It's been a fun week sharing about strawberries. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as me! I thought I'd wrap up the week talking about strawberry plants in general and some facts you might not know about growing your own.
When talking with friends about their gardens, I often hear that they don't have much luck growing strawberry plants that produce many berries. Strawberries are actually plants that require quite a bit of attention.
First, there are many different varieties of strawberries to choose from, and it's important to base your choices off of your gardening zone, and when you want the plants to produce their berries. Make sure to research the best fit for your needs! Once you've planted your berries, don't expect to get a big crop the first year because the plants are just getting established. When the very first blossoms appear, pinch them off to give your plants the much needed energy they need. More blossoms will appear that first year and you'll get some berries, just not a lot. Another thing to watch for that first year is for runner plants. Make sure to pull those off so they don't pull energy from the original plants.
The second year of your plants should be the best production year. If you get runner plants, it's okay to allow one per parent plant, but no more. Feel free to remove any additional runner plants that begin to grow and replant them in a different patch. Here's why this is a good idea: strawberry plants really only have a life span of three years. You want to keep your plants as strong as you can for those three years. You can keep your plants around longer, hanging on for another year or two, but you will have very little production and the berries will be small. But if you keep on top of your runners, removing and replanting them, and removing the original plants after three years, you can ensure a steady stream of plants and berries for years to come.
In the fall of years one and two, clip your plants back and cover them with straw (avoid hay because it encourages weeds!). The straw keeps bug infestations away and protects your plants through the winter. In the spring, pull the straw off the plants and place it all around them to help keep weeds away. After year three has come to an end, remove and compost the three-year-old plants.
I hope that helps! Wishing you many years of sweet strawberries to come. Thanks for following along for strawberry week. It's really nice getting back into the swing of things again here on the blog after taking so many years off to focus on my family. When I dreamed of becoming a mom I never realized the challenges that could present themselves along the way. I had never been around babies myself, before becoming a mom so all of parenting was really learning as I went. And because of my non-traditional upbringing, I didn't have a lot to pull from based on examples set for me. I've learned and grown and have been humbled by the experience. It's a bittersweet time in our lives right now (Colin and mine) as we have just the youngest of our four boys left at home and he is going into his senior year of high school. There's a lot I want to share about what I've learned about Autism and Aspergers and will do it when the time is right. For now, I'm enjoying the little bits of extra time I find to be creative and soak in the last of this in-home time with our youngest son and the beauty of the bluff throughout the seasons.
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Between posts on my website, and all year long, I'm preparing for The Farm Chicks Vintage & Handmade Fair. You can read alI about it here. I also document my life on Instagram. You can follow along with me there.
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