My strawberries do not like all the hot weather we have been having. They starting frying during the last heat wave................I guess this is why they grow them commercially along the coast.
I thought maybe some shade cloth would protect them. I had a small piece left-over from another project, but it didn't cover the whole bed, so I just kept rotating it over portions, giving some plants a break from the sun each day. I think it might have helped some. I started to get some beautiful strawberries again, instead of brown ones. . .
reBlogged
to strawberries
on Jul 10, 2006, 11:48AM
Posted by Jeanne Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-07-11, 15:34:50
I bought three alpine strawberry plants this year and planted them in a stone planter that the previous owners of my house used as some sort of water garden. The stone looked great but the rusty metal bin with odd looking underwater lightbulb housing turned it into an oddity. The electrical line that powered this monstrosity didn't work anymore and was buried underneath a concrete patio. So something had to be done to make it look a little nicer. . . .
reBlogged
to strawberries
on Jun 28, 2006, 12:26PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-06-28, 23:40:18
Pots and cans are the perfect space-saving containers in which to grow this favorite fruit. The potting process is quite simple and takes only minutes. If you feed and water the plants regularly, you'll have juicy strawberries for the picking all summer long.
Strawberries may be available all year, but fresh locally grown strawberries signal the summer season. Day neutral and everbearing strawberries have been getting all the attention, but there still...
reBlogged
to strawberries
on Jun 22, 2006, 9:58PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-06-24, 00:22:08
Staying trim was never a problem for me... until I had a child. I don't know if childbirth does something funky to your metabolism, or that by tending to another's needs it becomes more difficult to tend to your own. I do know that many adults spend way more time sitting than we did when we were young and especially when we were carless. We sit at a desk, we drive, we sit, we drive, we sit, we drive. Whether you have kids or not, modern adult life can be much more sedentary than it should be.
Whatever the cause of my added poundage... the reality is that I now have to watch what I eat. . .
reBlogged
to strawberries zucchini
on Jun 14, 2006, 10:36PM
Realization Of The Day: I need to be in the garden well before 8:00am if I want to beat the turtles to my berries.
Yep, when Cary, Bear, and I traipsed out there this morning, little stainless steel strainer in my hand, this is what we found not 10 feet from the strawberry bed, head stretched out, soaking up the sun, digesting MY breakfast. . .
reBlogged
to pests strawberries
on May 27, 2006, 7:11PM
Earlier this month, Amy Stewart blogged about the pleasures of having vegetables and fruits planted in the front yard. She got me thinking about several front yard gardens here in D.C. that I really like. This one always brings a smile to my face when the strawberry blossoms begin to open. There are strawberry plants along the walkway leading to the front door. It looks like they have something
reBlogged
to strawberries
on May 22, 2006, 9:20PM
Posted by Christa Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-05-23, 11:10:47
(Horrifying) Realization Of The Day: The very first bite of the very first ripe strawberry of the season was not taken by me. Damn turtles!
Okay, so here's the deal with my strawberries. I actually have two strawberry beds right now. The photo above shows the older bed--it's on the right side of the photo. Yes, that's it--where that super tall, lush, if-this-were-in-my-fields-I'd-be-farmer-of-the-year orchard grass is flourishing, and you can't for the life of you see a single strawberry plant. Pathetic, I know. On the left are the strawberry plants that jumped out of bed and are attempting to grow in the hard, unfertilized, black plastic and wood chip covered pathway. There was no way I was going to pull them up. I take my strawberries wherever I can get them. This is where the first ripe berry of the season was found.
This is the strawberry bed I planted last year with 24 locally grown "Super Strawberry" plants I bought at the spring Garden Club Plant Sale for $3.00. I had high hopes for them, but I obviously did something wrong (I believe it had to do with neglect and weeds) because as you can see, there is probably more volunteer dill growing in it than there are strawberry plants. (Do note my happy spring garlic sprouting up along the left edge of the bed. I stuck those cloves everywhere.) At least I like dill. Though, as I mentioned the other day, I don't have a single cucumber plant in the ground yet. But that happens every year so I am used to it.
