The Trusty Gardener-Planting Strawberries

I’ve Been Wanting to Grow Them For Years

Welcome back fellow gardeners. Growing strawberries has been on my gardening bucket list for years. I remember my Dad tinkering with them back in the 1970s. They can be finicky and of course there is always the challenge of keeping them covered. They will not go unnoticed by the birds and other creatures. So I finally took the plunge last season. This year they wintered well and it is looking like I will have a bumper crop.

Last May, one day my wife surprised me with some strawberry plants. It was a great surprise. However, I had a big decision. Where do I plant them?

Enter the old swing set in the back corner of my lawn. Sitting there. My kids are 28 and 35. Quite the eyesore. Time to tear it down. It was the perfect place for a strawberry bed. Well almost perfect. It receives sun until at least 3 PM so pretty good actually.

So I came up with a design for a 3 tiered bed. I didn’t use pressure treated lumber except for the posts to minimize any chemicals that may be in treated wood. I did end up staining the boards this year but just the outside edges of the boards.

All except for one of plants is the Allstar June-bearing variety. June-bearing is self explanatory, meaning the plants produce one main crop each year in June. According to Bonnie Plants:

Allstar produces high yields of very large, sweet, extra juicy berries in late mid-season, which is usually late spring and early summer, depending on when summer arrives in your area. As a June-bearer, the harvest season is concentrated over a few weeks, making it a good choice if you want to freeze or cook with a lot of berries at one time. Vigorous plants are resistant to verticillium wilt and red stele, and moderately resistant to leaf scorch and powdery mildew. Plant so that crown is just above soil level.

I also have one plant that is ever bearing, however, I lost the tag so I’m not sure of the variety. This type bears berries for a longer period of time.

For winter, I mulched the plants with straw which seemed to work very well. Most of the plants survived. I removed the straw in late April. After that, we had a few cold nights, but I covered the plants to protect them.

I decided to use a tiered design, which makes it easier to plant (especially the raised sections). It also looks better. The plants have already blossomed and are setting fruit. It appears that I will get a really good crop. Time will tell. Stay tuned.