The Strawberry Bed (from the Vegetable Garden)

When redesigning the vegetable garden I decided to dedicate one 4'x6' bed solely to the cultivation of scrumptious strawberries. Since they are perennials this bed is no longer in any kind of rotation with the other beds but it was necessary, at least for now.  The strawberries began blooming this weekend which really isn't the greatest of times to start since a cold snap is on top of us. I'll cover the bed with a sheet propped up with bamboo stakes for now to keep the blooms from getting frosted.

Early spring time is not a good time to fertilize strawberries. It's counter intuitive when you tend to fertilize most things this time of year but you really need to fertilize after they have produced fruit. This will send out new green growth to form new plants via runners that can be separated from the mother plant and grown to produce more strawberries for next year. Too much nitrogen fertilizer early will cause the strawberries to produce more leaves and fewer blossoms and consequently fewer yummy strawberries!

I incorporated a clump of asparagus into the strawberry patch that Lola sent me but unfortunately I don't think it made it over the winter.  It's too bad becasue I love to grill asparagus dipped in olive oil with salt and pepper. I put the asparagus and strawberries together since they were both perennials but if your looking for a good companion (sorry not me I'm married) try asparagus and tomatoes!