Two summers ago, when we first moved into our new house, I planted three strawberry plants. They didn’t grow much, so by the end of the summer, I moved one. The one I moved grew, taking over our herb garden. So last year, I clipped a bunch of the runners and moved them to our side yard, where they established themselves quickly.
This spring, our strawberry plants have been growing like crazy. How crazy? Well, here’s today’s haul:
That’s been an average haul over the past week (plus a few days). One thing we’ve learned is that we have to eat them pretty quickly- these don’t last as long as the store-bought ones. But that’s not a problem for The Civee, Hope and myself (especially Hope). The most surprising thing is that Hope can be patient with the strawberries- she won’t pick them unless The Civee or I says she can and (even though she constantly asks) she waits until they’ve been washed off before eating them.
This year, I also started a box garden and planted peppers, green beans, broccoli, spinach and beets. But those won’t be ready for harvest for another few months. I’m glad our strawberries are working out. It’s rewarding to eat something you’ve grown yourself.
The other day, I was reading all about how to grow strawberries. The experts recommended doing a bunch of things that I haven’t done, like thinning the plants out, mowing the plants in the fall and putting mulch over them in the winter. I’m inspired to try some of that out later this year. Who knows? All that extra work could make what we picked today look like nothing.
Those are some good looking strawberries!!!! I don’t know whether I would be as patient and wait till they are washed!
I have to say, I really enjoy picking strawberries and gardening is typically Tom’s domain. It’s amazing to see how much they’ve grown just overnight and the bright red strawberries really pop out demanding cheerfulness. Usually it’s the first thing Hope talks about when she wakes up from her nap. Once we go outside she’s happy to carry the container and then she gets distracted pretty quickly.
Tom has done a great job and his enthusiasm for plants and things outside has transferred over to our littlest gardner. I’m not always the most supportive farmer’s wife so I do want to publicly say, thanks for all your efforts, Tom.
Anyone in Awesometown is welcome to come by and picks some.