Three hours of digging and planting gave me this unimpressive raised bed, but you should have seen it before! I was too ashamed to take before and after pictures as it was totally swamped with nettles! Now my strawberries have a lovely place to grow and produce lots of fruit! Sadly, the original strawberries were all strangled by weeds. This lot came from a garden center which is an expensive way of starting out, but the plants from the discount shop that I normally buy from, are usually weak and some simply give up and die straight off. There is of course the mail order option, which I've never tried for strawberries, but maybe this year I will. You can get some good deals and if the plants are healthy then it's worth a go. Beside the strawberries I plonked in some left over onions that had nowhere else to go! It's late, I know, but at least they won't go to waste and I could probably pickle them if they are too small.
Mabel was having a good go at helping with the weeding and this bed has just about been rescued from the weeds and just needs tidying and edging.
I think the problem is that I get so disheartened by the dock that pops up in the spring. The roots are deep and tough and this year I simply didn't have the time to battle it all. This year I'll get the beds dug and weeded and then cover them over with cardboard or newspaper to keep out the weed seeds. This worked perfectly when I did it before, but the grass mulch upset the nitrogen balance as it broke down and my potatoe crop failed. It's not rocket science, but to me it's as good as, haha!
8 comments:
I've had strawberries from Marshall's before and found them excellent - they still do Royal Sovereign which taste fabulous.
We seem to have the same timetable today. I have been ripping up weeds and laying down membrane. Cheating I know, but with all I have to do in the garden and all the guests we have been having, weeding daily is not happening...
It's so disheartening when the BIG weeds are so hard to eradicate and everything grows like crazy behind your back. I hope you can get some stuff in and plan for next year. I bet you slept well after clearing that lot though!
Small steps.... it'll get there! =)
We could use (and would love) a few 'Mabels' here to help out.
I'll take a look at Marshalls, Elizabeth, thanks :)
It's not cheating if it helps I guess, Jasmine :)
I'll do my best bb, but this year was just too hectic!
Kadeeae, I'll pop Mabel in the post if you like, haha!
3 hours of digging and planting? OMG you need a medal!!!
Hope you are feeling much better :O)
Hi Yarrow, your raised beds look good. We are taking on a new allotment and plan to use raised beds - hopefully they will be easier to maintain. Glad to hear that you are feeling better - us women have to be strong, but sometimes everything can get too much for us, so that is what friends are for - lending an ear to share your troubles and lighten your burden. Thinking of you, Pj x
More like a back support, Abi ;)
Thank you for the visit PJ, and good luck with the allotment :)
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