Strawberries on the Horizon

Our strawberry plants are blossoming, and the weather is right for getting my beds in order.  My patch is overgrown, and in need of sorting out.  I plan on thinning them out and adding a row to the left this fall, after their crop is fully done.

In the mean time, grass is starting to overtake the bed.  We have 2 major weapons to fight the weeds this year.  One is wood chips, and the other is compost.  The wood chips were gathered on the roadside, where a local construction company was chopping down some trees and chopping them into little pieces, and offered them to anyone who wanted them.  I’ve been wanting to fill my strawberry bed with wood chips for a few years, but they can get pricey if you don’t have easy access to them.  We got at least a pickup load full, so I plan to use a bunch in the strawberries, and a bunch for chicken coop bedding for this year.  Lots of newspaper was laid down under these wood chips as well.

After 3 mornings of work, pacing myself so that I don’t awaken my injury anymore, I finally got the top, right and bottom part of this bed done, and a few in-between rows.  The left side and left middle still needs some work, and hopefully I’ll get that done this morning.  The last time I organized this bed it only had 3 rows.  That’s how much the strawberries have spread in the last 2 years.

Obviously, de-grassing the raspberry bushes are next on the list.

The compost, which I’m currently working on putting around the bases of my tomato plants, is coming from our compost pile that we have been feeding the last 3 years or so.  This is where we dump all the chicken bedding (wood chips filled with chicken poop) as well as all of our kitchen scraps.  This has been decomposing altogether for the last 3 years, and we’ve been wondering for awhile if it was fine to use yet.  Knut’s manure book suggested waiting 6 months to a year to use it, so we figured since we’ve waited 3 years on this pile it should be fine to use.

Miracle-Gro has nothing on this stuff.  Seriously, it’s dark black and so full of nutrients that whatever plant I have been using it with looks healthier by the next day.  I’ve been putting it on my potted plants and it looks like flowers on steroids.  My plan is to bring wheelbarrow-fulls out to all of the vegetables, and use in-between the rows, as well as the bases of the plants.  Not only will this smother all of the weeds, but it will filter through nutrients that the plants need.

I’m taking my gifting (killing houseplants) and taking that knowledge and applying it to the weeds.  My mother always told me that weeds aren’t bad.  They’re just plants growing in the wrong spot.  I love grass…just not in my vegetable garden.  So I’m doing everything to it that I know grass hates.  When I realized that my ability to kill plants might actually be useful in the garden, I have a whole new outlook.

I’m pulling the weeds up, or at least cutting it down to the ground.  I’m covering it with newspaper and either wood chips or compost (depending on the area, since I have more compost at my disposal than wood chips).  I’m taking away every hope of reaching the sun, basically, and letting only the plants I want to see the light.  At least, that’s how this theory goes.  The hard part is actually covering it all up.  That may take me a few weeks to finish yet.  I move slowly.

As you can see, I have my work cut out for me.  Weeds are already starting to take over.  Right now I’m just focusing on the strawberries.  My goal is to get a minimum of 4 wheelbarrow full loads out to the garden each morning, of either wood chips or compost.  Lately it’s been 3 loads of wood chips on the strawberries, and 1 load of compost on some other crop that is starting to get tall enough for this type of treatment without getting smothered.  So far I have a few tomato plants, and half of the peas covered.

The kids have been helping some, and playing some.  I lay Ingrid down for her morning nap, and then require the older 4 to come outside and play while I’m out there.  I’m so pleased how well morning naps have gone for Ingrid since I have started this.  Apparently it’s easier to sleep when your loud older siblings are out of earshot.  That has been a huge help.  Silje doesn’t like being in the garden as much, because we have the occasional bees, and she has been stung twice in the past, with a moderate reaction.  She’s more than willing to play with the little girls while we are all outside, though, so that’s helpful too.

It’s been good for all of us.  I’m wearing a straw hat when I’m in the garden, and the kids prefer to play in the shade.  I’m getting a bit too much sun on my shoulders, so I’m going to have to be more careful now.  Around 11am every morning, I come inside, drink a large cup of water, slather some aloe vera on my shoulders, and some hand salve on my hands forming blisters and calluses, and lavender oil on my bug bites.  I feel so alive, and high on Vitamin D.  It’s just been fabulous.

Even though I feel like I’ll never catch up to the weeds (and I won’t) I’m excited about having so much rich compost this year, and all these free wood chips.  I feel like if I just keep at it, I might have a chance.  It’s a small chance, but it gives me reason to hope.  Who knows?  Maybe I won’t burn out on the garden this year.  Maybe I’ll make it past August for the first time.