This blog post is written by our friend Andrew, who lives about 30km away from us in the Morvan Natural Park. Despite being relatively close to us, he has a slightly more extreme climate (certainly colder in the winter), and the setting of his garden is different, more shade and more orientation variability. We are often comparing and contrasting the success (or otherwise) of our various plants!
By Andrew.
The first frosts of winter and the gardening year is drawing to a close. It has been a busy time making winter preparations and I have been thinking about the passing of the seasons. Each has its character, its joys and its challenges, and as gardeners we have to be one step ahead to stay in tune with the annual rhythm of growth and decay.
There are few things in the garden that are as ‘seasonal’ as strawberries. The most delicious fruit, relatively easy to grow but with a notoriously short harvest period, even with the clever manipulation of different varieties and growing environments. I have never yet managed to produce the yields I need to make a reasonable supply of jam; the majority are eaten on the day of picking when they are at their very best. Like tomatoes, the shop-bought strawberry is nothing but disappointment compared to the freshly-picked home grown fruit! So I have been planning ahead to try and improve my crop for next year; I usually manage to produce a nice bowl-full for my wife’s birthday on 4th June, and the main picking season starts around mid-june.
My garden is a complicated mixture of different environments, ranging from a hot, dry south-facing lawn and flower garden to a perpetually shady, and marshy, wooded area. My vegetable and fruit growing mainly takes place in two areas, one on the south-side of the house which can be very hot, dry and quite windy and a zone made up entirely of raised beds behind the house on the west side, partially shaded by some large walnut trees, reasonably humid as it is close the small stream that runs along one of our borders but in full sun at the end of the afternoon.
To try and spread, or even prolong the strawberry season I decided this autumn to pull up all the plants and start again. I will retain the bed within the poly-tunnel, which has always provided the earliest fruit, as well as a bed along the east side of the polytunnel which had become very overgrown and unproductive. But in the ‘back’ garden I decided to create new 1.2 x 1.8m raised beds (my raised beds are quite small as they are usually made from dismantled pallet wood). Each of these beds was filled with home-produced compost and topped with cardboard through which the runners are planted. I have lost track of which varieties I have; my first 6 plants went in nearly 20 years ago and I have added various finds and donations.
I have come to realise that correct spacing of strawberry plants is vital for a good crop. As I pulled out runners to re-plant I noticed that they were all equally spaced, at about 30cm. If this how they naturally grow this must be the right spacing, I reckon. Which means overall far fewer plants than I have normally had, but in couple of seasons-time we will see if the results are better.
My son asked my what I was doing in the garden, I replied “planting strawberries”. “A bit early for that isn’t it?” he asked. I explained to him what I was doing and I realised that for me, preparation and planning from one season to another is what makes gardening all so worthwhile, and keeps me in balance with the ever-changing cycle of nature. And June is only 7 months away!
La Boutonniere 