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["Gloria Morris" <gloriamorris59 AT gmail.com>]

Bev, this is too funny! I'd been thinking about building a pentagon
strawberry bed also, for many of the same reasons as you stated for
building a pentagram bed (except I'm not an astronomer). The pentagon
is at the heart of the pentagram, and it would be much easier to build
and maintain a pentagon as opposed to a pentagram. I'd been thinking
about using blocks to build it, but your experience gives me pause.
There's no risk of scorpions where I live, but still ... I'm going to
re-think the concept. Perhaps I could do something similar with
another material. I'm eyeing a spot in the front yard of my new house,
so I want it to be an attractive bed, not just functional -
strawberries are beautiful plants, and I would love to highlight them
in my landscape. Anyone want to throw in their two cents?

Gloria

On 12/28/06, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Years ago, I build a oval shaped, tiered strawberry bed out of
> dry-stacked rocks.  While it was pretty, I should have mortared them in
> place because it did not last.  Furthermore the rocks became a haven for
> ants and scorpions and black widows, so picking strawberries became a
> dangerous activity.  Moles loved it, too.  I liked the oval on oval
> okay, but now I am looking at other options for a new bed.  Most of the
> tiered beds you buy are concentric circles of 6,4 and 2 feet in
> diameter.  They say you can put 50 plants in them.  I have strips of
> metal siding left over from my raised bed project that are 8-10 inches
> wide and 20 feet long.  Obviously, I can make a circle about 6 feet in
> diameter, and since I have 3 strips (60 feet total at present), I can
> make a 3 tiered concentric ring bed.  The problem is, for me,
> aesthetics.  I just can't get excited about a round bed.  I was thinking
> triangles, and played around with tiering triangles and alternating them
> like a hexagram.  I think equilateral triangles are cool, plus since we
> are amateur astronomers, a hexagram seems to fit with EarthNSky.  I like
> it's multi-religion symbolism as well.  It would leave a large area in
> the center, and since I want multiple tiers and a hexagram alone would
> only give me one height, I suppose I could put a circle in the center to
> add an additional tier.  That, too, would reflect the Earth part of
> EarthNSky.  It wouldn't, however, be the easiest thing to construct, and
> I haven't calculated the growing space yet.  Stacked equilateral
> triangles would be easier.
> Using the metal siding pretty much rules out ovals.  It would be
> difficult to have the oval maintain its shape, I think.
> What say ye about these options?  What should I do?  I really want
> height, 3 tiers, and I want to be able to easily reach the center, like
> I would be able to do with the 6 ft diameter round bed.  Suggestions?
>
> Bev
> --
> Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
> ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.
>
>
>
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