I will post some photos later but this year I tried bagging, apples, grapes and chums with either ziplocks or organza bags to keep the birds/bugs away. Organza bags being the nylon mesh bags used for wedding gifts and the like. I bought mine from: http://www.yourorganzabag.com/organzabag.htm. I used Moss Green as they are not visible in the foliage. I used the 6x9 bags but are they are a bit short for long grapes. Perfect for plums and apples and small bunches of grapes. I trimmed off the top of the ziplock just to the zipper part. Then at each bottom corner I cut off a triangle of plastic to leave about a 3/4 - 1 inch hole for ventilation. After 4 months there is a big difference. The ziplocks act like little greenhouses. There is nearly always significant condensation inside. The bags have a tendency to collapse and even with the drain holes there can be 5-10ml of cumulative water condensation inside. Earwigs like to crawl up via the condensation holes and hang out. The Organza bags have no issues. The are well sealed, no bugs get inside and ventilation is perfect. For apples, there does not seem to be a big issue with the heat/humidity. They seem to be growing and coloring up roughly the same no matter which bag. For the plums and grapes there are a huge difference. Once starting to turn color there is skin breakdown and rot formation in the ziplocked grapes. Coluration of the grapes also seems to be better in with the Organza bags. My Organza bags cost about $0.22 each vs $0.04/ziplock. However after 3 months they still look pretty much like new and as I am harvesting grapes I keep the bags for re-use next year. Another positive is the Organza bags have no perperation time (ziplocks you need to trim 2 corners + the tag) and are super easy to install. The Organza bags have a drawstring, you just open the bag, pull the string then tie a bow over the branch. For me, for the look (my trees don't look like they are covered in plastic), the ease of installation and the ventilation I will be using Organza bags from now on. Not sure for apples if you would see a difference with airborn fungus and scab but they work great for all insect and bird related problems. I think they would work awesome for peaches as they breath very well but keep the bugs/birds out. Just my experience up here in zone 4.

Hi dchall_san_antonio, thanks for the follow-up post. You are spot on with regards to the unevenness of sod. I did my front yard last season and was instantly dissatisfied with the results with regard to the undulations. So I had to spend more time and more effort to get a result that I wanted from the outset. Hence my obsession was born with having a perfectly level yard. I searched the internet determined to get a better result. I read about sprigging, but found almost zero info on how the regular Joe could do it at home. I took bits of info from golf green construction, sport fields, bowling greens and then applied this to what would work at home for me using everyday tools and non-specialized products. The cost was also significantly less than buying sod for the entire project which is quite expensive in Australia (around A$9.00m2) I will try by best to answer the questions that you have put forth; My patio area faces roughly east, so the sun passes directly over the yard in summer. In winter it moves to the north (the left hand side looking from patio). Long shadows do cast to the south, however more so in winter as the sun is lower in sky. I cultivated the soil using a rotary hoe or a gas powered tiller to till the soil to a depth of around 6 inches. I then made a contraption of 4 x 6 foot pieces of timber set parallel with 4 x braces running perpendicular to the long pieces. I attached a rope to this and then spent the next few days dragging this contraption back and forth, round and round, up and down until it was as level as I could make it. I let it settle for about 2 weeks, then spent another weekend with my new wooden friend. I got the idea from this video; Leveling yard After this I brought in around 2 cubic meters of builders sand for final grade. I built a smaller version of the wood , this time using aluminum and a handle that you use like a rake to move the soil around. I then watered this to the point of runoff and let it dry. I used the lawn level again to level out any minor undulations and watered it again. Finally I used a long piece of timber to check for grade and undulations. At this point I was satisfied. The high tech tools used to cut up the sod was a pair of garden shears and a pair of HD sissors! No wonder my hands were dead after about 6 hours. I put the cut sprigs into a big container of water for about an hour, then put them in a old wet sheet in the shade until I was ready to broadcast them. I made sure I had enough to cover one irrigation zone before I spread them such that i could irrigate immediately after planting. Once I realised that this method was not going to work I borrowed a leaf shredder and put smaller pieces of sod through the hopper. At first I was concerned that I cut them too small and they would not root, but they did take, however at a slower rate than compared with the larger pieces. I did this in October, which is mid-spring here. Funnily enough we had a really mild spring which didn't really help with the grow-in. When temps got above 25C you could literally watch it grow! This is not common practise for establishing home lawns in Australia. Some turf suppliers do offer what they call 'shredded turf' but these companies are not in my state. The methods these companies advocate could not be translated the method I used. Next time I would try and actually source the sprigs, rather than cutting up sod. It is so time consuming and very messy. Other than that I am really happy with how it has come up. I said to my wifey that if I ever plant another lawn I will be stolonizing it. The real reason I wanted to spend the time doing this post is purely for the fact that I have learned so much from this forum (even as a lurker) and I wanted to take the time and give something back to other forum members who have taken the time with their experiences. In particular David's thread which I used to level my front yard. Here are some pics of that project if anyone is interested; Front This is disc roller below; PS I will work on my photography skills This post was edited by SimonR on Mon, Jan 27, 14 at 0:35

