Sweet strawberries in mind……

So my Easter Monday was really busy doing my seedlings and transplants in the greenhouse due to the ever changing weather, but today was a whole new ball game! The weather at least was on my side, but for how long, I wasn’t sure. Today’s itinerary mainly consisted of getting my strawberries in check.

At my allotment plot I have 3 beds of equal size at the front of the site. One of these has my established strawberry bed that was set up last year. These have only produced fruit for one year so far.  The runners from these plants last season were transplanted temporarily into my enamel bath on site just to give them a head start with establishing the roots until the new bed 2 was ready for them.

Bed 1 was looking very shabby and needed a facelift while bed 2 needed to be prepared and planted up with the runners from last year. I left bed 1 in a mess last year so that the added leaves would provide some sort of winter protection for the crowns and it seems to have done the trick. Most of the plants looked really healthy, albeit a little sorry for themselves after the clear up. I must admit the plants look so much better after a quick haircut and a tidy up. I also gave them a very quick liquid fertiliser feed that consisted of a little bit of liquid manure added to a watering can just to give them a quick boost.

My next job was to prepare bed 2 for the new plants and staple the membrane that covers the ground and cut new holes for the plants. My plan is to only keep original strawberry plants for a maximum of 3 years then replace with the runners from the younger, more healthy plants.

I also have lots of strawberries at home. Can you tell that they are one of our favourite fruits! This warm break in the weather encouraged me to tidy up my pots and troughs at home as well.

As I was leaving the allotment I noticed that there were two old metal shelving units that had been discarded. I had a quick glance around an quickly whipped them away in the boot of my car! Once safely at home, I laid the shelves with coir matting that was surplus for my hanging baskets and added a layer of black plastic to help retain the water. I then replanted the strawberry plants that I had in some pots at home and I must admit that they look pretty good. I had to convince my Hubbie that they would look so much better in the next few months when the plants start to cascade down.

The womble in me lives on!

Now though, I’m all strawberried out. Just need to start saving some jars ready for my jam making escapades 😊

Happy diggin’
Debb