The only thing I've seen that works for cherries is to let the trees get really big and settle for what you can get from the lower branches. I've tried dwarf varieties with netting, flash tape, even hanging a dead crow in the tree. All the dead crow did was bring all of the crow's relatives over to my tree to pay their respects. The only cherries left on the tree had maggots and rotten crow juice dripping down on them from the dearly departed. Nothing works for keeping the birds in my neighborhood away from the cherries, so I cut the suckers down. Too much hassle.

My general rule of thumb is to focus on stuff in the home garden that you can't get as good quality-wise in a store. Corn - definitely better from the home garden. Also artichokes, greens, chard, rhubarb, tomatos. Fruit - Peaches especially. Raspberries for sure. Winter pears -Comice. Bartlett for canning. Nothing like a good fresh plum from the tree on a hot summer day. Also the clams and oysters I plant on the beach - fresher than you can get at the store, and no limit on how many I take.

Can't wait for summer.