So, there has been a theft.
Two fat strawberries were ripening. One for me and one for Vince. Last night they looked about perfect, but because he was working late I decided to leave them till this morning. And this morning we scurried into SoHo to have brunch at Balthazar with good friends from his previous life on Little Cayman, so, no strawberry.
Just got home. Stepped onto the warm terrace.One red strawberry.
The other, missing. The stem neatly nipped, snipped. Quite hard to get to. Facing the apartment, not on the outside, with easy gutter access for varmints.
Raccoon? Surely el bandido would have knocked something over in the act of. Thin squirrel, squeezing between pots? And it's not like it took bites, either. The whole thing is gone.
The cat is clearly not earning his keep.
On the other hand, the plants are the healthiest on the terrace.Promising to make more berries, sending out runners to colonize nearby pots.
Varmint.So I ate the other one (below), immediately, just in case.
It was warm and sweet.
Cats can snip stems very neatly.... and mango-loving cats might just fancy a strawberry now and again..... Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteWhen little children break out in hives, strawberries are usually the first to be blamed.Deprived of mango...well, like Rachel, just sayin'
ReplyDeleteSquirrels. They love strawberries
ReplyDeletei raised strawberries for 3 years & birds know exactly when to eat berries. i did not have to battle squirrels so i don't know about them.
ReplyDeletenetting will thwart birds & probably squirrels. vigilance (human nor feline) alone will not suffice. their full-time job is to out-wait us.
Have you ever heard of the children's book, "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear"?
ReplyDeleteLet's hope the Bear doesn't have a reach to your balcony!
Happy 4th,
Heather
Wayne, PA
I had to give up growing strawberries because the squirrels ate EVERY SINGLE ONE as they ripened! So frustrating.
ReplyDeleteThis happened to us too, with my beloved snow peas and green beans! I suspect crows.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.postmodernhostess.com/2010/05/terror-in-garden.html and http://www.postmodernhostess.com/2010/06/we-wuz-robbed.html
Stay vigiliant! :-)