Strawberries
The latest issue of Pomona has an article about strawberries
that was interesting. The author (Kevin Mathews) attacked the
conventional wisdom that strawberry beds are only good for a
few years and then need replanting. His are now six years old
and mine are going on five years.
Eventually the article concludes that there may be three
factors which led to conventional beliefs:
1. Disease builds up in large mono-cropped farms
2. Plants seem to loose vigor
3. Plants become crowded.
So... if we spread our strawberries out a little, restore the
vigor with a little mulch, and clean away rotting leaves will
that solve all the problems? I think so. This translates into
something like this:
1. plant berries at least 12 inches apart and better yet
spread around the garden.
2. Mulch each spring with compost.
3. remove old leaves and clean up plants after harvest.
These steps are different from the ones Kevin recommended (easier)
and they have worked for us. In any case the steps are not
as important as understanding "why" and adapting the process
to each site.
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Jeff Owens ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Zone 7, http://www.teleport.com/~kowens
Underground house, solar energy, reduced consumption, no TV
