Down Mulberry Lane

Strawberry bed...

Today we finished the strawberry bed.  With the help of my daughter Megan, we got it done in short time.  Dh had put together the boards for me last night.  Today, we had to move some dirt to get the boxes positioned where I wanted them, but then we filled them up and then planted our strawberries. 

The box currently looks mostly empty, but I assure you, I planted those dormant strawberry plants and they "should" come up.   With what room was left, after I planted the dormant strawberries, I transplanted strawberry plants that we have grown in past years.  I had just enough to fill the box full.  The box fit about 55 strawberry plants. 

This should work better than our flat strawberry bed that just never could put anything out... several problems... too much grass... it just found the berries every year and buried them!  Chickens... Peacocks, etc... we have chickens that like to be OUT in the yard.  They usually stay closer to the chicken barn, but they often would follow the peacocks out to the garden.  We sold the peacocks last fall, so this will be our first year in almost 8 years that we will not have to deal with peacocks in my garden!  I am excited to say the least... no more worrying about the tomato harvest, actually anything... they sure knew when to go after stuff... just when it hit ripe.  I see now the chickens do not go out so far in the yard now, they stay close to the barn... the new dog helps with that. 

Shasta, our English Shepherd, keeps all the animals near home base.  Chickens belong in the chicken barn or that barnyard.  Sheep belong in the paddocks out front, but if one gets separated, she is out shooing it back to the rest of the flock.  Good dog!  Now, if she will stay out of my flowers, I will be happy!  She loves to run and in her play, she has knocked most of the asparagus off.  She was sniffing the newly planted strawberries and I scolded her NO.  She walked away, but was back shortly.  I kicked her in the behind this time (not hard, just enough for her to lose her balance on my new tiered bed), she was scolded again and she seemed to leave it alone from there on.  She likes that new plant smell... the peat in the packaging just makes her think there is a prize to pull out.  (Last night she found one of my grape vine packages the plant packed in peat, she tore the packaging apart and found the grape vine.. tossed it and by this time we had seen her and she knew it, so she flipped the vine into the yard and then ran to greet us with a happy hello... as if she hadn't done a thing wrong!  I did find the vine and she thankfully hadn't broken the stem or the roots, so hopefully it will be ok!)

Anyways, she is learning, she is still a pup, still not a year old.  But now that planting is underway, she'll need some training of where she can play and where she can't. 

As for the strawberry bed... I am pleased enough with how it came out.  Layering the planting gives the roots more room, so you can plant closer together and plant more in a smaller space.  Bigger output, too, for the same area.  Hopefully we will see some good strawberries next year.  It's always sad to have to wait another year, but a year to get established seems to be what has worked out in the past.  The second year gets the strawberries.   I might (might) get some strawberries from the transplants... its just not likely from the dormant plants, unless I had been able to plant them earlier... but even then, I've never had success with the first years planting. 

Warmly, ~Melissa

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8:50 PM, May 18, 2008 .. Posted by Handmaiden

What a great strawberry bed! Not only will it be fruitful but will look beautiful too. Seeing it makes me want to try my hand at strawberries again. Thanks

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9:18 PM, May 18, 2008 .. Posted by glenda

I love your strawberry bed. This is what i had been trying to tell my son i wanted built.. He just could not understand me. ;-) now that he has seen yours he knows what i want done.. He was like oh mom that is easy... :-) I plan on having a few of them built for my herbs.. I think it would work out great for that..
Thanks so much for the great post.
god bless
glenda

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10:54 PM, May 18, 2008 .. Posted by heritagehill

Don't you just love the English Shepherd breed of dog! We have a female, Sophie.
Marilyn