The Renegade Strawberry Blossom

I will be tickled pink if I get a strawberry out of this!

Work Party

Lots of gardeners came out for the first garden gathering/work party of the season. I weeded the long, outer bed (by the sidewalk) and thinned out the lemon balm. We collected a good bit of brown material (mostly dried leaves) to layer into new compost. Other gardeners mulched (using our sifted compost) and repaired the fence.

The Other Side of the Overview

You've seen the view from both sides, now.

Overview of my day

Here you can see the rows of seeds I planted today. Two rows of lettuces and a row of Greek Oregano and Flat Leaf Italian Parsley.

The burlap is keeping weeds down while my under-turned cover crop decays into the soil. The plant sales are coming up. This is the area of my garden waiting patiently for my future purchases.

And notice the tiny strawberry mound; several survived the transplanting.

Sunny Day in the Garden

Several other Gardeners took advantage of a beautiful day. I was pleased with what I accomplished in my morning. Here's a long view of the garden.

Purple Flower

Early spring blooms. No idea what this is. It grows by the gate at the entrance to the garden.

Bug!

A sleeping grub, overturned while I was working the soil. Isn't he cute?

Renegade Strawberries

The strawberries in my P-Patch weren't planted by me or the gardener before me. That is, until this weekend, when I dug them up and transplanted them back. They were rescued, the poor clover was turned into the soil to decay and nourish the new plantings. But that is the clover's karma.

No my strawberries are renegades from the P-Patches nearby. I don't know if they will survive the transplant or produce fruit. But they are the last of the "found fruit and vegetables" that were in my P-Patch when I took it over. (I was sick of the lettuce and chard, so into the compost they went.)

The little strawberry plants all had new spring growth, so I'm hoping they are hardy and healthy and ready to flourish.

We'll see. I'll keep you posted. Ugh, was that a pun?

The Patch is Back!

It was a long grey winter and I was sick of posting pictures of clover and lettuce and chard! Here's what the Patch looks like now that my winter cover crop (crimson clover) has been turned into the soil to decay (Martha calls this green fertilizer).

You'll notice a small clump of strawberries (upper right quadrant of the photo). More about these in the next post.

ACTION ITEMS:

I resolve to go to my P-Patch twice a week.

Nathan Hale High School Horticultural Sale, first weekend in May. This is where I'll buy my organic starts. Sorry Dad, I need to minimize my work on this end. Some seeds (herbs, lettuce) but mostly starts.

Speaking of seeds, get those in the ground next weekend.