June 20, 2011

Strawberry Fields, but not forever!

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I love strawberries. I have always grown enough that I could actually get my fill of eating them and then begin to freeze the extras or make jam. I remember taking strawberries to a potluck in October which wowed everyone. My memories of these good years has come to haunt me.

Even though I weed and fertilize and water, recent crops have been poor. I went out these last two days and weeded and picked berries. Most of the berries were small and not very sweet and I began to realize the bed was long overdue for replanting. Strawberries have declining yields after two years and I had conveniently forgotten how long ago I had planted the berries. So after the June harvest is over, I'm going to till the bed under and I think I will place the new bed in the perinneal garden away from the fence so that the grass from the lawn will not be a constant problem trying to creep into the stawberries. I'll use raised beds with lots of fertilizer and I bet next year I'll have bumper crop!

At Everbearing Strawberries