Okay, back to the berries. You may have read that I have a problem with voracious, strawberry-loving turtles coming from (what I am sure is) miles around to feast on my prized, luscious red bounty. Actually, it's usually luscious, half-red bounty, and that is part of the problem--the turtles don't care if the berries aren't quite ripe. It wouldn't be so bad if they just stole a berry or two, but no, they take a bite out of one, move on to the next and take a bite out of it, and the next, and just keep going until they are so stuffed they cannot move. Then they nap, digest, and wake up hungrier than ever.
Turtles are sly creatures, and I rarely catch them in the act. But I have on occasion, and that is how I know they are the culprits. (Although last year I came upon a red-mouthed, full grown possum plopped down in the middle of my strawberry bed during broad daylight. My mind still refuses to completely believe that experience.) Anyway, I think the turtles have gone one step further toward total occupation of my strawberry territory. Because, you see, last year I didn't do a single thing differently in that strawberry bed than I had done in previous years. There was absolutely no reason for that orchard grass to show up and take over like it did.
The other evening Joe and I were out in the garden and as we walked by the grassy strawberry bed, he made some comment, and I said "I bet there's a turtle hiding in that grass right now." I mean, my dog can lay in there unseen. And then it hit me. "I bet the turtles planted that grass so they'd have a place to hide!" Joe laughed and gave me that "Okay, honey, whatever you say" look. But really, think about it. Birds build entire complicated nests by carrying around bits of grass and twigs in their beaks. How hard would it have been for a turtle to pull out a hunk of orchard grass last summer, carry it in his mouth over to my strawberry bed, and shake the seeds around? Voila! Come spring--instant, shaded hiding place right next to the berry buffet.
I know. You are probably rolling your eyes and wondering if there is something strange in our water. Or that maybe I've been getting too much fresh air and sunshine, as I have obviously lost it. But that is the curse of the dedicated foodie gardener. We'll do anything to hold onto our harvest, and we'll make extraordinary excuses to explain things--even if it means losing our minds in the process. Or perhaps it's just me.
I did manage to nab and devour two fully ripened strawberries out in the garden this morning. They were absolutely divine, and I plan to enjoy many more--whatever it takes. (Oh my. I just caught myself about to let out an evil-sounding laugh.)
I grow alpine strawberries. I've never eaten a single one! -OR
reBlogged
to strawberries
on May 12, 2006, 5:56PM
Posted by farmgirl Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-05-13, 19:51:33
It's becoming increasingly clear that certain areas of my garden need a major transfusion of nutrients, so today I spent a couple hours working on my strawberry bed. These are Quinault strawberry plants that are two or three years old. I dug them all up (weeding as I went along) and put the strawberries aside. When the entire bed was empty, I dug in two big bags of steer manure. Then I divided and cleaned up the strawberry plants before replanting them. There are now over 30 plants in that bed, plus about another dozen in the bed by the roses, and at least two more dozen in two strawberry pots. These are everbearing strawberries, so there will never be a big harvest at one time, but with this many plants I will be able to reliably get a few each day until October or November. Hopefully, the manure will give them a good boost to start production.
I also put in four salvia starts that I got from the Merritt College plant sale a couple weeks ago. They may get too big for that spot and shade out some of the strawberries, but if they do, I can always move a few of the strawberries to another spot.
That long-awaited moment has arrived. We had watched. We had wondered. We had waited. Then they bloomed. They swelled. They ripened to red. They tempted us.
And then we ate.
These are the first strawberries we grew in our garden, and they tasted absolutely exquisite. At first, it was their fragrance that enveloped us. Then we bit slowly into their soft, sweet flesh -- still warm from the day's
It always tastes better when you've grown it yourself. -OR
reBlogged
to strawberries
on May 6, 2006, 8:08AM
Posted by Christa Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-05-06, 23:06:53
Realization Of The Day: It's time to start thinking about Turtle Deterrent Tactics. Since my older strawberry bed has turned into a sad, grass-clogged mess, I won't be getting much of a harvest this year. So I am extra determined to win the Battle Over MY Berries!
A few more garden notes hopefully up later.
NOTE: As you may have noticed, I usually post something here each day, but not at a set time (life on the farm). If you don't feel like checking in only to find that nothing new has sprouted, I invite you to subscribe to In My Kitchen Garden.com. You will then receive a daily email that includes all recent posts. You can read the emailed posts (they even include any links I've put in to the text), or you can click on links in the email that will bring you here (where you will be able to leave/read comments). To sign up, simply enter your email address in the box at the top right of this page.
