Strawberries in!

Well, they were a day later then expected and we had light rain earlier in the day. I've had a SUPER busy week and wasn't sure I would have time to actually get them in since they didn't come when planned for.

I spent 3 hours and a lot of back pain to get these puppies in. I have 50 strawberry plants now though. I chose to go with Everbearing varieties as they will give me continuous berries through the growing season. A spurt in Spring, Summer and Fall. I was told to pull the blooms from the first part of the season so they develop their roots and not the fruit (which would probably not be the best harvest). I was also told to just pluck some blooms off and cut their production in half the first time to get a small harvest, but a harvest none the less! So that is what I plan on doing.

You can see each planting is different. In the first bed I did 3 rows 12" apart, and all the plants are 8-12" apart in those rows. This gives them room to move and send out runners later in the season. (This variety does not get as many runners as does June bearing berries.) The second bed has them in mounds 12" apart. This second bed is for the birds and wildlife by the pond.

In the second bed you will also notice the 12 irises coming up. Hopefully they will do well in a raised bed. They are my first attempt at Irises too.

Sorry my 3 tiered bed is only half full of dirt. I ran out, but will try to finish filling it on Sunday. Depends if I have time as I have a lot of running around to do on Saturday, and the landscaping place is not open on Sunday.