This might not be the best time of year for this, since garden season is pretty much over in most parts of the country. But we opened a can of hot cocoa today and I went to store the foil top with the other ones I keep for my garden, and I thought I should make a post about it.
Under the plastic lid on a lot of beverage powder cans are these foil inner lids that are pulled off and thrown away when a person opens the can. Several years ago I started saving them to use in my garden to scare birds away from things like strawberries, raspberries, and cherries.
They all have pull tabs on one side, as you can see in the pictures. The one on the left is a foil-type one and I have to punch a hole in the pull tab in order to run a string through it and tie it to my plants. The one on the right is a harder metal and has a tab with a hole already in it.
Sometimes I just use yarn, string, or baling twine through the holes and tie them on the plants in ways that a slight breeze will cause them to flutter. I have also run a rope the length of a row of plants and ties these foil 'reflectors' every few feet onto that rope. They flutter and the bright reflections scare birds away and protect the fruit, and I don't have to worry about getting netting and spreading it. Around here the birds can clean out a whole crop if you don't do something.
If nothing else, maybe knowing about it now can allow those who want to try this to start saving those lids. It doesn't matter what size they are, so you can save them off of any size can.
Please leave comments or questions below, or email them to me at
Susan
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