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["Lynn Wigglesworth" <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

> I've never successfully forced anything, but I've only tried with things
> like daffodils, tulips and poinsettias.  It was my understanding that
> forcing shortens the life span of the plant-not true?  Are they buying
> strawberry plants to force or propagating them?
>
> B

They didn't say, but they had a big bed of outdoor strawberries, so I assume 
they propagated them (I'm rooting runners in  pots to force next spring). 
They did say that asparagus crowns took 4 years to get to forcing size, and 
were "tossed out" after they were forced. You'd think they could be rested 
for a year then brought back into production, but maybe it was more 
efficient to have an endless supply of new ones for forcing. Personally, I'd 
stick them back in the ground and nurse them back to productivity.

I  can't stand throwing anything out...I'm even finding places to plant the 
last, bottom-of-the-barrel, never thrived, pathetic-looking tomato plants 
from the many that I started. They will never amount to  much, and I already 
have more tomatoes planted than I need, but I never throw anything away 
(that's a mental illness, isn't it?).

Lynn Wigglesworth
Tioga Co. PA