their nests.

Robins get pretty tame, and spoiled. When I'm pulling weeds out of rows I'll often have a robin hang out as close as 5 or 6 feet from me. When I find a worm or a grub I'll throw it to him, and if I don't find one for awhile he'll get demanding, hopping around and flapping his wings like, HEY!

I didn't think they'd dig up bean sprouts, though. No gratitude at all! LOL

A friend is using the "police line ~ do not cross" tape. Crisscrossing over the garden.
She hung grocery store plastic bags loosely from it. The bags flutter in the least little breeze.
That stopped the hawks from bothering the chickens as well.

Good luck with the Health, Education and Welfare of the robin population.

I can't get mad at robins, no matter what they do. Had no idea their diet included bean sprouts! I wonder if a big cage enclosure of 1/2 inch hardware cloth would let in enough sun for veggies to grow? Of course it would still allow bugs in but it would keep chipmunks and birds out.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I went with podster's idea about the plastic grocery bags because we've got so many of them in a kitchen cabinet. That turned out easy to do and it works - the birds are scared of the bags and I haven't lost a single bean sprout.

Now that I'm picking my earlier plantings of beans every couple of days, I've remembered how much I dislike picking bush beans - and I wonder why I've planted another big row of them! Next year, I think I'll plant all pole beans, the picking is a lot easier.

I have been disappointed with the pole bean crop this year so am now planting successive plantings of bush beans.
What type of pole bean will you grow?

podster - I've grown several of the common varieties of pole beans before, and they were all OK (and easier to pick than bush beans). Kentucky Wonder is one I remember.

This year though, Horseshoe introduced me to Northeaster. I've never grown those or any Romano type pole bean before. That's my 8' row of Northeaster beans showing in the upper left background of the grocery bag picture, above.

Boy, I can't say enough good things about those! They're early, tender, very productive, and BIG. The flavor is great and we're enjoying them fresh and filling up the freezer! Any future gardens of mine are going to include Northeaster pole beans, for sure.

Thanks for the info ~ they look happy enough.
I will add them to the list and give them a go.
Wonder if the name means they won't like this blessed heat and humidity.
This year I tried Fortex and was more than disappointed.

They're worth a try in East TX. I believe the Northeaster bean is also called Kwintus.

In the same picture, the red stems you can barely see behind the cabbage and sticking up this side of the pole beans are a critter from your part of the world - Texas Hill Country Red okra. That variety seems to really like it here. Today we had 102 degrees and high humidity, so it oughta feel right at home.

I can not believe how fast and how well your garden has grown after all that incredible rain you received!
Seemed you were late in planting this spring.
My okra is severely stunted from drought. Makes me wonder where all this humidity comes from when the ground is so dry.

Yes, we started the season very wet and with bad storms - Joplin is 70 miles west of here, and that tornado passed 10 miles south of us. It was no longer touching the ground at that point, but the radar couldn't tell that and we were ducking.

That was in late May, and since then we've had heat and very little rain. Every plant in my garden is within 2" of a soaker hose and all I have to do is open and close faucets to water. I'll do that again today for about 45 minutes as it's 91 already this morning going to 100 degrees again.

It's easier for me to grow a good garden in dry conditions than wet, since I can add water when it's needed but I sure can't take it away when there's too much! We have our own well, and the garden takes little water because it all goes where it's needed. I kinda like it when the weather is dry, as my garden paths don't get watered then to sprout weeds.

Ah... just went near your area last month on vacation. We went up 71 to KC heading north. Very pretty area...

I found the Northeaster beans listed in Johnnys ~ when both you and Shoe recommend them, it is worth a try. Thanks!

Podster, Johnny's is where I first got my Northeaster seeds several years ago. 'Twas a one-time purchase and have been saving seeds every since. I even save seeds from my first season's crop and resow some of them for a late season crop. I highly recommend them.

As for them being the same as Kwintis I couldn't say since I've never grown Kwintis. There are many kinds of "Romano" type beans though; maybe I should get some Kwintis and see if there is a difference. I know Kwintis is well-liked by many others.

Shoe (coming in periodically to escape Ozark's heat that floated over this way) :>)

podster - I think you've still got plenty of time to order Northeaster beans and grow them this season if you want to.

They're a 43-day bean, and mine have been bearing since the middle of June. It's 61 days since they were planted now and they haven't slowed down yet. If you put some in the ground even by late July, that should get you a bunch of beans all through September and into October. They're quick!

Thanks ~ I'll consider putting together an order. After all, I've still been planting bush beans...