Getting Ready for the New Strawberry Season

Last year I planted the first set of June bearing strawberry plants and since it was the first year I wasn't going to get anything from my plants.  Today I removed all the straw from the plants and found that all of them had survived the harsh winter.  Now that they have survived there is a good chance that this season they will begin to produce the fruit and berries that I am looking forward to consume.  Some weeding was done today as well and wanted to just loosen the soil for some air circulation to the roots.

Most of my plants indoors have been getting enough sun to grow, but not enough for successful flower production.  I decided to place most of them outside especially my alyssum, dill, tomatoes, and rhubarb.  They need as much sun as possible and by putting them outside I am also getting them used to the weather and preparing to harden them off.  This is the process of getting them acclimated to the elements that they will find outside once I place them in the garden for good.

Here is my rhubarb plant that I purchased this season.  I have two of them, but this one was the first to get some leaves and the other is getting leaves, but a little bit slower than this one. I plan to put them in the ground once the roots start pushing through the peat pot.  Right now there is just one root that happened to show itself through the pot recently.

Setting My Strawberry Plants in the Garden

It is that time of the season when I need to start planting my strawberry plants.  Normally I would not plant them every year, but this year I wanted to grow a different type of strawberry plant.  I decided on  going for Junebearing plants in order to get strawberries in the beginning of summer.

 I also fitted three more totes to host onion bulbs over the spring and part of summer.  I wanted to grow more onions, but instead of planting them in the ground I wanted to use totes.  Last week I added three more totes to the garden which will grow onions only.

Tilling a New Spot for Strawberry Plants

I decided that yesterday was warm enough to get some tilling done for the upcoming spring months and harvest.  I am looking to plant some seeds of spinach, radishes, celery, peas, and potatoes.  I also have been growing lettuce plants indoors this season to transplant them in the garden when the weather is a little bit warmer.  Right now the temperature is still below freezing which these plants don't tolerate well.

This is where I plan on putting my spring plants and seeds for this year.  This should be enough room to plant all of them.









I also found a perfect spot for my strawberry plants this year.  My onions that were grown in the garden the past couple of years is where I am going to put my new strawberry plants.  It is a big enough area where I will have enough room to put my strawberries and even more if I wanted to add more plants to this section.

I hope to put my strawberry plants in the garden very soon since they have been sitting in a bucket of water for a couple of weeks.  I have been putting them outside in order to harden them off, but I want to see some consistent warm weather before planting them.

Sprouts, Digging, and Soaking

Kind of an odd title, but that is what I have been doing this afternoon.  I am seeing sprouts coming from my alyssum and wildflowers only.  I am hoping that I will begin to see dill sprouting any day now.  I did plant them later than my alyssum and wildflower seeds, so I do still have some time before they sprout.

It was also time for digging now that I have my potatoes and need to get them into the soil as soon as possible.  I am looking to put them in the ground tomorrow all dependent on the weather conditions and temperature.  Although my potatoes may be safe in the ground covered by soil I still would like to plant them on a good sunny day.

Along with digging I did some soaking with my strawberry plants.  It is important to soak your plants in water before putting them outside in the ground.  They need to soak in water in order to get out of their dormant state.  This allows the plant to absorb water and get ready to grow once you put them outside in the garden.