Okay, I think it's wonderful that all these reusable shopping bags are now for SALE. So, we pay money for these bags because they are fashionable and "cute". Come on now! Don't we all have a closet full of those give away bags. I personally use two that my husband brought home from a golf tourny. They are perfect. Zipper top, nice size and best of all FREE. I'm not poor, I can certainly afford pretty bags but lets get reasonable folks. How much do you want to bet that those bags say IKEA in bold letters. Free advertisement. Rant over. Linda

I talked with one of the neighbors on Monday. He's a real pleasant fellow in his seventies but I could see something was bothering him. I was concerned that he was mad at me about something but it turned out that he was angry at himself. He rather reluctantly told me the story of the Mad Marmot Fracas. This part of the world is graced with a substantial population of Hoary Marmots (Marmota caligata). They live at or above the tree line in the southern part of their range but all the way down to sea level in Alaska. Their much smaller close cousin, the groundhog, lives in eastern US. There are plenty of marmots here in rocky areas especially along the rivers. The endangered species folks list them as "Lower Risk/Least Concern." These guys aren't small, adult size is 8 lbs all the way to 20 lb females. One of these big adults moved into the rock pile beside the garden about a week ago. The nearest I'd seen them before was about 1/2 mile away along the river but knew that I couldn't be lucky forever. Wikipedia lists marmot predators as "golden eagles; grizzly and black bears; and wolves." Well, we've got bald eagles along the river every Winter but I haven't seen any other of these critters coming to my rescue. My resident owls may be just biding their time so as maybe to grab the babies. I'm not sure if a horned owl can carry off something that weighs 20 lbs. Doubt it. The neighbor, with a certain restrained animation, told me that his little dachshund, Matilda, found something hiding in a large plastic pipe behind his garage. He picked up the end of the 10' pipe and shook it. A tail appeared at the other end and the dachshund grabbed the tail and pulled. Out slid the marmot. Matty jumped on the marmot's back and the marmot turning over, sinking it's teeth into Matty's throat. The neighbor had reached the other end of the pipe by this time and was able to slap the marmot. It released its hold on the dog and made an escape. The neighbor was obviously pained to tell this story of nearly losing his dog by what he described as his mistake but he had a very sympathetic audience. Not only do I like Matty, a cute little black & tan who required 1st aid after the fight, but I've been agonizing as to what to do about the marmot, "I'll loan you my 22." We walked over to the fence and looked across at the rock pile. At that moment, the marmot with blithe arrogance (or insanity) decided to come out and sunbath. It was completely unconcerned and ignored our presence not more than 50 feet away. The effect on the neighbor was immediate; his hands visibly began to tremble. "Well, I don't want them to get established here. Better be bird shot so it doesn't ricochet off the rocks." There were more neighbors to be concerned about since these rocks are neither of our concern, less the issue of marmot residence. "Okay, I'll talk to the neighbor up the hill and if it's okay with her, I'll have the 22 and ammo tomorrow morning." The other neighbor happened to be at her open window when the Mad Marmot Fracas went down. "Just let it go! Just let it go!" She claimed he kept yelling at the dog. Yeah, I bet. Her reaction, "Just do what ya gotta do." Okay, back down the hill, and the only time I'd seen the guy smile that day was when I told him that all systems were go. Remarkably, I noticed some activity on the rocks that afternoon and when I arrived in the garden the next morning . . . there were 2 adult marmots sunning there . . . I could play the role of exterminator but have only the slightest compulsion. Other than some of my second planting of zucchini seedlings disappearing (could be the rabbits) and 1 corn plant pulled to the ground, there hasn't been any loss amongst the vegetables . . . yet. I'll replant the zucchini today and hope for the best. Also, I'm hoping to see the smiling face of my neighbor as he returns the 22. Matty will either be happily at his heels as usual or off somewhere trying to dig up a vole just like nature intended for a dachshund. A half mile away, marmots will be sunning themselves beside the river. digitS'