Homestead mailing list

[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Sounds good, James, but lol, my first thought was DAMN that's a LOT of
strawberries!! :)
Another thing I thought about doing with the strips and this is again,
something I have always wanted to do, is to make a simple, walking
labyrynth in the garden.  I could actually use the strips and create
narrow, 10" tall raised beds to form the path's borders.  It could be as
simple as a large spiral...you walk and pick from both sides.  The lack
of height would eliminate watering problems, and I have plenty of flat
shale like stones to interestingly cover the walking path.

Bev

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:
> > Years ago, I build a oval shaped, tiered strawberry bed out of 
> > dry-stacked rocks.
>
> Not necessarily recommending this design, just including it for
> variety's sake:
>
> A tiered strawberry bed has no more planting surface than the same
> dimensions perfectly flat.  True, the plants can hang over a bit
> giving a bit more foliage area, but the actual planting area doesn't
> change.  The advantage, as  see it, besides the affective, is that it
> is easier to each the plants in an elevated center than the center of
> a flat bed.
>
> I've done the tiered beds and the one single disadvantage was water.
> The top tier could get bone dry in a hurry.  My design solution was
> to keep all the plants only slightly raised (or rather the paths
> slightly depressed) and make sure there was a good place to squat
> within easy reach of all the plants.
>
> The current strawberry bed is 16'x6 1/2'  and in the center of the
> bed are three great flat stones (about 28" square) level with the
> growing medium.  The berry grower need only reach 18" into the bed
> from the side and then step 3' onto one of the stones and every other
> plant is within 18".
>
> This winter I've expaned the patch by laying a 2' stone path all
> around it and then putting in a 2' strawberry bed all around that.
> On the very outside perimeter of the whole thing (now about 24'  x
> 14') I'm puttin in a wire fence augmented at the bottom with poultry
> wire.  Over the top go light frames strung with black fishing line
> through which birds just will not go and yet the frames are easily
> set aside when one want's to attend the patch.
>
> In good years that's way too many strawberries. but this is offset
> somewhat by the fact that the whole thing is planted in only day
> neutral plants which only set on a few berries at a time but produce
> continually until frost bits back the blossoms.  This year that was
> the second week in November. 
> _______________________________________________ Homestead list and
> subscription: http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/homestead 
> Change your homestead list member options: 
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/homestead/erthnsky%40bellsouth.net
>  View the archives at: https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/homestead

--
Bevanron of EarthNSky Farm   Sleep well tonight, for somewhere in the
ocean's depths, MY son is protecting YOUR freedom.