Sweet, juicy strawberries. That's what this is all about.
And it only takes a few easy steps to get them.
Trust me.
In my opinion, strawberries do their best work in raised beds.
And that means less work for you...later.
Trust me.
I'm going to tell you a story.
Once upon a time there was a princess
who lived at the top of a hill that overlooked a beautiful valley.
This princess loved working in her garden, especially her strawberry patch.
In order to keep the weeds away from her precious plants
and to keep them warm at night she surrounded them with straw.
She thought it was straw. She heard the lady who gave it to her say straw.
Or maybe she said hay and the princess only heard straw.
Whatever.
It really was hay.
And all those little seeds sprouted.
Don't make the same mistake.
Put your strawberries to bed in a bed.
The End.
So now, go get a raised bed box.
Add a wonderful mix that doesn't have an soil in it.
That's right, no dirt.
Just equal parts of compost, peat moss and vermiculite.
Isn't it beautiful?
Now fill the bed about 2/3 with this mix, and we're ready to get started.
Some of the tools you'll need for this project are:
a bucket, small scissors, hand shovel,
compost and a measuring tape.
After the bed is filled,
mark spaces about a foot apart.
I use straws.
This bed is 8 feet long by 2 feet wide.
I put 16 plants in it.
Oh, I almost forgot...
make sure you are working under the supervision
of an experienced field worker.
Here is a clump of strawberries that I dug up. Lets see what we can do with them.
You'll notice that there are lots of leaves- some of them looking pretty ratty-
and also some grass.
And here are the leaves that were trimmed off.
Which leaves need to be removed? All the old ones that look like this.
And also remove any little flower buds that you see. I know that part is hard to do.
You can almost taste those juicy berries.
You need to be strong.
The plants need to put all their energy into growing healthy roots.
The sooner they have a good root system,
the sooner they will be able to produce
lots of luscious fruit for you
Here is our clump, all cleaned up and almost ready to divide.
(That grass looks so artistic.)
Dividing them will be much easier to do if we can see the roots.
This is where your bucket comes in.
Soak the plants in several inches of water until the dirt becomes mud
and it can be gently and easily removed from the roots.
Ahhh, much better. And look at those roots.
Now we can see where two separate plants will come from.
You have some options at this point.
You can gently try to wiggle the plants apart;
or if they are hugging each other too tight,
you will have to use a knife to cut them apart.
Here is one of our soon-to-be
planted strawberry plants
Okay, now it's time to play in the dirt.
Dig a hole about 4 inches deep.
About.
Don't worry if it's not exact.
We'll fill it back up.
With beautiful compost.
(This compost is compliments of my chickens.)
If you aren't lucky enough to have chickens to make your compost
you can just buy some at the store.
Don't fill the hole completely up. leave about an inch or two.
Now make a hole in the middle of the compost with your finger.
Big enough for the roots of the berry plant
Spread out the roots out and then fill the hole the rest of the way to the top
with compost. Tamp the soil /compost with your hand until it's firm.
Strawberries are very particular about how they are planted.
The crown of the plant needs to be above the soil, not below it.
(The crown of the plant is where the roots stop and the leaves begin.)
To save time, you can dig several holes, then fill them all with the compost.
Now plant your little baby berry plants.
Do it quickly. You don't want any of the root hairs to dry out.
Hairy roots are good.
They are what takes up all the water and nutrients that the plants need to live and grow.
We're almost done.
All we have left to do is cover them up
Now wasn't that easy?
I cover up the plants for several reasons.
Berries will ripen earlier under this warm blanket;
It keeps the birds from eating the fruit;
And it keeps the cats from using it as a litter box.
These are large staples are what keeps
the fabric from floating away in the wind.
Oh my gosh. Another box is already done.
See how fast it goes?
And at the end of the day,
after all the plants are in their new beds,
there is only a little dirt on my hands,
thanks to my surgical -type gloves.
See? Just a few easy steps.
Sweet, juicy strawberries
aren't very far away.
Trust me.
