In one of my more stunning stupid decisions, I undertook the strawberry patch project last week. "Hey Slugger--we're going to rip out all the strawberry plants, till up the ground, bring in some new soil and kill the grass that is choking out the patch."
Smiling and nodding without saying much as is his ilk, Slugger got to work and we were up to our eyeballs in dirt. Thursday I told him, "I read that we should wait a week before replanting where you sprayed the Round Up, so we'll finish this next week."
"You'll finish this next week."
"Excuse me?"
"I have football camp."
Oh snap! There is no "we." Yes, yes he told me he'd need this week off for football camp 2 weeks ago. Yes, yes I'm a dumbass who can't read a calendar. Yes, yes my back and shoulders are sore from spending ALL DAY YESTERDAY raking out the new dirt, pulling out the entrenched grass roots and replanting the strawberry plants which? Had gotten a little stinky and slimy whilst sitting in a wheelbarrow I kept wet with a hose and a now moldy towel. EW! NO amount of scrubbing got the foul smell out of my hands and I still have to finish the edges.
And the million dollar question remains: Will this work? Will tilling up the patch, pulling and replanting the strawberries and killing the grass result in a neat orderly strawberry bed? Will the berries grow well next season? Will the weeds and grass be manageable? Stay tuned... I'll learn through trial and error on this one I guess. Hopefully the advice I've gotten from veteran berry growers is good. Any berry growers out there want to chime in?
Meanwhile, the raspberries continue to ripen...
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