Strawberry season, part two

As the garden is only producing nibble quantities of strawberries today we went to the pick your own fruit farm at Wymeswold.

Prices and a field of strawberry plants.

Many of the strawberries were not quite ripe, but we came home with a nice basketful (about 1.6kg after chopping the stalks off for £6.56- bargain!). The raspberries were not ripe yet so we came home without any.

Amusingly shaped strawberries for your entertainment.

The berries have been prepped for their various destinies, but more on that tomorrow.

Strawberry season, part one

I love strawberry season, but unfortunately the plants in the garden have been a little reluctant this year. I suspect this is my fault as I decided to dig them out of the ground and move them to a planter type arrange,ent. Unfortunately the weekend I did this it was hot and dry and they looked sad for a few weeks.

Mostly they are just producing a berry here and there suitable for swiping and munching as you walk past. After a few days of no swiping I managed to gather this lot last night:



Almost enough there to use the word crop, as long as it is in very tiny letters, like these- crop.

In the autumn I will have to make a decision on replacing the plants. I hate to dig up anything that is growing well, but they are a few years old (aparently general garden wisdom says they only do three to four years) and it would be nice to try some other varieties.

When the weather perks up it will be off to the nearby pick your own at Wymeswold for the annual "pick more strawberries than you actually know what to do with" afternoon.

In the garden

Like much of the country I have been enjoying the wonderful weather. It has been a great opportunity for some gardening.

The seedlings have been moved out from the sunny windowsill where they were started...

to the mini greenhouse.

The strawberries have been moved from the ground into a strawberry tower. This should really have been done earlier in the year and they are looking a little sad in this photo, they should soon perk back up though.

The fruit should be much better as it is lifted away from the ground and the bugs that steal it!

Other jobs have been mowing the lawn, preparing beds with some compost and getting a hanging basket ready (pictures to come in the next post).

Two new mini fruit trees have also been bought so hopefully this year there will be a few homegrown peaches and cherries- delicious!