What are my chances?

I have a seedless 'Red Flame' grapevine growing over an arbor at the back of my dry garden, near the steps to my back slope.  Last year, I took these pictures of the ripening grapes on June 11th.



One week later, I took these pictures:



I knew I was pushing my luck last year but there were so many grapes I thought that surely the critters wouldn't eat them all before they were ripe.  But they pretty much did.

This year, my grapes are still very green but, once again, there's a plentiful supply on the vines.



I've been trying to come up with something that might keep the birds and raccoons from picking the stems clean without the cumbersome process of netting the entire arbor.  Today, while shopping for groceries, I found some inexpensive, reusable net bags.  They're intended for use in keeping vegetables in the refrigerator but I picked them up on spec to see if they might be helpful in protecting my grapes.



My husband thinks my chances of success are low.  And I'd need to buy many more bags just to protect the largest clumps of grapes.



What do you think?  Is it worth a try?  Have you found ways to protect your fruit as it ripens?

I haven't even begun to think about what to do about the persimmons.



All material © 2012-2015 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party