North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark or Helen Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>]

Any ideas  on the best time to mulch strawberries?  We've had a strawberry
patch for three years now and never winter mulched.  This year I'm trying to
do things right.  Jim's mentioned he's had good results with pine needles as
mulch so I thought I'd give them a try.  I've been able to aquire bags of
needles but don't know when to put them on.  How much should the plants die
back before I cover them?  (So far the plants' foliage is as green as ever,
we've only had lows of 30F.  And trees are losing their leaves but not fully
dormant.)  Also after covering up the plants, do you have to remove the
mulch in the springtime, or will the strawberry plants push up through the
mulch pack?

Thanks,
Mark Angermayer
Zone 5 Kansas