You may remember when we got a surprise gift of strawberries last fall. I didn’t really have anyplace to put them, so I put them in a couple new beds that had rye grass and hairy vetch in it. It was an experiment in intercropping.

The experiment failed so I spent most of the morning Sunday replanting the strawberries. The problem was that the rye and vetch were too vigorous. They grew very tall and refused to die back despite crimping, weed whacking, etc. Because they were so tall, the strawberries didn’t get enough sun to make berries. I actually suspected they had been totally strangled, but this weekend when I dug down and looked, I found all the plants still alive. (In fact, they were all throwing off rooting runners. This was fascinating.)

So I dug each one out and replanted it. Some I put in the bed in front of the greenhouse. Others, I put into large buckets. Last year, the strawberries in the greenhouse that were in buckets did the best of all (and produced the only berries we ate). Is this usual for strawberries? I don’t know.

At any rate, the experiment continues. We’ll see if we get more berries in the spring.

In the meantime, the rest of the garden is producing heartily. We have lots of melons, tomatoes, cucumbers, greens, and beans. Lots of good food.