Week 27

This week I am moving onto row 2. This row is made up of strawberries and raspberries. The strawberries were a donation from my aunt’s garden which had become over run with strawberries and from the look of it this year quack grass. I never had quack grass in that area of the garden till the strawberries moved in. When I got the strawberries in May they had been out of the ground and in a box for about 2 weeks. With a week of rain in the box I let them sit for another week in the mud hoping they would dry out a wee bit before I planted them. However, they never seemed to dry out and were even starting to bloom. So I decided to plant them. The good thing was that they loved their new home and were sending out runners like crazy. The bad thing was that about a week after planting them they stopped blooming and never produced one fruit.

For the 2012 garden the strawberry patch will stay where it is. I am going to have Mr. Pickles bring home some straw from the farm come spring to help keep the weeds down around them. I am also thinking of constructing some kind of fence with a wire top to keep out the birds. Another must for 2012 would be to not plant cucumbers next to the strawberries. That was a bad decision since they over took the berries in about a month!

The raspberries were a new addition to the garden last year as well. We just planted two plants one of red raspberries and one of yellow raspberries. Neither was well marked as to what kind they were simply red and yellow. Which is bit strange since we bought them at a greenhouse? But I digress; we were able to harvest about 5 berries this year. There were a few more red come September, but the frost got to them before I did.

For 2012 I need to stake them better and maybe buy a few more. I just hope they produce better cause I want the make some jam!

 

the 2nd row is strawberries and raspberries taken in june 2011