Oh, dear... I wish you luck. I've only seen magpies in Ireland, where you have to salute them for good luck. At least that's what our tour guide told us, he may have been pulling our legs. ;o) But I feel for you. I gave up trying to grow anything edible here in Florida. If it's not the deer, it's the raccoons. If not raccoons, it's possums. Or rabbits, skunks, squirrels or woodpeckers. And then there are the insects...