strawberries

our seedlings seem to be germinating already. last year we had a little trouble and several days of panic. new technology aside, we have been able to keep the seedlings warmer since they are only two trays and easily live next to the wood stove at night.


today was a big day. in the morning i cut a cedar tree deep in the woods. tabitha and i hauled the four large logs up to the upper yard. a new strawberry bed was on the agenda. cedar log raised beds are the right price especially since we are on a very strict budget.

we needed to divide the strawberries so they would be very productive and while we were discarding all those beautiful plants we decided to add another strawberry bed. that meant dragging a few logs from the woods, digging some new soil from the old chicken coop and digging up all the strawberries.


there was the better part of a yard of dirt involved.


i had to trim down this bed since it was too wide to manage from the edges.


tristan was pole vaulting with a tiny stick.


this is the new strawberry bed. the soil in this area is nearly barren.

a raised bed is a necessity.

i made this rock screen the first year we were here. it is made from an old house fan grille. it worked so well that i am committed to rebuilding it since the cedar posts seem to have nearly given out.


it was designed to discharge the rocks into a bucket but today we just wanted them separate from our dirt. rocks ended up on the grassy path.


toly and tabitha sorting crowns. i get so much pleasure seeing my kids learn like this.

all this work will pay off in a few months.

strawberry fields forever...

i added some nitrogen charged charcoal to these beds. my first true attempt at creating tierra pietra. i muse at the glorious unscientific experiment of tierra pietra. strangely it was also the ancient aztecs that invented the soil block technology which we are investigating.



this evening i am sore and tired. this is the fruits of our labors for today.
in a few months these will be lush strawberry plants making tons of fruit. the kids are already very excited.