Turtles? That's not something I have to contend with! -OR
reBlogged
to strawberries pests
on May 6, 2006, 2:18PM
You're standing in the produce department, checking out the displays of fruit. The little baskets of strawberries catch your eye. Hmm, a strawberry shortcake would be nice for dessert, and tomorrow you could slice a few berries over your granola.
Nice thoughts; bad idea.
Why? Let's first get out of the cereal bowl and look at the big picture.
If you are concerned about oil prices and global warming, consider this: It takes 400 calories of fossil fuels to transport a single 5-calorie strawberry from California to East Coast supermarkets. What's more, that bright red, but flavorless strawberry was probably grown with methyl bromide, a carcinogenic and ozone depleting pesticide. [Reported by the Organic Consumers Association]
Still considering strawberry shortcake? Here are a few more things to think about when you're at the grocery store:
Most of my strawberries and tomatoes are in the ground, but I wanted to try some in hanging baskets for fun and to see if they're less affected by pests and diseases. I had some old wire baskets lying around that seemed like they'd be big enough. . .
These are great!
reBlogged
to containers tomatoes strawberries
on Apr 27, 2006, 10:30PM
Our strawberries are coming along nicely. The rain we had yesterday and today will be great for them.
On Thursday, I saw one of my gardening neighbors, Brad, who has the plot to the west of ours. He's growing sorrel, garlic, and blueberries. He said his wife really likes sorrel and, since it cooks down quite a bit, he planted lots of it.
In his plot, he has a big bale of straw that he's been
YUM! Strawberries! I grow them too.
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-04-23, 17:09:13
We've got blossoms on our strawberry plants! Look in close. There's a berry in the making.
Since this is our first year with the strawberry plants, I did a bit of reading about the kind of care they need. BackyardGardener says that when new strawberry plants get their first flowers, "you have to make a major policy decision." (Oh no. Policy decisions.)
"First-year flowers on maiden plants will
I noticed yesterday that my strawberries are blooming
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-04-13, 09:44:55
Realization Of The Day: I actually have more strawberry plants in the new bed than I previously thought. The few that survived sent out runners, and I found tiny plants hiding under the weeds. Now they are all nicely mulched with dry barn hay full of sheep manure (love that stuff--have six raised beds covered with it already), and the real count is 14 plants. They only fill about 1/3 of the bed (right now the rest has been taken over by tiny volunteer dill seedlings), so I guess I will not pinch back runners and just let them spread. That means no berries this year, but it will be worth it. I think. . .
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-04-11, 17:50:31
well, at least a strawberry bed with ever bearers, Seascape in particular.
Ever bearers will produce berries throughtout the growing season, rather then in one or two harvests, which I thought would be best for my home garden. We can just pick and enjoy them every day! I like to put up some jam every year, but I can get those by the flat from my local farmers market, organic too.
This is how the strawberries arrived in the mail, they are bare root.
To plant, you dig a trench on both sides of your row, placing the root ball on top, in between the trenches, with the roots drapping down into each trench, then fill the trenches to cover the roots with soil.
Plant them 12" apart so the leaves of each plant will just barely touch at full size, and create a living mulch over the soil.
I planted these on February 12, they started to flower by March 20, but I picked off the first set of blooms to encourage more green growth, some are just starting to flower again.
Strawberries don't need staking/support. I am only trying to deter the chickens from kicking around in that bed. The copper barrier around my beds will keep the snails out.
Looks yummy!
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to strawberries on 2006-04-07, 17:20:07
As early spring forges ahead in spite of it not really being early spring yet...
I have big pink blooms on my Angel Trumpet. One of the little strawberry plants has already opened a bloom (which I have dutifully snipped to promote plant growth vs. fruit growth this year, as you're supposed to do with first year strawberries). I was going to bring it inside and take pictures but it had ants crawling on it. No thanks....
How are YOUR strawberries doing?
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to spring, strawberries on 2006-01-28, 17:50:08
You're standing in the produce department, checking out the displays of fruit. The little baskets of strawberries catch your eye. Hmm, a strawberry shortcake would be nice for dessert, and tomorrow you could slice a few berries over your granola.
