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Strawberries and Other Things

Square Foot Gardening List - http://www.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

I am glad to see the list getting back to gardening!  Please, friends, 
try to keep these little wars off the list. Express your anger in 
private e-mails. Gardening is supposed to be a non-sectarian, 
non-political sorta thing, though I suppose there are the 
organic/chemical gardening tiffs, and things like that......

STRAWBERRIES: I got into Square Footing when I saw Mel's program on the 
Discovery Channel a number of years ago. One of the things I saw
him do was build a strawberry tower/pyramid. The biggest box was 4x4.
Tiered within it were a 3x3, a 2x2 and a 1x1 foot box.The plants were 
planted 12 inches apart. 

I tried something like this in my garden and it worked fairly well.
Later I bought a round version of the tiered planter (made of aluminum 
or some such) from one of the gardening catalogs. I used it until 95 
when I had my daughter and had someone clear and rototill my plot, at 
which time I reworked the whole plot.

I now have my berries in a long bed that is roughly 2x18. I planted the 
berries last year and they did not fruit, but they seem to be growing 
nicely and spreading this year, so I expect to have berries!
In the bare spaces between plants I tucked in flowers--"Teddy Bear" 
sunflowers, zinnias and some gladiola bulbs and they did nicely, so I 
plan to do the same this year.

I also have Alpine strawberries in a low round planter in my back yard. 
They grew well but did not fruit much because they needed a lot more 
water than I gave them last summer!

If you are really into strawberries go to 
"www.jamm.com/strawberry/facts.html" for a fun and informative page.


About me:  I grew up in the Bronx and did not have a garden, but the New 
York Botanical Gardens had a great kids gardening program, and for 
several years I happily spent Saturdays getting filthy and coming home 
with bags of luscious veggies. I also did a lot of "windowsill 
gardening"  
           When I moved to Alexandria, VA 10 years ago I was able to get 
a community garden plot and have been working it ever since. I found out 
about the Square Foot method and have used it a great deal.
           My plot is about 18x18. I have been keeping black plastic 
down on the paths and though the authorities made me remove them for the 
winter, the paths stayed weed free!  I have 4  5x4 beds, plus foot wide 
trenches around the edges for tomatoes  (and I may put in some raspberry 
bushes on one side) and the long bed for strawberries and flowers. One 
of the beds is mostly herbs plus a 3X3 space for zucchini. I grow the 
tomatoes up strings attached to PVC piping placed about every 2 feet 
with long pipes across the top forming it into one solid trellis.
 Right now I have peas in peat pots started on my backyard table and am 
planning on trying some cukes and tomatoes in containers this summer.I 
am expecting my second child at the end of May, so I am trying to get 
things all set up NOW! People think I'm crazy,but one of the highlights 
of my spring and summer are raw peas, small, tender zucchini and 
TOMATOES. Not to mention that I always find working my garden one of the 
most satisfying things I can do. And no one ever turns down the fresh 
produce I take to work. Some of it gets turned into Christmas 
gifts--last year I pickled green cherry tomatoes and made spice mixes 
from my herbs and hot peppers. To me, it would be hard to be a vegetable 
gardener and not enjoy cooking--though a lot of my produce gets eaten 
right at the site!

Sorry for the long post, I have been lurking mostly and will probably go 
back to doing so for a while.........

Hope your gardening weather is as good as mine. Now if I can just find a 
way to get out to the garden--and without my four year old!

Happy Easter, Passover and Spring!

Lisa Springer
lspringer61@hotmail.com
Alexandria, VA.  (Zone 7)
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