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  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost AT gilanet.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] strawberry planting
  • Date: Sat, 12 Feb 2005 20:08:15 -0700


I saw landscape fabric laid out on strawberry rows at the extension farm in
Alcalde, NM, and they're organic. No weeds. Of course they installed drip
irrigation to go with it. How economical or practical this is, I can't say.
But they used a smother crop in the blackberry rows, New Zealand white
clover. Going by the taste of the berries, I'd say both methods work.

paul tradingpost AT gilanet.com
http://largocreekfarms.com
http://medicinehill.net

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 2/12/2005 at 9:53 PM road's end farm wrote:

>On Feb 10, 2005, at 7:42 AM, mtlivestock wrote:
>
>> Didn't have time or $$$ to get a section of our pasture fenced and
>> ready for
>> strawberries. Could I do it this spring? If so, what would you
>> recommend
>> for killing off grass/weeds. I have not used any herbicides on this
>> pasture
>> since 1995. I would like to use a product okayed by organic methods,
>> but I
>> don't have a big budget.
>
>Grasses are a terrible weed problem in organic strawberries. Hate to
>say this, but if I were you I'd put the strawberries off for a year and
>plant a succession of smother crops in there this year, starting as
>early in the spring as you can: maybe an oats and field peas mix to
>start, then till that in and do a round or two of buckwheat in the
>summer, then maybe oats again in the fall (they'll winter kill, at
>least if you're in the North, and give you winter protection but
>relatively easy early spring tillage.)
>
>(A smother crop is a cover crop that comes up fast and thick and
>smothers out the weeds.)
>
>
>-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 5 mostly
>Fresh-market organic produce, small scale
>
>
>
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