Berry Patch

I'm a big fan of strawberries!  I never have enough to put up for winter because I eat them all right away.  Last year I had a very nice, but small berry patch in front of the house.  I had to have a french drain put in on an emergency basis last year because my house started to subside and things were breaking.  


The gruff and grumbly dirt haulers that came and dug trenches around my house for this project dug up a lot of plants in the process, and spread clay over a lot of otherwise wonderful garden soil.  This spring is getting me very frustrated in undoing what they did, and in finding new evidence of destruction.  So, yeah, that berry patch is gone.

So getting back to the energy of creation, I've planted 25 Ft. Larimer ever bearing strawberry plants in the plot by my shed.  This plot also has my currants growing there, which means I'll have a lovely berry patch by the end of this year.


The nice thing about strawberries is that they are so low growing and undemanding.  If I choose to add more berry bushes in time, I can certainly insert one amongst them all.  


I also planted a dwarf "carmine jewel" cherry tree at the back path on the edge of my neighbor's lawn.  It marks the new grave of my sweety kitty little-one who shared life with me for 12 years.  This little tree is actually only about 5 inches tall right now, and the leaves are so shiny!  I'm so excited for the fruit, but it will be a year or two.


My apple and pear tree have done nicely through their first winter, the apple is so strong it found it's way out of the training ropes!  I'm training these trees to a trellis to make them espaliered.  The pear is doing quite well with it, and I imagine the apple will too, once I can contain it.  I chose the varieties for how well they keep in storage, and I plan to store those in the basement hatch stairwell in the winters as that temperature is perfect for apples and pears.


If I don't have a fruit surplus this year, certainly I will next year.  I'm so excited for it!