The (Accidental) Strawberry
21 April 2012, by gj
the new (by accident) strawberry bed
Strawberries, which aren’t actually berries at all (but that’s getting technical) can reproduce in two main ways:
1. A berry, which is covered with around 200 seeds, falls to the ground and the seeds germinate. Often birds will eat berries, and drop those seeds right where someone doesn’t want them. This happens a lot around here with wild raspberries (but that’s another story.)
2. When done flowering and producing, a strawberry will send out a runner with another small plant.
3. (I know I know…I said ‘two ways’.) Strawberry plants can also be encouraged to form more than one ‘crown’, which then can be divided into more than one plant (but that’s a topic for another post.)
free plants (from the pathway)
Now I’ve mentioned (I think I have?) that Mandolin is building some new raised beds.
I think I might be using the word ‘awesome’ when he’s done (we’ll see, but so far it’s looking that way.)
Now he goes by the old adage “Measure twice, cut once” and he did, but his measurement was incorrect (he subtracted when he should have added) and was left with 4 sides that fit each other perfectly, but were incorrect (a long story, but trust me- it was more than aesthetics.)
And I ended up with an unexpected new bed.
I also knew there were strawberry plants growing in the (needs to be weeded) pathway outside the current strawberry bed (I know, because like any gardening maniac would, I was carefully NOT stepping on them.)
So after properly filling the bed with the right combination of soil and amendments, I (carefully) removed the (flowering, in some cases) strawberry plants from the (needs to be weeded as I said) pathway, and (really carefully) transplanted them in the (new and accidental) strawberry bed.
(Oddly and coincidentally) the bed could hold 25 (recently transplanted from the (still needs to be weeded) pathway) and there were (exactly, no kidding) 26 plants in the (let’s not get into this again) pathway.
I see berries (in my future)
So I figured there were just enough plants (with one for good luck) after all (because I couldn’t leave one to sit in the (still needs to be weeded, I know- I’ll get to it eventually) pathway).
More on Growing Strawberries (with recipe links)
Categories: strawberries
